By: Brian Dean Nibley  Feb. 14, 2018

A recent Gavop study used U.S. Census Bureau data and discovered that Baldwin County had far more homes available for rent than any other county in Alabama in 2016. The analysis then goes on to find that Marshall County proved to be very difficult for potential renters to find a home with less than one percent of all homes available in 2016. The rate of change in available homes was the largest in Baldwin County and Tuscaloosa County, with Baldwin County having the highest increase in available homes and Tuscaloosa County having the largest decrease.

Baldwin County had 13.53 percent of all homes available for rent in 2016.  By contrast, Houston County, Jefferson County, Montgomery County, and Lee County all had between 3.42 and 4.49 percent of total homes available for rent.  Mobile County, Talladega County, Limestone County, Madison County, and Calhoun County all had between 2.04 and 2.81 percent available.

Marshall County had the least number of homes available for rent in 2016 with just 0.9 percent of homes available that year. Tuscaloosa County, Shelby County, Elmore County, and Cullman County had 1.51 percent to 1.85 percent of homes available for rent.  Madison County, Limestone County, Talladega County, and Mobile County all had anywhere from 2.04 to 2.81 percent of homes available.

Baldwin County also saw a substantial change in terms of number of homes available for rent in 2016 as compared to 2009.  During this time, the number of homes available for rent increased by 230.79 percent.  Observing household availability trends during this time period is helpful in efforts to understand housing trends and to see where there may be a surplus or shortage of residential spaces available.

Additionally, Tuscaloosa County, Marshall County, Calhoun County, Madison County, Jefferson County, Mobile County, and Shelby County saw a decline in proportion of homes available for rent between 2009 and 2016.  The highest decline was in Tuscaloosa County with an 82.4 percent decline and the least was seen in Shelby County with a 15.8 percent decline.

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