With 16,951 people, Muscle Shoals is a city in Alabama. Growth has run 42% since 2000, or 5,027 more people. About 24% of adults have finished a four-year degree. The foreign-born share is 2%. The typical home is worth $199,700, having more than doubled since 2000. Households here earn about 19% more than in Alabama as a whole.
At a glance
Lower income
median household income $75,894, below the US median
US median: $82,259
Mid-age
median age 38.0
US median: 38.9
Less educated
24% hold a bachelor's degree
US average: 36%
Less affordable
home values up 26%, inflation adjusted
US median home: $376,019
Unique to this place
What stands out about Muscle Shoals
What changed most since 1990
White share86.0% → 77.3%(−8.7 pts)US over the same years: −17.8 pts
Population9,611 → 16,951(+76%)US over the same years: +35%
Adults with a bachelor's degree16.7% → 24.0%(+7.3 pts)US over the same years: +15.3 pts
Muscle Shoals's population equals 29% of Colbert County's. Its number of households without a car equals 13% of the county's. Its number of people who work from home equals 62% of the county's.
Shares are "alone or in combination": a person with both Medicare and Medicaid counts in each, so categories overlap and do not sum to 100%.
Section 09 · Service history
Veterans
Veterans by period of service, 2024
Gulf War (2001 or later)34.6%(370)
US avg: 26.4%
Gulf War (1990s)13%(139)
US avg: 24.3%
Vietnam era21.5%(230)
US avg: 33.1%
Korean War2.9%(31)
US avg: 4.5%
World War II0.2%(2)
US avg: 1%
Share of the 1,068 veterans here. A veteran who served across eras counts in each, so shares can total more than 100%. Peacetime-only service is included in the total but not shown as an era.
BAR + DOT: THIS PLACE · TICK: US AVERAGE
Over time
Muscle Shoals, decade by decade
Muscle Shoals population, inflation-adjusted income and home value, education, and diversity by year
Year
Population
Median household income
Median home value
Bachelor's degree+
Diversity score
1990
9,611
$67,996
$128,644
16.7%
30.4
2000
11,924
$73,260
$158,120
20.3%
35.9
2010
13,146
$69,244
$180,541
21.9%
42.9
2020
16,275
$66,202
$183,381
20.8%
55.5
2024
16,951
$75,894
$199,700
24.0%
47.1
Census years come from the decennial census and the latest year from the American Community Survey, so part of any change between those two rows can reflect the different surveys. Dollar figures are adjusted for inflation to 2024 dollars; a figure ending in "+" was at the Census Bureau's reporting cap that year. The diversity score runs from 0 to 100; see how it's calculated.
