Northeast Alabama

Northeast Alabama is an ambiguous term, which may include the cities of Anniston, Gadsden, and Talladega, their surrounding areas, as well as the geographical northeast extreme of the state of Alabama. The county inclusion varies, and under some generous definitions would include the Birmingham–Hoover–Talladega, AL CSA as the largest and most diverse metropolitan area in the region, followed in population by the Anniston-Oxford MSA and Gadsden MSA. Huntsville, and rarely Auburn, may also be included but typically fall under other regional terms. A narrower and more colloquial use of the term Northeast Alabama may refer only to the areas around Scottsboro and Fort Payne and the Sand Mountain communities in the far northeast of the state, starting around Albertville. A person in Huntsville referring to Northeast Alabama may be using this narrower definition while Huntsville would be included in the broader term North Alabama. Likewise, Gadsden, Anniston, and Oxford may be referred to as part of East Alabama, while the areas in between Guntersville and Gadsden on Sand Mountain would most always be considered Northeast Alabama. Northeast Alabama Community College on the border of Jackson County and Dekalb County on Highway 35 west of Rainsville shares its name with the region, and Jacksonville State University in Jacksonville, Calhoun County is a public university in Northeast Alabama.^[1]

Locales edit

Rank	Metro Area	Population 2008 estimates
1	Birmingham–Hoover–Talladega, AL CSA	1,374,190
2	Huntsville Metropolitan Area	386,632
3	Anniston-Oxford Metropolitan Area	142,950
4	Gadsden Metropolitan Area	103,217

Rank	City	Population 2007 estimates	Metro Area
1	Huntsville	171,327	Huntsville
2	Madison	38,275	Huntsville
3	Gadsden	36,936	Gadsden
4	Anniston	23,689	Anniston-Oxford
5	Oxford	20,329	Anniston-Oxford

Areas in italics aren't traditionally included in the NE Alabama region

Rank	County	Population 2008 estimates	County seat	Statistical Area
1	Madison	319,510	Huntsville	Huntsville
2	Calhoun	113,419	Anniston	Anniston-Oxford
3	Etowah	72,446	Gadsden	Gadsden
4	Marshall	88,484	Guntersville	Albertville μSA
5	Talladega	80,279	Talladega	Talladega μSA
6	St. Clair	79,837	Ashville / Pell City	Birmingham-Hoover
7	Dekalb	68,515	Fort Payne	Fort Payne μSA
8	Jackson	53,134	Scottsboro	Scottsboro μSA
9	Cherokee	24,545	Centre	none
10	Cleburne	14,799	Heflin	none

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