For years, the public school system and the University of Alabama system duked it out for the title of largest employer in the state. That is not exactly true anymore (Walmart is the largest single employer as of 2018), but there is a lot to love about one of its largest employers: The industrial-medical complex, particularly the role that Auburn, UAB, and the city of Birmingham have played and continue to play.
With the decline of the steel industry in the latter half of the 20th century, Birmingham’s raison d’etre has been its focus on world-class medicine.