Preliminary figures from the 2010 Census tell an encouraging story for Northwest Arkansas. With a 9.1 percent population growth rate for Arkansas, 47 percent of that growth was in Washington and Benton counties and an additional 8 percent was in Crawford and Sebastian counties. The increase in Washington and Benton Counties was 36.4 percent—an average of 944 new residents every month over the ten years. In percentage terms, Benton County was the fastest growing county in Arkansas (44.3%) and Washington County was the fourth fastest (28.8%). Northwest Arkansas is now home to four of the ten largest cities in Arkansas: Fayetteville (3rd), Springdale (4th), Rogers (8th) and Bentonville (10th). Additionally, three cities grew by more than 50 percent in the decade: Bentonville (78.9%), Bella Vista (59.5%) and Springdale (51.4%).
Northwest Arkansas by the Numbers
