MARK ALMOND

By Kelly Poe | kpoe@al.com

The biggest employers in Alabama counties range from universities, to the Department of Defense, to prisons, to school systems. We compiled the largest employer in every county in Alabama.

Unfortunately, there's no perfect way to gather this data - there's no central source. Most of the data in this story come from the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama's Advantage Alabama site, and most of its information comes from local economic development groups. A few counties didn't have data on the site, so we reached out to local chambers of commerce and economic development groups. In all but one case we got at least an estimate on employment numbers (Sorry, Perry County).

Some notable trends: school systems are a common large employer, and not just for more rural counties. Shelby County's largest employer is the school system, and it's also Alabama's most affluent county by per capita income. Despite total manufacturing employment having drastically declined since a decade ago, manufacturers of everything from kitchen cabinets to car parts remain the top employers in many rural counties.

Here are the top employers in every Alabama county.

(The Birmingham News/ Mark Almond)

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Trisha Powell Crain | tcrain@al.com

Autauga County

Employer: Autauga County Board of Education

Number of employees: 1,100

Industry: Education

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Baldwin County Public Schools

Baldwin County

Employer: Baldwin County Board of Education

Number of employees: 3,851

Industry: Education

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JULIE BENNETT

Barbour County

Employer: Keystone Foods

Number of employees: 1,250

Industry: Poultry processing

(File photo - not Keystone Foods)

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MARK ALMOND

Bibb County

Employer: Burkes Mechanical

Number of employees: 750

Industry: Industrial contractor

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LINDA STELTER

Blount County

Employer: Blount County Board of Education

Number of employees: 900

Industry: Education

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JULIE BENNETT

Bullock County

Employer: Wayne Farms

Number of employees: 980

Industry: Poultry Processing

(File photo - not Wayne Farms)

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Kelly Poe | kpoe@al.com

Butler County

Employer: Hwashin America Corporation

Number of employees: 750

Industry: Auto manufacturing

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Calhoun County

Employer: Anniston Army Depot

Number of employees: 4,100

Industry: Defense

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Courtesy Chambers County Schools

Chambers County

Employer: Chambers County Schools

Number of employees: 490

Industry: Education

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Kelly Poe | kpoe@al.com

Cherokee County

Employer: KTH Leesburg Products LLC

Number of employees: 508

Industry: Auto manufacturing

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Morgan Anderson

Chilton County

Employer: Adient

Number of employees: 850

Industry: Auto manufacturing

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Choctaw County

Employer: Georgia Pacific Naheola Mill

Number of employees: 800

Industry: Paper manufacturing

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MICHAEL PALMER

Clarke County

Employer: Boise Casacade Corporation

Number of employees: 570

Industry: Paper manufacturing

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Charles Nesbitt

Clay County

Employer: Wellborn Cabinets

Number of employees: 1,200

Industry: Cabinets

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Cleburne County

Employer: L.E. Bell Construction

Number of employees: 525

Industry: Pipeline construction

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JULIE BENNETT

Coffee County

Employer: Wayne Farms

Number of employees: 1,200

Industry: Poultry processing

(File photo - not Wayne Farms)

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Joe Songer | jsonger@al.com

Colbert County

Employer: North American Lighting

Number of employees: 1,437

Industry: Auto Manufacturing

(File photo - not North American Lighting)

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William Thornton | wthornton@al.com

Conecuh County

Employer: GUYOUNG TECH

Number of employees: 450

Industry: Auto manufacturing

(File photo - Guyoung is a Hyundai supplier, but this is not a photo of Guyoung Tech)

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Kelly Poe | kpoe@al.com

Coosa County

Employer: Madix

Number of employees: 330

Industry: Shelving

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Covington County

Employer: Shaw Industries

Number of employees: 1,082

Industry: Carpet

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Kelly Poe | kpoe@al.com

Crenshaw County

Employer: Smart Alabama LLC

Number of employees: 745

Industry: Auto Manufacturing

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CHRISTINE PRICHARD

Cullman County

Employer: Cullman County Schools

Number of employees: 1,241

Industry: Education

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Contributed photo/L-3

Dale County

Employer: Army Fleet Support

Number of employees: 3,284

Industry: Aviation maintenance

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Dallas County

Employer: International Paper Company

Number of employees: 768

Industry: Paper manufacturing

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Ivana Hrynkiw | ihrynkiw@al.com

Dekalb County

Employer: DeKalb County School System

Number of employees: 1,009

Industry: Education

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Elmore County

Employer: Board of Education

Number of employees: 1,300

Industry: Education

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Julie Bennett

Escambia County

Employer: Wind Creek Casino and Hotel

Number of employees: 1,056

Industry: Hospitality

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William Thornton / wthornton@al.com

Etowah County

Employer: Goodyear

Number of employees: 1,500

Industry: Tire Manufacturing

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Fayette County

Employer: Fayette Medical Center

Number of employees: 315

Industry: Healthcare

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JULIE BENNETT

Franklin County

Employer: Pilgrim's

Number of employees: 1,140

Industry: Poultry processing

(File photo - not Pilgrim's)

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Kelly Poe | kpoe@al.com

Geneva County

Employer: Reliable Products

Number of employees: 550

Industry: HVAC manufacturing

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Heather Charles

Greene County

Employer: WestRock Company

Number of employees: 200

Industry: Paper Boxes

(File/Heather Charles/Chicago Trib une/MCT - not WestRock Company)

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Patrick Sison

Hale County

Employer: Golden Peanut Company

Number of employees: 140

Industry: Peanuts

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Henry County

Employer: Henry County Schools

Number of employees: 310 full-time equivalents

Industry: Education

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Kelly Poe | kpoe@al.com

Houston County

Employer: Southeast Alabama Medical Center

Number of employees: 2,113

Industry: Healthcare

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Jackson County

Employer: Maples Industries

Number of employees: 1,862

Industry: Rugs

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Lucy Berry | lberry@al.com

Jefferson County

Employer: UAB

Number of employees: 23,000

Industry: Education and healthcare

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Lamar County

Employer: NACCO Materials Handling Group

Number of employees: 570

Industry: Fork lift manufacturing

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File photo

Lauderdale County

Employer: ECM Hospitals

Number of employees: 1,222

Industry: Healthcare

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Haley Laurence | hlaurence@al.com

Lawrence County

Employer: Lawrence County School System

Number of employees: 630

Industry: Education

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Dawn Kent Azok dazok@al.com

Lee County

Employer: Auburn University

Number of employees: 5,500

Industry: Education

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Bob Gathany | bgathany@al.com

Limestone County

Employer: TVA

Number of employees: 1,500

Industry: Nuclear Power

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Lowndes County

Employer: SABIC

Number of employees: 315

Industry: Plastics

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Macon County

Employer: Halla Climate Systems Alabama

Number of employees: 650

Industry: Auto manufacturing

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Al.com

Madison County

Employer: Redstone Arsenal

Number of employees: 35,000

Industry: Defense

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Marengo County

Employer: Rock Tenn Company

Number of employees: 512

Industry: Paper manufacturing

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Marion County

Employer: Door Components LLC/ Kith Kitchens

Number of employees: 550

Industry: Cabinet doors

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JULIE BENNETT

Marshall County

Employer: AlaTrade Foods

Number of employees: 1,275

Industry: Poultry processing

(File photo - not AlaTrade Foods)

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Mike Brantley

Mobile County

Employer: Mobile County Public School System

Number of employees: 7,500

Industry: Education

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Monroe County

Employer: Georgia Pacific - Alabama River Cellulose

Number of employees: 479

Industry: Fluff pulp

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Montgomery County

Employer: Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base

Number of employees: 12,280

Industry: Defense

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Morgan County

Employer: Decatur-Morgan Hospital

Number of employees: 1,365

Industry: Healthcare

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Perry County

Employer: Perry County

Number of employees: Unable to confirm

Industry: Government

Perry County Chamber of Commerce cites the county as the largest employer, but was unable to provide an estimate of employment by press time.

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Kelly Poe | kpoe@al.com

Pickens County

Employer: FCI Aliceville

Number of employees: 350

Industry: Corrections

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Pike County

Employer: Troy University

Number of employees: 1,662

Industry: Education

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Beverly Taylor

Randolph County

Employer: Mohawk Industries

Number of employees: 375

Industry: Carpet

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Russell County

Employer: Phenix City Board of Education

Number of employees: 983

Industry: Education

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St. Clair County

Employer: St. Clair County Board of Education

Number of employees: 965

Industry: Education

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Chelsea High School

Shelby County

Employer: Shelby County Board of Education

Number of employees: 2,491

Industry: Education

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Sumter County

Employer: McElroy Truck Lines

Number of employees: 750

Industry: Trucking

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Joe Songer | jsonger@al.com

Talladega County

Employer: Honda of Alabama

Number of employees: 5,000

Industry: Auto manufacturing

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Tallapoosa County

Employer: SL Alabama

Number of employees: 845

Industry: Automotive plastics

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Tuscaloosa County

Employer: The University of Alabama

Number of employees: 11,988

Industry: Education

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Walker County

Employer: Walker County Board of Education

Number of employees: 1,000

Industry: Education

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Washington County

Employer: BASF

Number of employees: 400

Industry: Chemical

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Wilcox County

Employer: International Paper Company

Number of employees: 500

Industry: Paper

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William Thornton | wthornton@al.com

Winston County

Employer: Kith Kitchen

Number of employees: 501

Industry: Cabinets

(File photo - not Kith Kitchen)