The Shoals is a metropolitan area in northwestern Alabama, officially known as the Florence-Muscle Shoals Metropolitan Area, including the cities of Florence, Muscle Shoals, Tuscumbia, and Sheffield, and the counties of Lauderdale and Colbert. The population is around 200,000 and an additional 410,000 commute to the Shoals daily for work, school, shopping, and more according to a recent Shoals publication called "Four Cities, Four Cultures".