Baldwin County is a county located in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Alabama, on the Gulf coast. It is one of only two counties in Alabama that border the Gulf of Mexico, along with Mobile County. As of the 2020 census, the population was 231,767. The county seat is Bay Minette. The county is named after senator Abraham Baldwin, though he never lived in what is now Alabama.
Baldwin was Alabama's fastest-growing county from 2010 to 2020, with 4 of the top 10 fastest-growing cities in the state in recent years.
The U.S. federal government designates Baldwin County as the Daphne-Fairhope-Foley, AL Metropolitan Statistical Area.
It is the largest county in Alabama by area and is located on the eastern side of Mobile Bay. Part of its western border with Mobile County is formed by the Spanish River, a brackish distributary river.