Cottondale is a census-designated place in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, United States, now encompassed in the eastern suburbs of Tuscaloosa. The ZIP Code is 35453. Alternative spellings include Cotton Dale, Kennedale, Kennidale and Konnidale.

Cottondale was the site of cotton mills where the Knights of Labor had some success in organizing drives in the late 1880s; and where "Mother" Jones worked in 1904 while studying conditions for working women and children in the South.

Little girls and boys, barefooted, walked up and down between the endless rows of spindles, reaching thin little hands into the machinery to repair snapped threads.... Tiny babies of six years old with faces of sixty did an eight-hour shift for ten cents a day.... The machines, built in the north, were built low for the hands of little children.

Cottondale was originally called Kennedale in honor of Joseph Kennedy, one of the owners of a local cotton mill. In 1876, the name was changed to Cottondale for the cotton mill.

Cottondale first appeared as a CDP in the 2020 census.

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
2020	3,130		—
U.S. Decennial Census

Cottondale CDP, Alabama – Racial and Ethnic Composition
(NH = Non-Hispanic)
Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.

Race / Ethnicity	Pop 2020	% 2020
White alone (NH)	1,609	51.41%
Black or African American alone (NH)	1,049	33.51%
Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)	9	0.29%
Asian alone (NH)	15	0.48%
Pacific Islander alone (NH)	2	0.06%
Some Other Race alone (NH)	8	0.26%
Mixed Race/Multi-Racial (NH)	122	3.90%
Hispanic or Latino (any race)	316	10.10%
Total	3,130	100.00%

• Holt, Alabama — an adjacent unincorporated community in Tuscaloosa County
• Alberta City, Tuscaloosa — an adjacent suburb of Tuscaloosa City