Arkansas metropolitan areas explained

The State of Arkansas has a total of eight metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) that are fully or partially located in the state. Twenty of the state's 75 counties are classified by the United States Census Bureau as metropolitan.

Among these is one of the fastest growing MSAs in the United States, Fayetteville Springdale-Rogers.^[1]

Metropolitan areas

The following table lists population figures for the metropolitan areas with their Arkansas counties, in rank of population. Population figures are from the 2016 U.S. Census estimate.

Rank	Metropolitan Area	Population^[2]	County	Population
1	Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR	734,622	Faulkner	122,227
		Grant	18,082
		Lonoke	72,228
		Perry	10,132
		Pulaski	393,250
		Saline	118,703
2	Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR	525,032	Benton	258,291
		Madison	16,072
		Washington	228,049
3	Fort Smith, AR-OK	281,227	Crawford	62,267
		Franklin	17,626
		Sebastian	127,793
4	Texarkana, AR-TX	150,098	Miller	43,787
5	Jonesboro, AR	129,858	Craighead	105,835
		Poinsett	24,023
6	Hot Springs, AR	97,477	Garland	97,477
7	Pine Bluff, AR	91,962	Cleveland	8,241
		Jefferson	70,016
		Lincoln	13,705
8	West Memphis, TN-MS-AR	1,342,842	Crittenden	49,235

Combined Statistical Areas

There are three combined statistical areas (CSAs) in the state. The Little Rock-North Little Rock, AR Combined Statistical Area includes the Little Rock and Pine Bluff metropolitan areas and the Searcy micropolitan area. The Jonesboro-Paragould combined statistical area was created by the Census Bureau in 2005 and includes the Jonesboro metropolitan area and Paragould micropolitan area. The Hot Springs-Malvern Combined statistical area was created in 2013 which includes the Hot Springs metropolitan area and the Malvern micropolitan area.

Population statistics

The three Combined Statistical Areas in the state are listed in the table below with their populations from the 2016 U.S. Census estimate.

Rank	Combined Statistical Area	Population^[3]	Core Based Statistical Area	Population
1	Little Rock-North Little Rock	905,847	Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR MSA	734,622
		Pine Bluff, AR MSA	91,962
		Searcy, AR μSA	79,263
2	Jonesboro-Paragould	174,456	Jonesboro, AR MSA	129,858
		Paragould, AR μSA	44,598
3	Hot Springs-Malvern	130,851	Hot Springs, AR MSA	97,477
		Malvern, AR μSA	33,374

See also

• Arkansas statistical areas

References

1. Web site: Economic Growth with Limited Agglomeration Economies . University of Arkansas . Aug 18, 2012.
2. Web site: Metropolitan Statistical Area . July 11, 2017 . U.S. Census Bureau . https://web.archive.org/web/20161021071057/http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=PEP_2015_PEPCUMCHG.US24PR&prodType=table . October 21, 2016 . dead .
3. Web site: Combined Statistical Area . July 11, 2017 . U.S. Census Bureau . https://web.archive.org/web/20160810132055/http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=PEP_2015_PEPCUMCHG.US41PR&prodType=table . August 10, 2016 . dead .