Real estate agents and brokers
This trade had 116 locations in 2017 and 213 in 2022. Newcomers who have not yet chosen a provider are the main reason to be easy to find while the count keeps climbing.
Who is already here, and who is arriving 
5.0 Rating on Google
Madison County AL Business Landscape, Trade by Trade
The Madison County AL business landscape is a story of a county adding people faster than most, and businesses following them. Census data for 2022 count 9,208 employer locations and 184,414 jobs at them, and the county's population estimate rose from 388,153 in 2020 to 433,516 in 2025. GetPhound is an online marketing company, and this page reads fifteen trades from that data so an owner can see how crowded the field is before choosing a plan.
5.0 Rating on Google- 412,600Residents, 2023 estimate
- +6.3 percentGrowth, 2020 to 2023
- 9,208Employer locations, 2022
- 184,414Jobs at those locations
- 171,313Housing units in the survey
The full table
All Fifteen Trades Side by Side
Read each row from left to right: how many locations, how dense they are for the population, whether that is more or less than a typical county, how small they usually are and whether the count has grown. The small-share column reads as a number out of 100.
| Trade | Locations in 2022 | Per 10,000 residents | Against a typical county | Share with under 10 staff | Locations with 20 or more staff | Change from 2017 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residential remodelers | 96 | 2.3 | 0.7 times | 94 of 100 | 0 | +52.4 percent |
| Roofing contractors | 24 | 0.6 | 0.7 times | 96 of 100 | 0 | +26.3 percent |
| Electrical contractors | 70 | 1.7 | 0.7 times | 63 of 100 | 12 | +4.5 percent |
| Plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors | 110 | 2.7 | 0.8 times | 72 of 100 | 19 | +26.4 percent |
| Insurance agencies and brokerages | 116 | 2.8 | 0.8 times | 92 of 100 | 4 | +9.4 percent |
| Real estate agents and brokers | 213 | 5.2 | 1.9 times | 96 of 100 | 0 | +83.6 percent |
| Law offices | 173 | 4.2 | 1.4 times | 87 of 100 | 8 | -6 percent |
| Accounting and CPA firms | 52 | 1.3 | 0.9 times | 75 of 100 | 8 | +4 percent |
| Janitorial services | 91 | 2.2 | 1.3 times | 80 of 100 | 8 | +37.9 percent |
| Landscaping services | 135 | 3.3 | 1 times | 84 of 100 | 13 | +26.2 percent |
| Physicians offices | 285 | 6.9 | 1.7 times | 66 of 100 | 42 | -6.9 percent |
| Dentists | 155 | 3.8 | 1.3 times | 69 of 100 | 5 | -6.6 percent |
| Full-service restaurants | 250 | 6.1 | 0.9 times | 31 of 100 | 122 | +7.3 percent |
| General automotive repair | 78 | 1.9 | 0.7 times | 95 of 100 | 0 | +18.2 percent |
| Beauty salons | 85 | 2.1 | 1.1 times | 82 of 100 | 0 | 0 percent |
Source: Census County Business Patterns for 2017 and 2022. A person working alone without a payroll is not counted. Per-resident figures use the 2023 estimate of 412,600; typical means the median county with 20,000 or more residents.
Where the crowding is
Real Estate and Doctors Face the Thickest Competition
Against a typical county, real estate agents and brokers are the most crowded trade here, at 1.9 times the usual density, and they also grew the fastest from 2017 to 2022. Physician offices follow at 1.7 times the typical density, then law offices at 1.4, dentists at 1.3 and janitorial services at 1.3. A business in any of those trades is likely to be competing with many neighbors for the same search.
Crowding does not mean there is no room. It means the answer to "why you" has to be clear: a specific neighborhood, a specific service or a specific kind of customer. In the less crowded trades, such as roofing at 0.7 times the typical density and electrical or auto repair at 0.7 and 0.7, accurate listings and well-organized pages may be enough to stand out.
Growth and decline
Which Trades Added Locations and Which Lost Them
The county's population rose while some professional trades lost locations. The census counts do not say why, so treat the pattern as a hint, not a verdict.
Residential remodelers
This trade had 63 locations in 2017 and 96 in 2022. Newcomers who have not yet chosen a provider are the main reason to be easy to find while the count keeps climbing.
Janitorial services
This trade had 66 locations in 2017 and 91 in 2022. Newcomers who have not yet chosen a provider are the main reason to be easy to find while the count keeps climbing.
Plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors
This trade had 87 locations in 2017 and 110 in 2022. Newcomers who have not yet chosen a provider are the main reason to be easy to find while the count keeps climbing.
Physicians offices
This trade had 306 locations in 2017 and 285 in 2022. A smaller count in a growing county usually means larger practices absorbing smaller ones, so the remaining businesses compete harder for each new household.
Dentists
This trade had 166 locations in 2017 and 155 in 2022. A smaller count in a growing county usually means larger practices absorbing smaller ones, so the remaining businesses compete harder for each new household.
Law offices
This trade had 184 locations in 2017 and 173 in 2022. A smaller count in a growing county usually means larger practices absorbing smaller ones, so the remaining businesses compete harder for each new household.
New homes
Residential Units Authorized by Permit, 2021 to 2025
New homes are where new customers come from. Each permitted home is a household that will soon need an internet connection, a lawn, a roof inspection and a dentist.
| Year | New homes permitted |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 5,541 |
| 2022 | 3,187 |
| 2023 | 5,449 |
| 2024 | 4,710 |
| 2025 | 4,095 |
Census Building Permits Survey, new privately owned housing units authorized by permit.
Reading the permit years
The Permit Years Show a Busy Pipeline Rather Than a Straight Line
The permit numbers rose and fell across five years, from 5,541 in 2021 to 3,187 in 2022 and 5,449 in 2023, then 4,710 in 2024 and 4,095 in 2025. A dip is not the end of growth. Permits track what builders applied for in a year, and a year with fewer of them can follow a year that was pulled forward.
For a business owner the practical reading is about timing. Homes authorized in one year are lived in a year or two later, so remodelers, landscapers, cleaning services and home-service trades often see the work after the permit year. Pair this view with the coverage map to see which communities are likely to hold the new households.
Three kinds of owner
What the Numbers Mean for Three Kinds of Owner
The owner in a crowded trade
Pick a narrower promise. A page for one service in one community will outrank a page that says everything about everyone. Consider paid ads for the weeks when organic rankings are still building.
The owner in a growing home trade
Counts rose more than a quarter in some of these trades. Competition is arriving along with demand, so early reviews, listings and pages built for the newest communities matter now.
The owner in a steady trade
Counts changed little, so growth comes from being known. A reliable Business Profile, accurate hours and a page for each service keep you ahead.
Matching trade to plan
A Plan for Each Reading of the Numbers
Prices are monthly, with no setup fee and no contract. Ad spend is paid to the platform and is separate.
Reading the numbers
Questions About the Trade Counts and What They Mean
How much does Madison County AL business landscape analysis cost?
The analysis comes with the planning in every plan. RankGuarantee™ landing pages are $495 a month, Organic Growth is $1,495, $2,495 or $3,495 a month, and paid ads management is $895 a month for one platform. There is no setup fee and no contract.
Do these counts include businesses that opened last year?
No. They come from County Business Patterns for 2017 and 2022, so a business that opened after 2022 does not appear. The numbers show structure, not today's headcount. Use them to compare trades and not to count your neighbors precisely.
Why does the real estate row look so high?
The count of real estate agent and broker locations grew from 116 in 2017 to 213 in 2022, which is a larger increase than any other trade in the table. That is consistent with a county adding households, but the data does not explain the cause.
What does a high number of small locations tell me?
It tells you most competitors are small and likely to look similar online. Where 90-plus of 100 locations have under 10 staff, a well-organized site and profile can stand out. Restaurants and physician offices have more large locations, so the picture is different.
Are doctors and dentists losing ground?
Their location counts fell, with physician offices going from 306 to 285 and dentists from 166 to 155. A drop in locations is not a drop in patients. Practices may have merged, so the remaining ones need to be easy to find for the families arriving.
How do permits relate to my trade?
Permits show where new housing may be heading. They do not predict a specific season, but a year with many approved homes can mean more yards, roofs, interiors and service work in the following year or two, especially in the communities where building is concentrated.
Is my trade left out of the table?
Possibly. The table covers fifteen trades that Census tracks consistently at the county level. If yours is missing, use the closest trade as a guide and ask us for a read based on the county brief instead. We can usually pair it with a neighboring trade and explain the difference.
Does a thin trade mean easy marketing?
Not necessarily. A trade with few locations can still be crowded online if a handful of competitors have strong sites. It helps to look at who appears when someone searches your service and community, and to check what they offer.
Explore more
Pages to Read Once You Know Your Trade
Start Here
- Search Engine OptimizationSearch engine optimization that maps every name a new resident might type to a page, a title and an internal link.
- SEO CompanyWhat a proposal from any Madison County SEO company should contain when the market is growing, crowded or both.
- Digital MarketingA first-quarter order of work for Madison County businesses whose next customers are new residents.
- Online MarketingA look at the website, listings, reviews, social profiles, email and tracking of a Madison County business through a newcomer's eyes.
- HomeSearch engine optimization first, then PPC, Meta Ads (Facebook and Instagram) and a working website, for a county that keeps gaining new residents.
Get Found in Search
Paid Advertising
- Google AdsGoogle Ads for Madison County businesses, aimed at real places and paced against the weather and event calendar.
- PPC ManagementPay-per-click across Google, Bing, Meta Ads and a small ChatGPT ads test, matched to the Madison County trades that crowd the results first.
- Meta AdsMeta Ads (Facebook and Instagram) for Madison County businesses, built around age and household mix, zones, event dates and honest limits.
Website and Content
- Lead GenerationCalls and form fills from households that moved here recently and do not know one local business yet, earned on pages and listings you own.
- Web DesignA website that treats every community you serve as its own page, loads fast on a phone and shows a stranger the way to your door.
- Content MarketingArticles and pages timed to the storm seasons, the heat, the festivals and the names newcomers use for the places they have just moved to.
Around the County
- Coverage MapFourteen places across the county, who sits next to whom, which roads join them and how a business should reach each one.
- Business Landscape (you are here)Fifteen trades read one by one: how many employer locations each has, how large they run, what grew since 2017 and how many new homes are being permitted.
Get in Touch
Tell Us Which Trade You Run
We will read the numbers for your trade with you and pair them with a plan. Call 610-825-4363 or email hello@getphound.com.