Arkansas welcomed 18,700 new residents between 2024 and 2025, marking a 0.6% annual population increase driven primarily by people moving from other states, according to a new report published by USAFacts on July 6, 2026. The report draws on data from the U.S. Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program to analyze population trends in the state. Over the past quarter-century, Arkansas has grown every single year, with the latest gain representing more residents than the entire population of the city of El Dorado.
The report reveals that Arkansas's population expanded by 4.9% over the decade between 2015 and 2025, placing the state 26th among all states in population growth during that period. While the U.S. as a whole grew by 6.2% over the same decade, Arkansas's growth lagged slightly behind the national average. Since 2000, the state has seen uninterrupted population gains across all 25 years, with the largest single-year jump occurring between 2005 and 2006 when Arkansas gained 40,700 residents. The smallest increase happened between 2012 and 2013, when just 5,800 people were added.
At the county level, Benton County led the state with 10,553 new residents, representing a 3.3% increase that topped all 75 county equivalents in Arkansas. Jefferson County experienced the steepest decline, losing 618 residents, while Desha County ranked last in percentage terms with a 3.1% drop. The top five counties by growth rate also included Madison County at 1.9%, Washington County at 1.4%, Faulkner County at 1.4%, and White County at 1.2%.
The report finds that Arkansas's population change is shaped by three distinct factors: natural population change (the balance between births and deaths), international immigration, and domestic migration between states. Between 2024 and 2025, natural population change was negative in Arkansas, with deaths exceeding births by 1,200 people. International immigration added approximately 5,500 residents as more people arrived from other countries than left. Domestic migration contributed the most significant growth, with about 14,500 more people moving to Arkansas from other states than departing for elsewhere.
The data shows that Arkansas's recent growth depends almost entirely on attracting residents from other parts of the country, since the state's aging population now produces more deaths than births each year. This pattern reflects broader demographic shifts across many U.S. states, where natural population decline is increasingly offset—or not—by migration patterns. The dominance of domestic migration in Arkansas's growth means the state is successfully competing for residents in an era when Americans are more mobile and willing to relocate for jobs, housing affordability, or lifestyle preferences. The concentration of growth in counties like Benton and Washington, which are part of the rapidly developing Northwest Arkansas region, suggests that economic opportunity and infrastructure development play crucial roles in where new arrivals choose to settle.
According to the report, Arkansas has maintained positive population growth for an unbroken 25-year streak since 2000, demonstrating consistent appeal despite fluctuations in growth rates from year to year. While the state's 4.9% decade-long growth trails the 6.2% national average, the continued influx of domestic migrants shows Arkansas remains a destination state in regional population shifts. The county-level data reveals a divide between thriving growth centers in the northwest and struggling rural counties losing residents, a trend that will likely shape the state's economic and political landscape for years to come.