Bessemer is a city in Jefferson County, Alabama, United States and a southwestern suburb of Birmingham. The population was 26,019 at the 2020 census. It is within the Birmingham-Hoover, AL Metropolitan Statistical Area, of which Jefferson County is the center. It developed rapidly as an industrial city in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

U.S. Route 11 (US 11) runs southwest to northeast across northcentral Alabama for 250.671 miles (403.416 km). It enters the state from Mississippi concurrent with US 80 and exits into Georgia east of Sulphur Springs. US 11 runs through the major cities of Tuscaloosa and Birmingham, as well as the smaller cities and towns of Cuba, York, Livingston, Epes, Boligee, Eutaw, Cottondale, Coaling, Woodstock, Bessemer, Brighton, Midfield, Trussville, Argo, Springville, Ashville, Steele, Attalla, Reece City, and Collinsville. State Route 7 (SR 7) is designated along the entire route but unsigned.