What is the poverty rate in Arkansas?
Refreshed monthly
The poverty rate was about 15% of Arkansas’s population as of 2025. The poverty rate is the percentage of people whose household income falls below the poverty threshold set by the government. It measures the percentage of people in households that don’t earn enough to pay for basic needs like food, housing, and healthcare. In 2025, 455,000 people in Arkansas were considered in poverty.
15%
of the population (2025)
455K
people living under the poverty line (2025)
The state's poverty rate was 15% in 2025, the lowest based on data from the American Community Survey dating back to 2010. It was 0.5 percentage points lower than the previous year. Arkansas's poverty rate hit a peak in 2012 of 19.8%.
In 2025, 15% of Arkansas's population were living under the poverty line.
Poverty rate, 2010–2025
While the poverty rate shows the overall trend, the total number matters because many aid programs and funding decisions are based on how many people are in poverty, not just the percentage. In 2025, 455,000 people living in Arkansas were in poverty — down 19.9% from the 2012 peak of 568,100.
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In 2025, 455,000 people in Arkansas were in poverty.
People living under poverty line, 2010–2025
Poverty doesn’t affect all groups equally. Rates vary widely by demographic group, family type and location.
What is the child poverty rate in Arkansas?
From 2015 to 2025, the poverty rate for children under 18 in Arkansas decreased from 27.2% to 20.1%. During the same period, the poverty rate for adults under 65 years decreased from 18.2% to 13.8%. For those older than 65, the poverty rate increased from 10.3% to 12.8%.
In 2025, 20.1% of children in Arkansas were living under the poverty line.
Poverty rate by age group, 2015–2025
How does poverty differ by race in Arkansas?
Among racial or ethnic groups in Arkansas during 2025, five had a higher poverty rate than the state’s overall rate: Black or African American; Hispanic or Latino origin (of any race); Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander; some other race; and two or more races
Three had a lower than average poverty rate: American Indian and Alaska Native, Asian, White alone, not Hispanic or Latino.
Over the previous ten years, the poverty rate for the Hispanic or Latino origin (of any race) population shifted the most, decreasing from 33.1% in 2015 to 21.2% in 2025.
In Arkansas, the poverty rate for the Hispanic or Latino origin (of any race) population decreased from 33.1% in 2015 to 21.2% in 2025.
Poverty rate by race or ethnicity, 2015–2025
What counties in Arkansas have the highest and lowest poverty rates?
In 2020–2024, the poverty rate among Arkansas counties ranged from 7.6% in Benton County to 39.4% in Lee County. The poverty rate in the state’s largest county — Pulaski County — was 16.7%
In 2020-2024, the poverty rate among Arkansas counties ranged from 7.6% to 39.4%.
Poverty rate
Poverty rate, by county (2024)
| 1. | Lee County | 39.4% |
| 2. | Phillips County | 29.3% |
| 3. | St. Francis County | 28.5% |
| 4. | Desha County | 28.3% |
| 5. | Miller County | 24.6% |
| 6. | Woodruff County | 24.1% |
| 7. | Searcy County | 23.0% |
| 8. | Chicot County | 22.6% |
| 9. | Howard County | 22.5% |
| 10. | Montgomery County | 22.4% |
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Methodology
USAFacts standardizes data, in areas such as time and demographics, to make it easier to understand and compare.
Page sources
USAFacts endeavors to share the most up-to-date information available. We sourced the data on this page directly from government agencies; however, the intervals at which agencies publish updated data vary.
