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Madison County, AL — Hotels Saturation

How many hotels exist per person present — residents plus daytime workers — by ZIP code, compared with the U.S. average. Establishment data: Census ZBP 2023. Population: ACS 2024 5-year. 30 ZIP codes analyzed.

Includes: Hotels · Motels · Motor inns. Counted together because official statistics use one 721110 code.

Measured density: Range spans bands — 0.81× the U.S. rate (between 0.81× and 1.27× once withheld ZIP cells are counted)

Why a range: Census does not publish a ZIP-by-industry count when that ZIP has 0–2 businesses. 24 ZIP cells in this county are withheld, 16 of them with residents. Each could hold 0, 1, or 2 businesses: counting them all as 0 gives the low end, counting them all as 2 gives the high end — the data cannot say where the truth sits. The density range uses only the populated cells, since ZIPs without residents are excluded from per-person rates. How ranges work

Range spans the U.S. rate   Madison County hotels — 81–127% of the U.S. rate

56 hotels are counted in Madison County — 1.1 per 10,000 people present (residents + daytime workers), 81% of the U.S. rate of 1.4.

On the comparable ZIP set (ZIPs with a published count in every year), the total has risen 4% between 2015 and 2023 (50 → 52). That set is smaller than today's county total. 2020–2021 were pandemic-distorted, and Census rounds counts, so small moves are within noise.

Measured supply density is highest in 35816 (Huntsville), 35806 (Huntsville), 35801 (Huntsville) — well above the national rate. On measured density alone, the lowest-density residential ZIPs with a published count are 35758 (Madison), 35802 (Huntsville), 35805 (Huntsville).

Census County Business Patterns (2023) puts the county-wide count at 69 establishments, including locations in ZIP codes that do not map to a ZCTA — so it can run slightly above the sum of the ZIP rows on this page. It is annual, so it lags more than QCEW.

Measured density: Madison County sits at 81% of the U.S. rate for hotels. 16 ZIPs with population have no published count (each 0–2 businesses), so the true per-capita rate is between 81% and 127% of the U.S. rate. Why. The highest measured density is in 35816 and 35806; the lowest measured density is in 35758 and 35802.

This is a supply-side read: it counts existing hotels and the people present, not foot traffic, income, rent, or whether locals want more. Treat low density as a question to check, not an answer.

Hotels
56–104
published count; upper bound counts each withheld ZIP cell as 2 (24 cells) (2023)
Per 10,000 present
1.1
residents + daytime workers
U.S. average
1.4
per 10,000 present
County index
0.81×
vs. U.S.
Latest year (CBP)
69
2023 — $34M annual payroll
Residents
409,415
22 ZIPs with data
Workers
185,010
jobs located in county

Is the area growing?

Population
423,355
Census PEP, July 1 2024
Change since 2020
+8.4%
+32,828 people
Net migration 2024
+8,680
international +2,014, domestic +6,666
Jobs located here
206,619
LODES 2022, +7.0% since 2019

Madison County had an estimated 423,355 residents on July 1, 2024 — 8.4% more than in 2020 (+32,828). In the latest year it gained 9,464 people: births minus deaths +793, international migration +2,014, domestic migration +6,666. Components are published separately and may not sum exactly.

206,619 jobs were located in the county in 2022 (+7.0% since 2019), and 164,330 employed residents lived there (+5.2% since 2019). LODES counts wage and salary jobs covered by unemployment insurance plus federal jobs; it excludes the self-employed and military, and counts jobs rather than unique people. 2019→2022 spans the pandemic, so read it as one change, not a trend.

Population and migration say whether the customer base is growing. They do not say whether people want another business of this type. Definitions and limits →  ·  Full county detail →

ZIP gaining residents
2015–19 → 2020–24
Change
35759 Meridianville
+73.8%
35749 Harvest
+34.7%
35806 Huntsville
+26.7%
ZIP losing residents
2015–19 → 2020–24
Change

No ZIP had a statistically significant decrease.

ACS 5-year estimates for 2015–2019 and 2020–2024. Only ZIPs with at least 2,000 residents in both windows and a change larger than the survey margin of error (90%) are listed — small ZIPs move a lot on paper without a real signal.

Nonemployer businesses

Not shown. Census publishes hotels only combined with other traveler accommodation (NAICS 7211), so a hotels-and-motels-only nonemployer count is not published.

Census Nonemployer Statistics 2024 (NAICS 2022). We do not approximate this figure.

Saturation map

Each ZIP area is shaded by its density of this business type per person present (residents + workers) vs. the U.S. average. Click any ZIP to zoom to its boundary, see its numbers, and switch to aerial imagery. Individual mapped shops appear as dots at street level — Show locations zooms you in to them (scroll or double-click to zoom).

Basemap:
Under 50% 50–100% 100–150% 150–250% 250%+ 0–2 (not published) / no data ZIP total (dot size) Mapped shop (OpenStreetMap, street level)

Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors, tiles by OpenFreeMap.

White dots are ZIP totals from the official Census count — the bigger the dot, the more hotels in that ZIP. They are aggregated, not individual shops. Turquoise dots are individual locations mapped in OpenStreetMap, shown only at street level; they are crowd-sourced and indicative, may be incomplete, and do not equal the official counts. Only the official ZIP totals feed the saturation index.

Market trend — up 4% since 2015

Number of hotels in Madison County across 2015–2023, on a consistent set of ZIP codes present in every year — so changes are real, not ZIP-boundary artifacts. 2015/2018 are pre-pandemic baselines; 2020/2021 are COVID-distorted.

50
2015
44
2018
45
2020
48
2021
50
2022
52
2023

Highest measured density

ZIP
vs. U.S. average
Index
35816 Huntsville
547%
35806 Huntsville
224%
35801 Huntsville
154%
35805 Huntsville
116%
35802 Huntsville
99%
35758 Madison
94%

Lowest measured density

ZIP
vs. U.S. average
Index
35758 Madison
94%
35802 Huntsville
99%
35805 Huntsville
116%
35801 Huntsville
154%
35806 Huntsville
224%
35816 Huntsville
547%
Low measured density is not evidence of opportunity. A ZIP with few hotels may simply lack foot traffic, retail space, or demand. We rank only residential and mixed ZIPs here; employment hubs and visitor destinations are listed separately below. ZIPs where Census did not publish a count (0–2 businesses) are not ranked: they may be the least served of all, but the data cannot tell 0 from 1 or 2. Verify those locally.

Employment hubs & destinations

These ZIPs have far more workers (or visitors) than residents, so their counts are driven by daytime and visitor demand — not a place to read "shortage" from resident numbers alone.

ZIPNeighborhoodType ResidentsWorkersHotelsIndex
35808Huntsville Employment hub 1,1532,913 0–2 —

Scroll the table sideways to see all columns.

All ZIP codes

Click a column header to sort. Index = hotels per 10,000 people present (residents + 0.5×workers) ÷ the U.S. average. 100% = exactly average.

ZIPNeighborhood ResidentsWorkersHotels Per 10kIndexStatus
35816Huntsville 15,9397,829 15 7.6 547% Very high density
35806Huntsville 29,16138,882 15 3.1 224% High density
35801Huntsville 23,35738,163 9 2.1 154% High density
35805Huntsville 20,85620,627 5 1.6 116% Above average
35802Huntsville 23,85810,945 4 1.4 99% Below average
35758Madison 50,26622,205 8 1.3 94% Below average
35741Brownsboro 4,571774 0–2 — — Not published
35748Gurley 7,578536 0–2 — — Not published
35749Harvest 30,7101,272 0–2 — — Not published
35750Hazel Green 13,4131,512 0–2 — — Not published
35757Madison 18,5291,701 0–2 — — Not published
35759Meridianville 14,1031,310 0–2 — — Not published
35760New Hope 4,643339 0–2 — — Not published
35761New Market 13,557337 0–2 — — Not published
35763Owens Cross Roads 19,8193,319 0–2 — — Not published
35773Toney 14,606804 0–2 — — Not published
35803Huntsville 29,1976,771 0–2 — — Not published
35804Huntsville —256 0–2 — — Not published
35807Huntsville —92 0–2 — — Not published
35808Huntsville 1,1532,913 0–2 — — Not published
35809Huntsville —28 0–2 — — Not published
35810Huntsville 32,8436,004 0–2 — — Not published
35811Huntsville 31,0088,247 0–2 — — Not published
35812Huntsville —536 0–2 — — Not published
35814Huntsville —2,238 0–2 — — Not published
35815Huntsville —46 0–2 — — Not published
35824Huntsville 9,6459,450 0–2 — — Not published
35896Huntsville 6031,070 0–2 — — Not published
35898Huntsville —2,407 0–2 — — Not published
35899Huntsville —51 0–2 — — Not published

Scroll the table sideways to see all columns.

Find an actual space in Huntsville

The numbers above tell you how the market looks. To find a specific storefront, these marketplaces list available retail space for lease.

LoopNet
Largest commercial marketplace
Browse Huntsville retail space →
Crexi
Free listings + market data
Browse Huntsville retail space →
CityFeet
Retail space for lease
Browse Huntsville retail space →

Open vacancy data (actual empty units) is only published by some cities; where it exists we show it directly. Listings above are third-party.

Census withholds some ZIP-by-industry cells to protect small businesses. 0–2 means the cell was not published (Census publishes industry counts only at 3+ per ZIP), so the ZIP is left unranked rather than counted as zero. ~ means the count is estimated from the broader industry group and can be off by a business or two.

Follow Madison County and hotels

When a data vintage changes or a section of this report is revised, we post it to a public update feed. No email address, no account, no tracking — and nothing is sent unless something actually changed.

Subscribe to updates (RSS) How these numbers are built →

Methodology & sources

Establishments. U.S. Census ZIP Code Business Patterns (ZBP 2023), NAICS 721110 — hotels (except casino hotels) and motels. Counts establishments with paid employees. ZBP is published annually with a ~2-year lag.

Fresh county signal. This industry has no clean QCEW series, so the freshest county signal is Census County Business Patterns 2023: 69 establishments and $34M in annual payroll county-wide. This count includes locations in ZIP codes that do not map to a ZCTA, so it can be slightly higher than the sum of the ZIP rows. CBP is annual and slower than QCEW. It cannot be broken down by ZIP.

Population. U.S. Census American Community Survey 2024 5-year ZCTA population (table B01003). Workers are the ZIP's total employment from the same 2023 ZBP file.

Demand ("people present"). Demand comes from residents and daytime workers: residents + 0.5 × workers. This is the single documented assumption in the model and can be tuned.

Index. index = (ZIP establishments ÷ ZIP demand × 10,000) ÷ the U.S. average for this industry (1.38 per 10,000 present). It is a supply-side density measure; it does not capture income, rent, tourism, or whether locals actually want more.

Read the full methodology →  ·  Data sources & vintages →

BizGapMap — free, no-login small-business saturation reports for major U.S. counties. Built entirely from public U.S. Census, BLS, and IRS data (ZBP 2023, ACS 2024 5-year, PEP 2024, LODES, QCEW, IRS SOI). No forecasts, no revenue guesses — withheld cells are marked, and the few derived counts are labelled as estimates.