Editing Jefferson County, Alabama

{{short description|County in Alabama, United States}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2014}}{{Use American English|date=July 2022}}
{{Confuse|Jefferson, Alabama}}
{{Infobox U.S. county
| county               = Jefferson County
| state                = Alabama
| seal                 = Seal of Jefferson County, Alabama.png
| founded year         = 1819<ref name=aces/>
| founded date         = December 13
| seat wl              = Birmingham
| largest city wl      = Birmingham
| coordinates          = {{Coord|33.52|N|86.81|W|display=inline,title}}
| area_total_sq_mi     = 1124
| area_land_sq_mi      = 1111
| area_water_sq_mi     = 13
| area percentage      = 1.1
| population_as_of     = 2020
| population_total     = 674721
| pop_est_as_of        = 2023
| population_est       = 662895 {{loss}}
| density_sq_mi        = auto
| time zone            = Central
| web                  = jeffconline.jccal.org/
| ex image             = Jefferson County Courthouse Birmingham Nov 2011 02.jpg
| ex image cap         = Jefferson County Courthouse in Birmingham
| district             = 6th
| district2            = 7th
| named for            = [[Thomas Jefferson]]
| footnotes            =
*County Number '''01''' on Alabama License Plates
*One of three counties shuffled to the top 3 numbers because of population size.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.al.com/news/huntsville/2017/06/if_madison_county_is_3rd_large.html|title=Why Madison County is No. 47 on license plates|date=June 14, 2017}}</ref> }}

'''Jefferson County''' is the [[List of counties in Alabama|most populous county]] in the [[U.S. state]] of [[Alabama]], located in the central portion of the state. As of the [[2020 United States census|2020 census]], its population was 674,721.<ref name="QF">{{cite web |title=State & County QuickFacts |url=https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/jeffersoncountyalabama/PST045223 |publisher=United States Census Bureau |access-date=March 14, 2024}}</ref> Its [[county seat]] is [[Birmingham, Alabama|Birmingham]].<ref name="aces">{{cite web |title=Jefferson County Extension Office |publisher=[[Alabama Cooperative Extension System]] (ACES) |url=http://www.aces.edu/counties/Jefferson/ |access-date=September 27, 2007 |archive-date=April 16, 2000 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000416124528/http://www.aces.edu/counties/Jefferson/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Its rapid growth as an industrial city in the 20th century, based on heavy manufacturing in steel and iron, established its dominance. Jefferson County is the central county of the [[Birmingham metropolitan area, Alabama|Birmingham-Hoover, AL Metropolitan Statistical Area]].

==History==
{{See also|National Register of Historic Places listings in Birmingham, Alabama|National Register of Historic Places listings in Jefferson County, Alabama|Properties on the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage by county (Jefferson–Macon)}}
[[File:TANNEHILL VALLEY COVERED BRIDGE.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Tannehill Valley Covered Bridge near McCalla.]]

Jefferson County was established on December 13, 1819, by the [[Alabama Legislature]].<ref name=aces/> It was named in honor of former [[President of the United States|President]] [[Thomas Jefferson]].<ref name=aces/> The county is located in the north-central portion of the state, on the southernmost edge of the [[Appalachian Mountains]]. It is in the center of the (former) [[iron]], [[coal]], and [[limestone]] [[mining]] belt of the [[Southern United States]].

Most of the original settlers were migrants of English ancestry from the Carolinas.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1370 |title=Jefferson County |access-date=November 28, 2021 |archive-date=November 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211128151320/http://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1370 |url-status=live }}</ref> Jefferson County has a land area of about {{convert|1119|sqmi|km2}}. Early county seats were established first at [[Carrollsville, Alabama|Carrollsville]] (1819 – 21), then Elyton (1821 – 73).

Founded around 1871, Birmingham was named for the industrial English city of the same name in [[Warwickshire]]. That city had long been a center of iron and steel production in [[Great Britain]]. Birmingham was formed by the merger of three towns, including Elyton. It has continued to grow by [[annexation|annexing]] neighboring [[town]]s and [[village]]s, including North Birmingham.

As Birmingham industrialized, its growth accelerated, particularly after 1890. It attracted numerous rural migrants, both black and white, for its new jobs. It also attracted European immigrants. Despite the city's rapid growth, for decades it was underrepresented in the legislature. Legislators from rural counties kept control of the legislature and, to avoid losing power, for decades refused to reapportion the seats or redistrict congressional districts. Birmingham could not get its urban needs addressed by the legislature.

Nearby [[Bessemer, Alabama]], located 16 miles by car to the southwest, also grew based on industrialization. It also attracted many workers. By the early decades of the 20th century, it had a majority-black population, but whites dominated politically and economically.

===Civil rights===
Racial tensions increased in the cities and state in the late 19th century as whites worked to maintain [[white supremacy]]. The white-dominated legislature passed a new constitution in 1901 that [[Disfranchisement after Reconstruction era|disenfranchised]] most blacks and many poor whites, excluding them totally from the political system. While they were nominally still eligible in the mid-20th century for jury duty, they were overwhelmingly excluded by white administrators from juries into the 1950s. Economic competition among the new workers in the city also raised tensions. It was a rough environment of mill and mine workers in Birmingham and Bessemer, and the Ku Klux Klan was active in the 20th century, often with many police being members into the 1950s and 1960s.<ref name=bass>S. Jonathan Bass, ''He Calls Me By Lightning: The Life of Caliph Washington and the Forgotten Saga of Jim Crow, Southern Justice, and the Death Penalty'', Liveright Publishing, 2017</ref>

In a study of lynchings in the South from 1877 to 1950, Jefferson County is documented as having the highest number of [[lynchings]] of any county in Alabama. White mobs committed 29 lynchings in the county, most around the turn of the century at a time of widespread political suppression of blacks in the state.<ref name="supp">[http://www.eji.org/files/Lynching_in_America_Supplement_by_County_2nd_Edition.pdf "Supplement: Lynchings by County/ Alabama: Jefferson County, 2nd edition] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160410175503/http://www.eji.org/files/Lynching_in_America_Supplement_by_County_2nd_Edition.pdf |date=April 10, 2016 }}, from ''Lynching in America: Confronting the Legacy of Racial Terror'', 2015, Equal Justice Institute, Montgomery, Alabama</ref> Notable incidents include 1889's [[lynching of George Meadows]].

Even after 1950, racial violence of whites against blacks continued. In the 1950s [[KKK]] chapters bombed black-owned houses in Birmingham to discourage residents moving into new middle-class areas. In that period, the city was referred to as "Bombingham".<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.al.com/expo/news/erry-2018/07/f39190a3553390/bombingham.html |title=Bombingham: Decades of racist bombings captured in chilling photos |last=AM |first=2018 at 06:00 |website=AL.com |date=July 24, 2018 |language=en-US |access-date=February 25, 2019 |archive-date=July 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230716061225/https://www.al.com/news/erry-2018/07/f39190a3553390/bombingham.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/event/16th-Street-Baptist-Church-bombing |title=16th Street Baptist Church bombing {{!}} terrorist attack, Birmingham, Alabama, United States [1963] |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |language=en |access-date=February 25, 2019 |archive-date=September 21, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180921104622/https://www.britannica.com/event/16th-Street-Baptist-Church-bombing |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1963 African Americans led a movement in the city seeking civil rights, including integration of public facilities. The [[Birmingham campaign]] was known for the violence the city police used against non-violent protesters. In the late summer, city and business officials finally agreed in 1963 to integrate public facilities and hire more African Americans. This followed the civil rights campaign, which was based at the [[16th Street Baptist Church]], and an economic boycott of white stores that refused to hire blacks. Whites struck again: on a Sunday in September 1963, KKK members [[16th Street Baptist Church bombing|bombed the 16th Street Baptist Church]], killing four young black girls and injuring many persons. The African-American community quickly rebuilt the damaged church. They entered politics in the city, county and state after the [[Voting Rights Act of 1965]] was passed.

===Sewer construction and bond swap controversy===
In the 1990s, the county authorized and financed a massive overhaul of the county-owned sewer system, beginning in 1996. Sewerage and water rates had increased more than 300% in the 15 years before 2011, causing severe problems for the poor in Birmingham and the county.

Costs for the project increased due to problems in the financial area. In addition, county officials, encouraged by bribes by financial services companies, made a series of risky bond-swap agreements. Two extremely controversial undertakings by county officials in the 2000s <!-- What does this refer to? Why not tell what they were?-->resulted in the county having debt of $4 billion. The county eventually declared bankruptcy in 2011. It was the largest municipal bankruptcy in United States history at that time. Both the sewer project and its financing were scrutinized by federal prosecutors. By 2011, "six of Jefferson County's former commissioners had been found guilty of corruption for accepting the bribes, along with 15 other officials."<ref>[http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2010/07/hold_former_jefferson_county_c.html "Former Jefferson County Commissioner Gary White sentenced to 10 years in prison"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110824012848/http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2010/07/hold_former_jefferson_county_c.html |date=August 24, 2011 }}, Al.com. Retrieved on August 12, 2011.</ref><ref name="BBC Scandal" />

The controversial interest rate swaps, initiated in 2002 and 2003 by former Commission President [[Larry Langford]] (removed in 2011 as the mayor of Birmingham after his conviction at trial<ref>[http://www.al.com/news/larry-langford/index.ssf/index_3.html Larry Langford Impact – Page 3 – - Larry Langford trial{{!}} Latest Larry Langford News] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091022114123/http://www.al.com/news/larry-langford/index.ssf/index_3.html |date=October 22, 2009 }}. al.com. Retrieved on March 2, 2011.</ref>), were intended to lower interest payments. But they had the opposite effect, increasing the county's indebtedness to the point that it had to declare bankruptcy. The bond swaps were the focus of an investigation by the [[United States Securities and Exchange Commission]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Wright |first=Barnett |date=December 18, 2007 |title=SEC wants to force Larry Langford, Bill Blount to testify in Jefferson County bond swap deals |newspaper=Birmingham News |url=http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2007/12/sec_wants_to_force_larry_langf.html |access-date=December 13, 2017 |archive-date=December 14, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171214071433/http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2007/12/sec_wants_to_force_larry_langf.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

In late February 2008 [[Standard & Poor's]] lowered the rating of Jefferson County bonds to "junk" status. The likelihood of the county filing for [[Chapter 9, Title 11, United States Code|Chapter 9]] bankruptcy protection was debated in the press.<ref>{{cite news |last=Hubbard |first=Russell |date=March 2, 2008 |title=Jefferson County finance options likely to be expensive |newspaper=Birmingham News}}</ref> In early March 2008, [[Moody's]] followed suit and indicated that it would also review the county's ability to meet other bond obligations.<ref>{{cite news |author=Hubbard, Russell |date=March 4, 2008 |url=http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2008/03/update_jefferson_county_financ.html |title=Update: Jefferson County finances take another hit |newspaper=Birmingham News |access-date=March 4, 2008 |archive-date=November 17, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121117013914/http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2008/03/update_jefferson_county_financ.html |url-status=live }}</ref> On March 7, 2008, Jefferson County failed to post $184 million collateral as required under its sewer bond agreements, thereby moving into technical default.<ref>Wright, Barnett (March 8, 2008) "[http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/12049677384610.xml&coll=2 Jefferson County, Alabama sewer debt swap agreement deadline passes"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080309173330/http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?%2Fbase%2Fnews%2F12049677384610.xml&coll=2 |date=March 9, 2008 }}, ''Birmingham News''</ref>

In February 2011, Lesley Curwen of the [[BBC World Service]] interviewed David Carrington, the newly appointed president of the County Commission, about the risk of defaulting on bonds issued to finance "what could be the most expensive sewage system in history."<ref name="BBC Scandal"/> Carrington said there was "no doubt that people from Wall Street offered bribes" and "have to take a huge responsibility for what happened."<ref name="BBC Scandal" /> Wall Street investment banks, including [[J.P. Morgan & Co.|JP Morgan]] and others, arranged complex financial deals using [[swap (finance)|swaps]]. The fees and penalty charges increased the cost so the county in 2011 had $3.2 billion outstanding. Carrington said one of the problems was that elected officials had welcomed scheduling with very low early payments so long as peak payments occurred after they left office.

In 2011 the [[U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission|SEC]] awarded the county $75 million in compensation in relation to a judgment of "unlawful payments" against JP Morgan; in addition the company was penalized by having to forfeit $647 million of future fees.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/p00dy3z5/Business_Daily_Alabamas_sewer_debts |publisher=BBC World Service |title=Business Daily: Alabama's sewer debt |date=February 28, 2011 |access-date=March 2, 2011 |archive-date=March 3, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110303090116/http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/p00dy3z5/Business_Daily_Alabamas_sewer_debts |url-status=dead}}</ref>

===2011 bankruptcy filing===
Jefferson County filed for bankruptcy on November 9, 2011.<ref>{{cite web |title=Jefferson County, Alabama Chapter 9 Voluntary Petition |url=https://www.pacermonitor.com/view/YJQAF6Y/Jefferson_County__alnbke-11-05736__0001.0.pdf |website=PacerMonitor |access-date=June 22, 2016 |archive-date=August 10, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160810234504/https://www.pacermonitor.com/view/YJQAF6Y/Jefferson_County__alnbke-11-05736__0001.0.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> This action was valued at $4.2 billion, with debts of $3.14 billion relating to sewer work; it was then the most costly municipal bankruptcy ever in the United States. In 2013, it was surpassed by the [[Detroit bankruptcy]] in Michigan.<ref name="BBC Scandal">{{cite web |title=The scandal of the Alabama poor cut off from water |author=Brian Wheeler |work=[[BBC News]] |date=December 14, 2011 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16037798 |access-date=December 15, 2011 |archive-date=December 14, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111214234830/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16037798 |url-status=live }}</ref> The County requested [[Chapter 9, Title 11, United States Code|Chapter 9]] relief under federal statute 11 U.S.C. §921. The case was filed in the Northern District of Alabama Bankruptcy Court as case number 11-05736.

{{as of|2012|05}}, Jefferson County had slashed expenses and reduced employment of county government workers by more than 700.<ref name=reuters20120512>{{cite news |title=Bankrupt Jefferson County, Alabama Lays Off 75 More Government Workers |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/02/bankrupt-jefferson-county-alabama-lays-off_n_1472652.html |access-date=May 14, 2012 |newspaper=Reuters |date=May 2, 2012 |archive-date=May 6, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120506000457/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/02/bankrupt-jefferson-county-alabama-lays-off_n_1472652.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The county emerged from bankruptcy in December 2013, following the approval of a bankruptcy plan by the [[United States bankruptcy court]] for the [[United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama|Northern District of Alabama]], writing off more than $1.4 billion of the debt.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110924060918/http://www.al.com/jeffco/ Jefferson County bankruptcy], articles from the ''Huntsville Times''.</ref><ref>Associated Press, [http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20131204/NEWS/131209934 "Jefferson County emerges from bankruptcy"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160508152410/http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20131204/NEWS/131209934 |date=May 8, 2016 }}, December 4, 2013.</ref><ref>Shelly Sigo, [http://www.bondbuyer.com/issues/123_1/bankruptcy-over-but-jefferson-county-ala-will-remain-in-the-news-1058616-1.html "Bankruptcy Over, But Jefferson County, Ala., Will Remain in the News"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160908232201/http://www.bondbuyer.com/issues/123_1/bankruptcy-over-but-jefferson-county-ala-will-remain-in-the-news-1058616-1.html |date=September 8, 2016 }}, ''Bond Buyer'', December 31, 2013.</ref>

==Geography==
According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the county has a total area of {{convert|1124|sqmi}}, of which {{convert|1111|sqmi}} is land and {{convert|13|sqmi}} (1.1%) is water.<ref name="GR1">{{cite web |url=http://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/counties_list_01.txt |publisher=United States Census Bureau |access-date=August 22, 2015 |date=August 22, 2012 |title=2010 Census Gazetteer Files |archive-date=March 18, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220318070355/https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/counties_list_01.txt |url-status=live }}</ref> It is the fifth-largest county in Alabama by land area.

The county is located within the [[Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians]], with the highest point in the county being found at [[Shades Mountain]], at an elevation of 1,150 ft. Another significant mountain located within the county is [[Red Mountain (Birmingham)|Red Mountain]], which runs to the south of [[Downtown Birmingham, Alabama|downtown Birmingham]] and separates the city from the suburb of [[Homewood, Alabama|Homewood]]. Many other mountains and valleys make up the majority of the county's diverse geography.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1370 |title=Jefferson County |access-date=March 24, 2020 |archive-date=March 29, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200329181433/http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1370 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The county is home to the [[Watercress Darter National Wildlife Refuge]].

===Adjacent counties===
*[[Tuscaloosa County, Alabama|Tuscaloosa County]] (west)
*[[Bibb County, Alabama|Bibb County]] (southwest)
*[[Shelby County, Alabama|Shelby County]] (south)
*[[Walker County, Alabama|Walker County]] (northwest)
*[[Blount County, Alabama|Blount County]] (northeast)
*[[St. Clair County, Alabama|St. Clair County]] (northeast)

==Demographics==
{{US Census population
|1830= 6855
|1840= 7131
|1850= 8989
|1860= 11746
|1870= 12345
|1880= 23272
|1890= 88501
|1900= 140420
|1910= 226476
|1920= 310054
|1930= 431493
|1940= 459930
|1950= 558928
|1960= 634864
|1970= 644991
|1980= 671371
|1990= 651525
|2000= 662047
|2010= 658466
|2020= 674721
|estyear=2023
|estimate=662895
|estref=<ref name="USCensusEst2023">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/popest/2020s-counties-total.html|title=Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Counties: April 1, 2020 to July 1, 2023|access-date=March 14, 2024}}</ref>
|align-fn=center
|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html |title=U.S. Decennial Census |publisher=United States Census Bureau |access-date=August 22, 2015 |archive-date=July 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220717060613/https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html |url-status=live }}</ref><br />1790–1960<ref>{{cite web |url=http://mapserver.lib.virginia.edu/ |title=Historical Census Browser |publisher=University of Virginia Library |access-date=August 22, 2015 |archive-date=August 11, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120811110448/http://mapserver.lib.virginia.edu/ |url-status=live }}</ref> 1900–1990<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/population/cencounts/al190090.txt |title=Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990 |publisher=United States Census Bureau |editor-last=Forstall |editor-first=Richard L. |date=March 24, 1995 |access-date=August 22, 2015 |archive-date=September 24, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924115741/http://www.census.gov/population/cencounts/al190090.txt |url-status=live }}</ref><br />1990–2000<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/briefs/phc-t4/tables/tab02.pdf |title=Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000 |publisher=United States Census Bureau |date=April 2, 2001 |access-date=August 22, 2015 |archive-date=December 18, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141218203824/http://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/briefs/phc-t4/tables/tab02.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> 2010–2020<ref name="QF"/>
}}

===2020 census===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|+'''Jefferson County, Alabama – Racial and ethnic composition'''<br><small>{{nobold|''Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.''}}</small>
!Race / Ethnicity <small>(''NH = Non-Hispanic'')</small>
!Pop 2000<ref name=2000CensusP004>{{Cite web|title=P004 Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2000: DEC Summary File 1 – Jefferson County, Alabama|url=https://data.census.gov/table?q=p004&g=0500000US01073&tid=DECENNIALSF12000.P004|website=[[United States Census Bureau]]}}</ref>
!Pop 2010<ref name=2010CensusP2>{{Cite web|title=P2 Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2010: DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171) – Jefferson County, Alabama|url=https://data.census.gov/table?q=p2&g=0500000US01073&tid=DECENNIALPL2010.P2|website=[[United States Census Bureau]]}}</ref>
!{{partial|Pop 2020}}<ref name=2020CensusP2>{{Cite web|title=P2 Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2020: DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171) – Jefferson County, Alabama|url=https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=p2&g=0500000US01073&tid=DECENNIALPL2020.P2|website=[[United States Census Bureau]]}}</ref>
!% 2000
!% 2010
!{{partial|% 2020}}
|-
|[[Non-Hispanic or Latino whites|White]] alone (NH)
|379,707
|340,213
|style='background: #ffffe6; |324,252
|57.35%
|51.67%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |48.06%
|-
|[[Non-Hispanic or Latino African Americans|Black or African American]] alone (NH)
|259,623
|275,511
|style='background: #ffffe6; |280,112
|39.22%
|41.84%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |41.52%
|-
|[[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] or [[Alaska Native]] alone (NH)
|1,314
|1,431
|style='background: #ffffe6; |1,207
|0.20%
|0.22%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.18%
|-
|[[Asian Americans|Asian]] alone (NH)
|5,909
|9,085
|style='background: #ffffe6; |13,043
|0.89%
|1.38%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |1.93%
|-
|[[Pacific Islander Americans|Pacific Islander]] alone (NH)
|125
|154
|style='background: #ffffe6; |311
|0.02%
|0.02%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.05%
|-
|[[Race and ethnicity in the United States census|Other race]] alone (NH)
|367
|531
|style='background: #ffffe6; |1,966
|0.06%
|0.08%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.29%
|-
|[[Multiracial Americans|Mixed race or Multiracial]] (NH)
|4,718
|6,053
|style='background: #ffffe6; |18,974
|0.71%
|0.92%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |2.81%
|-
|[[Hispanic and Latino Americans|Hispanic or Latino]] (any race)
|10,284
|25,488
|style='background: #ffffe6; |34,856
|1.55%
|3.87%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |5.17%
|-
|'''Total'''
|'''662,047'''
|'''658,466'''
|style='background: #ffffe6; |'''674,721'''
|'''100.00%'''
|'''100.00%'''
|style='background: #ffffe6; |'''100.00%'''
|}
As of the [[2020 United States census|2020 census]], there were 674,721 people, 274,699 households, and 170,971 families residing in the county.<ref>{{Cite web|title=US Census Bureau, Table P16: Household Type |url=https://data.census.gov/table?q=Jefferson%20County,%20Alabama%20p16&y=2020 |access-date=March 14, 2024 |publisher=United States Census Bureau}}</ref> The [[population density]] was {{convert|607.0|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|sp=us|adj=off}} There were 307,927 housing units.

===2010 census===
Jefferson County population had decreased slightly by 2010.

According to the [[2010 United States census|2010 census]], residents of metropolitan Jefferson County identified as the following:
*53.0% [[White American|White]]
*42.0% [[African American|Black]]
*0.3% [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]]
*1.4% [[Asian American|Asian]]
*0.0% [[Native Hawaiian]] or [[Pacific Islander American|Pacific Islander]]
*1.1% [[Multiracial Americans|Two or more races]]
*3.9% [[Hispanic and Latino Americans|Hispanic or Latino]] (of any race)

===2000 census===
As of the [[2000 United States census|2000 census]], there were 662,047 people, 263,265 households, and 175,861 families residing in the county. The population density was {{convert|595|/mi2|/km2|disp=preunit|people&nbsp;|people|}}. There were 288,162 housing units at an average density of {{convert|259|/mi2|/km2|disp=preunit|units&nbsp;|units|}}. The racial makeup of the county was 58.10% [[Race (United States Census)|White]], 39.36% [[Race (United States Census)|Black]] or [[Race (United States Census)|African American]], 0.21% [[Race (United States Census)|Native American]], 0.90% [[Race (United States Census)|Asian]], 0.03% [[Race (United States Census)|Pacific Islander]], 0.59% from [[Race (United States Census)|other races]], and 0.80% from two or more races. About 1.55% of the population were [[Race (United States Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Race (United States Census)|Latino]] of any race.

The largest self-reported European ancestries in Jefferson County, Alabama are [[English Americans|English]] 9.7%(64,016), "[[American ancestry|American]]" 9.6%(63,015), [[Irish Americans|Irish]] 8.6%(56,695), [[German Americans|German]] 7.2%(47,690). Many Americans whose ancestors came from Britain or Ireland identify simply as American, because their immigrant ancestors arrived so long ago, in some cases in the 17th and 18th centuries. Demographers estimate that roughly 20–23% of people in Alabama are of predominantly [[English Americans|English]] and related [[British Americans|British Isles]] ancestry.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/sharingdreamwhit00pule |url-access=registration |page=[https://archive.org/details/sharingdreamwhit00pule/page/57 57] |title=Sharing the Dream: White Males in a Multicultural America |year=2004 |publisher=A&C Black |first=Dominic J. |last=Pulera |isbn=9780826416438}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |first=Reynolds |last=Farley |title=The New Census Question about Ancestry: What Did It Tell Us? |journal=[[Demography (journal)|Demography]] |volume=28 |issue=3 |year=1991 |pages=411–429 [pp. 414, 421] |doi=10.2307/2061465 |jstor=2061465 |pmid=1936376 |s2cid=41503995 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author1-link=Stanley Lieberson |first1=Stanley |last1=Lieberson |first2=Lawrence |last2=Santi |title=The Use of Nativity Data to Estimate Ethnic Characteristics and Patterns |journal=[[Social Science Research]] |volume=14 |issue=1 |year=1985 |pages=31–56 [pp. 44–46] |doi=10.1016/0049-089X(85)90011-0}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |first1=Stanley |last1=Lieberson |first2=Mary C. |last2=Waters |author2-link=Mary C. Waters |title=Ethnic Groups in Flux: The Changing Ethnic Responses of American Whites |journal=[[Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science]] |volume=487 |issue=79 |year=1986 |pages=82–86 |jstor=1046054 |doi=10.1177/0002716286487001004 |s2cid=60711423}}</ref> Researchers believe that more of the European-American population has [[Scots-Irish Americans|Scots-Irish]] ancestry than residents identify with today. In addition, many African Americans have [[mixed-race|racially-mixed]] ancestry, often with some ancestors from the British Isles. Having been classified in the South as black under racial segregation, some of these families are beginning to use [[DNA]] tests to learn about and acknowledge European ancestors. Some identify as [[Multiracial Americans|multiracial]] as a result.

There were 263,265 households, out of which 30.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.10% were [[Marriage|married couples]] living together, 17.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.20% were non-families. Nearly 28.70% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.45, and the average family size was 3.04.

In the county, 24.80% of the population was under the age of 18, 9.60% from 18 to 24, 29.70% from 25 to 44, 22.30% from 45 to 64, and 13.60% was 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 89.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.50 males.

In 2007 Jefferson County had the highest rate of syphilis cases per 100,000 in the US, according to data from the [[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]].<ref>[http://www.bizjournals.com/birmingham/stories/2007/11/12/daily25.html "Jefferson County tops country for number of syphilis cases"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071117195244/http://www.bizjournals.com/birmingham/stories/2007/11/12/daily25.html |date=November 17, 2007 }}, ''Birmingham Business Journal'', November 15, 2007.</ref>

The median income for a household in the county was $36,868, and the median income for a family was $45,951. Males had a median income of $35,954 versus $26,631 for females. The [[per capita income]] for the county was $20,892. About 11.60% of families and 14.80% of the population were below the [[poverty line]], including 20.20% of those under age 18 and 12.70% of those age 65 or over.

==Government and infrastructure==
Jefferson County is one of the eight counties in Alabama with a limited-form of [[home rule]] government. A 1973 Commission had recommended that all counties be granted home rule under the state constitution, but the state legislature has refused to give up its control over local affairs.

In the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the county was underrepresented politically for decades into the 1960s because the rural-dominated state legislature refused to redistrict as population increased in urban counties. Changes to county representation in the state legislature did not take place until the state was required to incorporate the principle of [[one man, one vote]] from the US Supreme Court decision of ''[[Baker v. Carr]]'' (1964). It ruled that bicameral legislatures had to have both houses based on population districts, rather than geographic ones. The complexity of Birmingham and Jefferson County urban conditions required more local management, as it was a major industrial center. The county gained some home rule functions by 1944. It allows the county to set up a [[Zoning in the United States|zoning system]] for land use, maintain the [[sanitary sewer]], [[sewerage]] systems and [[highway]]s, provide for [[garbage disposal|garbage and trash disposal]], and to enforce [[taxation]] (except for property taxes).

Today the county has a type of council-manager form of government. It is governed by a five-member commission that combines the legislative and executive duties for the county. The Commissioners are elected from [[single-member district]]s. Each county commissioner represents one of the five districts in the county, apportioned roughly equally by population. By votes in the commission, the commissioners are given executive responsibilities for the various county departments, which fall under the categories of "Roads and Transportation", "Community Development", "Environmental Services", "Health and Human Services", "Technology and Land Development", and "Finance and General Services". The County Commission elects a President from among its members, who serves as the chairperson of all County Commission meetings, and who has additional executive duties.

The Commission hires a county manager, who oversees and directs daily operations of county departments.

===Taxation===
Sales tax on many items within the county can be as high as 12%. The County Commission approved an educational sales tax by a 3–2 vote in October 2004. This was implemented In January 2005, as a 1% sales tax to support funding for construction of needed education facilities. This additional 1% has resulted in some county municipalities, such as [[Fairfield, Alabama|Fairfield]], to have sales tax rates as high as 10%, while other municipalities and incorporated communities had an increase in their total sales tax rate from 8% to 9%. The state of Alabama sales tax was 4% at the time and Jefferson County's was 2% in total. Some municipal sales taxes reach 4%.{{citation needed|date=August 2013}}

On March 16, 2011, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that Jefferson County's 2009 occupational tax law was passed unconstitutionally. This decision dealt a devastating financial blow to a county considering bankruptcy.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2011/03/alabama_supreme_court_rules_je.html |title=Alabama Supreme Court rules Jefferson County's 2009 occupational tax illegal &#124; al.com |date=March 17, 2011 |publisher=Blog.al.com |access-date=July 10, 2013 |archive-date=August 23, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110823225615/http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2011/03/alabama_supreme_court_rules_je.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>[http://dewaynepope.typepad.com/red_mountain_law/2007/08/is-jefferson-co.htmlRed Mountain Law's Birmingham Business Law Blog: Is Jefferson County's Continued Collection of Its Occupational Tax Valid?<!-- Bot generated title -->]{{dead link|date=November 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} from dewaynepope.typepad.com</ref>

===Law===
Jefferson County is served by the Jefferson County [[Sheriffs in the United States|Sheriff's Department]]. The County Sheriff is chosen by the eligible voters in an [[At-large|at large]] election. The Sheriff's Department fields about 175 [[deputy sheriff]]s who patrol the unincorporated areas of the county, and also all municipalities that do not have their own [[police department]]s. The Sheriff's Department has two county [[jail]]s, one in Birmingham and one in Bessemer, which are used to detain suspects awaiting trial (who cannot afford to post [[bail]]), and convicted criminals serving sentences less than one year in length.

Two judicial courthouses are located in Jefferson County, a situation dating to when the state legislature was preparing to split off a portion of Jefferson County to create a new county, centered around [[Bessemer, Alabama|Bessemer]]. The city is located about 16 miles to the southwest by car. The split did not take place because the area of the proposed county would have been smaller than the minimum of 500 square miles set forth in the [[Constitution of Alabama|state constitution]]. The additional county courthouse and some parallel functions remain in service. The main courthouse is in Birmingham and the second one is located in Bessemer. Certain elected county officials maintain offices in the Bessemer annex, such as the Assistant Tax Collector, the Assistant Tax Assessor, and the Assistant District Attorney.

===Prisons===
The local jails have a long history of abuse of prisoners. One former jailer, who started work for the Jefferson County Convict Department in 1919, described beatings, the administration of laxatives, and confinement in a tiny two-by-three-foot cell, as well as beatings with rubber hoses. He said, "You can work a man pretty good with a piece of pipe and never mark him."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Flynt |first1=Wayne |title=Poor But Proud: Alabama's Poor Whites |year=2001 |publisher=University of Alabama Press |location=Tuscaloosa |isbn=0-8173-1150-5}}</ref> Well into the 1950s, prisoners were regularly beaten and tortured by police to extract coerced "confessions" to crimes.<ref name="bass"/>

In mid-2015, the Department of Justice announced an investigation of the conditions imposed on juveniles in the county jail. It said that young people with mental illnesses were locked in solitary confinement for months at a time. Others were housed with adult prisoners who raped them.<ref>{{cite web |title=Department of Justice Announces Investigation of the Jefferson County Jail in Birmingham, Alabama |date=June 3, 2015 |url=https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/department-justice-announces-investigation-jefferson-county-jail-birmingham-alabama |publisher=Department of Justice |access-date=August 7, 2017 |archive-date=August 7, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170807151906/https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/department-justice-announces-investigation-jefferson-county-jail-birmingham-alabama |url-status=live }}</ref>

The [[Alabama Department of Corrections]] operates the [[William E. Donaldson Correctional Facility]], a prison for men, in [[unincorporated area|unincorporated]] Jefferson County near Bessemer. The prison includes one of the two [[Capital punishment in Alabama|Alabama death row]]s for men.<ref name="DonaldProf">"[http://www.doc.state.al.us/facility.asp?id=4 Donaldson Correctional Facility] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100318162908/http://www.doc.state.al.us/facility.asp?id=4 |date=March 18, 2010 }}." [[Alabama Department of Corrections]]. Retrieved on October 8, 2010.</ref>

==Religion==
In 2010 statistics, the largest religious group in Jefferson County was the [[Southern Baptist Convention|SBC]] Baptists with 185,650 members in 272 congregations, followed by 69,878 [[Nondenominational Christianity|non-denominational]] adherents with 170 congregations, 67,313 [[National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc.|NBC]] Baptists with 117 congregations, 55,083 Catholics in the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Birmingham in Alabama]] with 32 parishes, 43,422 [[United Methodist Church|UMC]] Methodists with 86 congregations, 15,899 [[Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee)|CoG–Cleveland, Tennessee]] Pentecostals with 45 congregations, 14,025 [[Episcopal Church (United States)|TEC]] Episcopalians with 17 congregations, 11,267 [[Churches of Christ|CoC]] Christians with 69 congregations, 11,171 [[Church of God in Christ|CoGiC]] Pentecostals with 16 congregations, and 9,472 [[African Methodist Episcopal Church|AME]] Methodists with 42 congregations. Altogether, 83.9% of the population was claimed as members by religious congregations, although members of historically African-American denominations were underrepresented due to incomplete information.<ref>{{cite web |title=County Membership Report Jefferson County (Alabama) |url=http://www.thearda.com/rcms2010/rcms2010A.asp?U=01073&T=county&Y=2010&S=adh |website=The [[Association of Religion Data Archives]] |date=2010 |access-date=January 2, 2020 |archive-date=September 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200918083608/http://thearda.com/rcms2010/rcms2010a.asp?U=01073&T=county&S=adh&Y=2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2014, Jefferson County had 714 religious organizations, the 15th most out of all US counties.<ref>{{cite web |title=Social Capital Variables Spreadsheet for 2014 |url=https://aese.psu.edu/nercrd/community/social-capital-resources/social-capital-variables-for-2014/social-capital-variables-spreadsheet-for-2014 |website=PennState College of Agricultural Sciences, Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development |date=December 8, 2017 |access-date=December 30, 2019 |archive-date=December 31, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191231001016/https://aese.psu.edu/nercrd/community/social-capital-resources/social-capital-variables-for-2014/social-capital-variables-spreadsheet-for-2014 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Education==
School districts in the county include:<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/DC2020/PL20/st01_al/schooldistrict_maps/c01073_jefferson/DC20SD_C01073.pdf |title=2020 census - school district reference map: Jefferson County, AL |publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] |access-date=July 31, 2022 |archive-date=August 1, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220801002905/https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/DC2020/PL20/st01_al/schooldistrict_maps/c01073_jefferson/DC20SD_C01073.pdf |url-status=live }} - [https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/DC2020/PL20/st01_al/schooldistrict_maps/c01073_jefferson/DC20SD_C01073_SD2MS.txt Text list] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220801002904/https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/DC2020/PL20/st01_al/schooldistrict_maps/c01073_jefferson/DC20SD_C01073_SD2MS.txt |date=August 1, 2022 }}</ref>
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
*[[Bessemer City School District]]
*[[Birmingham City School District]]
*[[Fairfield City School District]]
*[[Homewood City School District]]
*[[Hoover City School District]]
*[[Leeds City School District]]
*[[Jefferson County School District (Alabama)|Jefferson County School District]]
*[[Midfield City School District]]
*[[Mountain Brook City School District]]
*[[Tarrant City School District]]
*[[Trussville City School District]]
*[[Vestavia Hills City School District]]
{{Div col end}}

===History of education===
As a reaction to the US Supreme Court's ruling in ''[[Brown v Board of Education]]'' in 1954, that segregated public schools were unconstitutional, both state and [[Jefferson County Board of Education (Alabama)|local]] officials took steps to preserve ''de facto'' educational segregation. As late as 1965, schools in the county were still totally segregated. In 1969, public schools in the county became fully integrated.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hanna-Jones |first1=Nikole |title=The Resegregation of Jefferson County |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/06/magazine/the-resegregation-of-jefferson-county.html |access-date=September 11, 2017 |newspaper=New York Times |date=September 6, 2017 |archive-date=September 11, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170911015349/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/06/magazine/the-resegregation-of-jefferson-county.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Except for cities such as Birmingham, that have established their own local school districts, all parts of Jefferson County are served by the [[Jefferson County Board of Education (Alabama)|Jefferson County Board of Education]]. Parts within Birmingham are served by [[Birmingham City Schools]].

Beginning in 1959, more wealthy towns, with predominately white populations, began to form their own school systems. Critics allege this served to stymie integration and financially starve schools that served mostly black populations.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hanna-Jones |first1=Nikole |title=The Resegrgation of Jefferson County |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/06/magazine/the-resegregation-of-jefferson-county.html |access-date=September 11, 2017 |newspaper=New York Times |date=September 6, 2017 |archive-date=September 11, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170911015349/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/06/magazine/the-resegregation-of-jefferson-county.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Cities in the county that have established their own school systems are [[Gardendale, Alabama|Gardendale]], [[Bessemer, Alabama|Bessemer]], [[Fairfield, Alabama|Fairfield]], [[Midfield, Alabama|Midfield]], [[Trussville, Alabama|Trussville]], [[Homewood, Alabama|Homewood]], [[Leeds, Alabama|Leeds]], [[Hoover, Alabama|Hoover]], [[Vestavia Hills, Alabama|Vestavia Hills]], [[Tarrant, Alabama|Tarrant]], and [[Mountain Brook, Alabama|Mountain Brook]].<ref name="Frankenberg2009">{{cite journal |last1=Frankenberg |first1=Erica |title=Splintering School Districts: Understanding the Link between Segregation and Fragmentation |journal=Law & Social Inquiry |date=2009 |volume=34 |issue=4 |pages=869–909 |doi=10.1111/j.1747-4469.2009.01166.x |jstor=40539385 |s2cid=143552447}}</ref> The pattern of residential and economic segregation has occurred in many parts of the country, including economic segregation of poorer whites.

==Politics==
Like most urban counties, Jefferson County leans Democratic. It remains the only county in Alabama outside of the Black Belt that votes Democratic. In [[2020 United States presidential election in Alabama|2020]], [[Joe Biden]] received 55.7% of the vote in Jefferson County, the best performance by a Democrat since [[Franklin Roosevelt]] in [[1944 United States presidential election in Alabama|1944]]. Before Obama's victory, Jefferson County had last supported the official Democratic candidate for president in [[1952 United States presidential election in Alabama|1952]], and only once since 1944.

{{PresHead|place=Jefferson County, Alabama}}
<!-- PresRow should be {{PresRow|Year|Winning party|GOP vote #|Dem vote #|3rd party vote #|State}} -->
{{PresRow|2024|Democratic|131,123|162,112|5,469|Alabama}}
{{PresRow|2020|Democratic|138,843|181,688|5,317|Alabama}}
{{PresRow|2016|Democratic|134,768|156,873|12,550|Alabama}}
{{PresRow|2012|Democratic|141,683|159,876|2,964|Alabama}}
{{PresRow|2008|Democratic|149,921|166,121|2,482|Alabama}}
{{PresRow|2004|Republican|158,680|132,286|2,001|Alabama}}
{{PresRow|2000|Republican|138,491|129,889|5,383|Alabama}}
{{PresRow|1996|Republican|130,980|120,208|9,718|Alabama}}
{{PresRow|1992|Republican|149,832|125,889|23,163|Alabama}}
{{PresRow|1988|Republican|148,879|107,766|1,188|Alabama}}
{{PresRow|1984|Republican|158,362|107,506|679|Alabama}}
{{PresRow|1980|Republican|132,612|113,069|13,831|Alabama}}
{{PresRow|1976|Republican|113,590|99,531|3,969|Alabama}}
{{PresRow|1972|Republican|135,095|57,288|6,145|Alabama}}
{{PresRow|1968|American Independent|39,752|55,845|109,436|Alabama}}
{{PresRow|1964|Republican|100,756|0|38,082|Alabama}}
{{PresRow|1960|Republican|60,004|44,369|1,525|Alabama}}
{{PresRow|1956|Republican|43,695|38,604|5,214|Alabama}}
{{PresRow|1952|Democratic|32,254|38,111|401|Alabama}}
{{PresRow|1948|Dixiecrat|7,261|0|30,600|Alabama}}
{{PresRow|1944|Democratic|7,409|31,101|174|Alabama}}
{{PresRow|1940|Democratic|6,714|37,110|177|Alabama}}
{{PresRow|1936|Democratic|3,813|35,982|403|Alabama}}
{{PresRow|1932|Democratic|4,572|31,156|811|Alabama}}
{{PresRow|1928|Republican|18,060|16,735|112|Alabama}}
{{PresRow|1924|Democratic|5,678|15,133|2,969|Alabama}}
{{PresRow|1920|Democratic|7,124|24,982|833|Alabama}}
{{PresRow|1916|Democratic|2,052|10,677|391|Alabama}}
{{PresRow|1912|Democratic|693|8,887|2,646|Alabama}}
{{PresRow|1908|Democratic|2,182|7,803|722|Alabama}}
{{PresRow|1904|Democratic|1,090|6,424|508|Alabama}}
{{PresRow|1900|Democratic|2,842|4,580|299|Alabama}}
{{PresRow|1896|Democratic|3,394|8,819|819|Alabama}}
{{PresRow|1892|Democratic|296|10,055|4,953|Alabama}}
{{PresRow|1888|Democratic|3,001|5,508|104|Alabama}}
{{PresRow|1884|Democratic|2,018|2,183|63|Alabama}}
{{PresRow|1880|Democratic|781|1,712|176|Alabama}}
{{PresRow|1876|Democratic|689|2,102|0|Alabama}}
{{PresRow|1872|Democratic|1,053|1,204|0|Alabama}}
{{PresRow|1868|Democratic|420|538|0|Alabama}}
{{PresRow|1860|Southern Democratic|0|77|1,076|Alabama}}
{{PresRow|1856|Democratic|0|697|196|Alabama}}
{{PresRow|1852|Democratic|114|339|0|Alabama}}
{{PresRow|1848|Democratic|288|385|0|Alabama}}
{{PresRow|1844|Democratic|264|585|0|Alabama}}
{{PresRow|1840|Democratic|315|582|0|Alabama}}
{{PresRow|1836|Democratic|230|536|0|Alabama}}
{{PresRow|1832|Democratic|0|383|0|Alabama}}
{{PresRow|1828|Democratic|23|512|0|Alabama}}
{{PresFoot|1824|Democratic|92|340|24|Alabama}}

==Transportation==

===Major highways===
{{div col|colwidth=18em}}
*[[File:I-20 (AL).svg|20px]] [[Interstate 20 (Alabama)|Interstate 20]]
*[[File:I-22 (AL).svg|20px]] [[Interstate 22 (Alabama)|Interstate 22]]
*[[File:I-59 (AL).svg|20px]] [[Interstate 59 (Alabama)|Interstate 59]]
*[[File:I-65 (AL).svg|20px]] [[Interstate 65 (Alabama)|Interstate 65]]
*[[File:I-222 (Future).svg|25px]] [[Interstate 222 (Alabama)|Future Interstate 222]]
*[[File:I-422 (Future).svg|25px]] [[Interstate 422 (Alabama)|Future Interstate 422]]
*[[File:I-459 (AL).svg|25px]] [[Interstate 459 (Alabama)|Interstate 459]]
*[[File:US 11.svg|20px]] [[U.S. Route 11 in Alabama|U.S. Route 11]]
*[[File:US 31.svg|20px]] [[U.S. Route 31 (Alabama)|U.S. Route 31]]
*[[File:US 78.svg|20px]] [[U.S. Route 78 (Alabama)|U.S. Route 78]]
*[[File:US 280.svg|25px]] [[U.S. Route 280 (Alabama)|U.S. Route 280]]
*[[File:US 411.svg|25px]] [[U.S. Route 411 (Alabama)|U.S. Route 411]]
*[[File:Alabama 5.svg|20px]] [[State Route 5 (Alabama)|State Route 5]]
*[[File:Alabama 25.svg|20px]] [[Alabama State Route 25|State Route 25]]
*[[File:Alabama 75.svg|20px]] [[State Route 75 (Alabama)|State Route 75]]
*[[File:Alabama 79.svg|20px]] [[State Route 79 (Alabama)|State Route 79]]
*[[File:Alabama 119.svg|25px]] [[Alabama State Route 119|State Route 119]]
*[[File:Alabama 149.svg|25px]] [[State Route 149 (Alabama)|State Route 149]]
*[[File:Alabama 150.svg|25px]] [[State Route 150 (Alabama)|State Route 150]]
*[[File:Alabama 151.svg|25px]] [[Alabama State Route 151|State Route 151]]
*[[File:Alabama 269.svg|25px]] [[State Route 269 (Alabama)|State Route 269]]
*[[File:Alabama 378.svg|25px]] [[State Route 378 (Alabama)|State Route 378]] 
{{div col end}}

===Railroads===
[[Amtrak]] passenger service is provided by the [[Crescent (train)|Crescent]], which stops in Birmingham. Freight service is provided by [[BNSF Railway]], [[CSX Transportation]], [[Norfolk Southern Railway]], [[Alabama & Tennessee River Railway]] and [[Birmingham Terminal Railway]] (formerly Birmingham Southern Railroad). There is also one [[switching and terminal railroad]], [[Alabama Warrior Railway]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dot.state.al.us/moweb/Rail/2014%20RailDirectory_Final.pdf |title=2013 Alabama Rail Directory |work=[[Alabama Department of Transportation]] |date=June 2014 |access-date=March 5, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150303140746/http://www.dot.state.al.us/moweb/Rail/2014%20RailDirectory_Final.pdf |archive-date=March 3, 2015}}</ref>

===Air travel===
Birmingham is the location of the [[Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport]], which provides service, either direct or connecting, to most of the rest of the United States.

==Communities==

===Cities===
{{div col|colwidth=18em}}
*[[Adamsville, Alabama|Adamsville]]
*[[Bessemer, Alabama|Bessemer]]
*[[Birmingham, Alabama|Birmingham]] (county seat; partly in [[Shelby County, Alabama|Shelby County]])
*[[Brighton, Alabama|Brighton]]
*[[Center Point, Alabama|Center Point]]
*[[Clay, Alabama|Clay]]
*[[Fairfield, Alabama|Fairfield]]
*[[Fultondale, Alabama|Fultondale]]
*[[Gardendale, Alabama|Gardendale]]
*[[Graysville, Alabama|Graysville]]
*[[Helena, Alabama|Helena]] (mostly in [[Shelby County, Alabama|Shelby County]])
*[[Homewood, Alabama|Homewood]]
*[[Hoover, Alabama|Hoover]] (partly in [[Shelby County, Alabama|Shelby County]])
*[[Hueytown, Alabama|Hueytown]]
*[[Irondale, Alabama|Irondale]]
*[[Kimberly, Alabama|Kimberly]]
*[[Leeds, Alabama|Leeds]] (partly in [[Shelby County, Alabama|Shelby County]] and [[St. Clair County, Alabama|St. Clair County]])
*[[Lipscomb, Alabama|Lipscomb]]
*[[Mountain Brook, Alabama|Mountain Brook]]
*[[Pinson, Alabama|Pinson]]
*[[Pleasant Grove, Alabama|Pleasant Grove]]
*[[Sumiton, Alabama|Sumiton]] (partly in [[Walker County, Alabama|Walker County]])
*[[Tarrant, Alabama|Tarrant]]
*[[Trussville, Alabama|Trussville]] (partly in [[St. Clair County, Alabama|St. Clair County]])
*[[Vestavia Hills, Alabama|Vestavia Hills]] (partly in [[Shelby County, Alabama|Shelby County]])
*[[Warrior, Alabama|Warrior]] (partly in [[Blount County, Alabama|Blount County]])
{{div col end}}

===Towns===
{{div col}}
*[[Argo, Alabama|Argo]] (partly in [[St. Clair County, Alabama|St. Clair County]])
*[[Brookside, Alabama|Brookside]]
*[[Cardiff, Alabama|Cardiff]]
*[[County Line, Alabama|County Line]] (partly in [[Blount County, Alabama|Blount County]])
*[[Lake View, Alabama|Lake View]] (partly in [[Tuscaloosa County, Alabama|Tuscaloosa County]])<!--From https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/DC2020/DC20BLK/st01_al/place/p0140928_lake_view/DC20BLK_P0140928.pdf -->
*[[Maytown, Alabama|Maytown]]
*[[Midfield, Alabama|Midfield]]
*[[Morris, Alabama|Morris]]
*[[Mulga, Alabama|Mulga]]
*[[North Johns, Alabama|North Johns]]
*[[Sylvan Springs, Alabama|Sylvan Springs]]
*[[Trafford, Alabama|Trafford]]
*[[West Jefferson, Alabama|West Jefferson]]
{{div col end}}

===Census-designated places===
{{div col}}
*[[Chalkville, Alabama|Chalkville]] (former; annexed by city of Clay)
*[[Concord, Alabama|Concord]]
*[[Edgewater, Alabama|Edgewater]]
*[[Forestdale, Alabama|Forestdale]]
*[[Grayson Valley, Alabama|Grayson Valley]]
*[[McCalla, Alabama|McCalla]]
*[[McDonald Chapel, Alabama|McDonald Chapel]]
*[[Minor, Alabama|Minor]]
*[[Mount Olive, Jefferson County, Alabama|Mount Olive]]
*[[Rock Creek, Alabama|Rock Creek]]
{{div col end}}

===Unincorporated communities===
{{div col|colwidth=22em}}
*[[Adger, Alabama|Adger]]
*[[Alton, Alabama|Alton]]
*[[Bayview, Alabama|Bayview]]
*[[Bagley, Alabama|Bagley]]
*[[Bradford, Alabama|Bradford]]
*[[Coalburg, Alabama|Coalburg]]
*[[Corner, Alabama|Corner]]
*[[Crumley Chapel, Alabama|Crumley Chapel]]
*[[Docena, Alabama|Docena]]
*[[Dolomite, Alabama|Dolomite]]
*[[Flat Top, Jefferson County, Alabama|Flat Top]]
*[[Hopewell, Jefferson County, Alabama|Hopewell]]
*[[Kimbrell, Alabama|Kimbrell]]
*[[New Castle, Alabama|New Castle]]
*[[Palmerdale, Alabama|Palmerdale]] (Neighborhood of [[Pinson, Alabama]])
*[[Robbins Crossroads, Alabama|Robbins Crossroads]]
*[[Sayre, Alabama|Sayre]]
*[[Shannon, Alabama|Shannon]]
*[[Watson, Alabama|Watson]]
{{div col end}}

===Former towns===
{{div col}}
*[[Acipcoville, Alabama|Acipcoville]], (former community, now a neighborhood in Birmingham)
*[[Elyton, Alabama|Elyton]] (former Jefferson County Seat, now a neighborhood in Birmingham)
*[[Ensley (Birmingham)|Ensley]] (former town, now a neighborhood in Birmingham)
*[[North Birmingham]], (former city, now a neighborhood in Birmingham)
*[[Westfield, Alabama|Westfield]], (former company town, now an unincorporated community)
*[[Woodlawn (Birmingham)|Woodlawn]], (former city, now a neighborhood in Birmingham)
{{div col end}}

==See also==
*[[Jefferson County Library Cooperative]]
*[[National Register of Historic Places listings in Jefferson County, Alabama]]

==References==
;Specific
{{Reflist|30em}}

;General
{{Refbegin}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20100402225157/http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/32906678/looting_main_street/print "Looting Main Street: How the nation's biggest banks are ripping off American cities with the same predatory deals that brought down Greece"], ''Rolling Stone'' March 31, 2010
*[http://frtillman.net/LootingMS.htm The Sewer of Gold and other famous crooks] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723132218/http://frtillman.net/LootingMS.htm |date=July 23, 2011 }} from frtillman.net
{{Refend}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20090725055532/http://jeffconline.jccal.org/ Official website]
**[http://www.jcdh.org/ Jefferson County Department of Health]
**[http://www.jefcoed.com/ Jefferson County Department of Education]
**[http://www.jclc.org/ Jefferson County Library System]
**{{usurped|1=[https://archive.today/20130114000734/http://www.jeffcosheriff.org/ Jefferson County Sheriff's Department]}}
*[http://www.jeffersonhistorical.org/ Jefferson County Historical Commission]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070707025403/http://www.sharehistory.com/westjefferson/ West Jefferson County Historical Society]
*[http://www.jeffcohistory.com/ Jefferson County Historical Association]

{{Geographic location
|Center    = Jefferson County, Alabama
|North     = [[Walker County, Alabama|Walker County]] and [[Blount County, Alabama|Blount County]]
|Northeast = [[St. Clair County, Alabama|St. Clair County]]
|East      = St. Clair County
|Southeast = Shelby County
|South     = [[Shelby County, Alabama|Shelby County]]
|Southwest = Tuscaloosa County and (a very short boundary with) [[Bibb County, Alabama|Bibb County]]
|West      = [[Tuscaloosa County, Alabama|Tuscaloosa County]]
|Northwest = Walker County
}}

{{Jefferson County, Alabama}}
{{Alabama}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Jefferson County, Alabama| ]]
[[Category:Alabama counties]]
[[Category:1819 establishments in Alabama]]
[[Category:Birmingham metropolitan area, Alabama]]
[[Category:Government units that have filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy]]
[[Category:Populated places established in 1819]]
[[Category:Majority-minority counties in Alabama]]