Skip to main content

PantryPath Research · Rural & Persistent Poverty Atlas

Rural poverty in Arkansas

14 persistent-poverty counties

Arkansas has 14 persistent-poverty counties and 58 nonmetro counties — home to 208,131 residents living in counties with 30+ years of 20%-or-higher poverty. The state's all-ages poverty rate is 16.0% and child poverty is 21.4%.

14

Persistent-poverty counties

58

Nonmetro counties (RUCC 4–9)

208K

Residents in PPCs

75

Total counties

Arkansas by county

← Back to national atlas

Toggle between the rural hunger risk score, all-ages poverty, child poverty, the Rural-Urban Continuum Code, and the binary persistent-poverty flag. Hover a county for its ERS typology and ACS poverty rate.

Loading county map…

Lower
Higher

Arkansas at a glance

Poverty rate

16.0%

All ages, ACS S1701

Child poverty

21.4%

Under 18

PPC share

18.7%

Of counties in state

Nonmetro share

77.3%

RUCC 4–9

Pantries / 100K

2.87

PantryPath verified

Risk score (mean)

0.33

Composite 0–1

"Pantries / 100K" divides Arkansas's 87 verified PantryPath pantries by the state population — a minimum-density indicator, not a saturated census. See methodology.

County-level hotspots

Top five counties across 75 in Arkansas.

Highest rural hunger risk

Composite 0–1 score

  1. 1 Desha 0.72
  2. 2 Nevada 0.71
  3. 3 Searcy 0.70
  4. 4 Chicot 0.70
  5. 5 Woodruff 0.69

Highest poverty rate

ACS all-ages

  1. 1 Desha 28.9%
  2. 2 Phillips 28.7%
  3. 3 Nevada 28.5%
  4. 4 St. Francis 27.8%
  5. 5 Lee 27.7%

Persistent-poverty counties

PPCs ranked by current poverty

  1. 1 Desha 28.9%
  2. 2 Phillips 28.7%
  3. 3 Nevada 28.5%
  4. 4 St. Francis 27.8%
  5. 5 Lee 27.7%

Every county in Arkansas

All 75 counties with RUCC, typology flags, and ACS poverty data.

County RUCC PPC Flags Poverty Child poverty Population Risk
Arkansas 6 — Pop. loss 14.7% 16.3% 16,773 0.25
Ashley 7 — Low ed., Pop. loss 22.7% 29.9% 18,722 0.32
Baxter 7 — Retire. 14.5% 20.7% 42,150 0.28
Benton 2 — Retire. 7.6% 10.1% 294,541 0.07
Boone 7 — — 13.4% 13.9% 37,896 0.28
Bradley 7 — Low ed., Pop. loss 20.1% 25.0% 10,354 0.31
Calhoun 9 — Low emp., Low ed., Pop. loss 13.3% 15.2% 4,717 0.35
Carroll 6 — — 16.3% 19.9% 28,526 0.25
Chicot 9 Yes Low emp., Pop. loss, Housing 24.4% 27.9% 9,997 0.70
Clark 7 — Pop. loss 20.2% 25.1% 21,378 0.31
Clay 9 — Pop. loss 17.2% 24.9% 14,399 0.37
Cleburne 6 — Retire. 13.8% 19.6% 25,048 0.24
Cleveland 8 — — 15.6% 21.4% 7,491 0.32
Columbia 7 Yes Pop. loss 22.7% 36.6% 22,527 0.62
Conway 6 — — 20.6% 30.1% 20,872 0.27
Craighead 3 — — 19.1% 28.3% 112,097 0.15
Crawford 3 — — 16.8% 27.0% 60,792 0.14
Crittenden 1 — Housing 20.7% 30.8% 47,609 0.08
Cross 6 — Pop. loss, Housing 20.1% 26.9% 16,681 0.27
Dallas 8 — Pop. loss 11.2% 16.6% 6,351 0.31
Desha 9 Yes Low ed., Pop. loss 28.9% 42.6% 11,041 0.72
Drew 7 — Pop. loss 22.7% 29.5% 17,143 0.32
Faulkner 2 — Housing 15.0% 14.9% 126,001 0.10
Franklin 8 — — 18.9% 25.6% 17,220 0.34
Fulton 9 — Housing 14.8% 15.8% 12,239 0.36
Garland 3 — Retire. 16.5% 22.4% 100,062 0.14
Grant 2 — — 12.3% 14.1% 18,111 0.09
Greene 4 — — 17.0% 23.1% 46,182 0.18
Hempstead 6 Yes Pop. loss 19.0% 23.8% 19,778 0.56
Hot Spring 6 — Low emp. 17.1% 22.5% 33,142 0.26
Howard 8 — Pop. loss 19.8% 24.5% 12,701 0.34
Independence 7 — — 19.6% 29.0% 38,120 0.30
Izard 9 — Low emp. 21.1% 27.2% 13,866 0.38
Jackson 6 — Low emp., Pop. loss 21.2% 31.7% 16,775 0.27
Jefferson 4 — Pop. loss 20.6% 28.9% 65,780 0.19
Johnson 7 — Low ed., Housing 19.4% 26.8% 25,932 0.30
Lafayette 8 Yes Low ed., Pop. loss 27.2% 40.7% 6,211 0.67
Lawrence 6 — Pop. loss 18.2% 24.7% 16,265 0.26
Lee 8 Yes Low emp., Low ed., Pop. loss, Housing 27.7% 42.7% 8,511 0.67
Lincoln 9 — Low emp., Low ed., Pop. loss 17.7% 29.9% 12,966 0.37
Little River 3 — Pop. loss 16.5% 28.3% 11,959 0.14
Logan 8 — Pop. loss 14.4% 16.1% 21,240 0.32
Lonoke 2 — — 11.1% 16.0% 74,747 0.08
Madison 2 — Low ed. 15.0% 24.9% 17,032 0.10
Marion 9 — Retire. 17.8% 21.8% 17,076 0.37
Miller 3 — — 21.0% 24.9% 42,588 0.16
Mississippi 4 Yes Pop. loss 21.0% 27.4% 39,749 0.50
Monroe 9 Yes Low ed., Pop. loss 22.2% 31.3% 6,681 0.69
Montgomery 8 — — 20.8% 25.1% 8,571 0.35
Nevada 9 Yes Low emp., Low ed., Pop. loss, Housing 28.5% 48.4% 8,228 0.71
Newton 9 — Pop. loss 13.3% 18.1% 7,175 0.35
Ouachita 7 — Pop. loss 17.9% 26.0% 22,317 0.30
Perry 2 — — 15.6% 17.4% 10,073 0.10
Phillips 7 Yes Low emp., Pop. loss 28.7% 40.0% 15,910 0.64
Pike 9 — Pop. loss 18.8% 20.0% 10,182 0.38
Poinsett 3 Yes Low ed., Pop. loss 20.1% 28.7% 22,740 0.46
Polk 7 — — 19.0% 30.7% 19,348 0.30
Pope 5 — — 17.6% 22.2% 63,830 0.22
Prairie 8 — Pop. loss 9.4% 5.5% 8,162 0.30
Pulaski 2 — Housing 16.2% 24.5% 398,949 0.10
Randolph 7 — — 21.1% 32.4% 18,733 0.31
Saline 2 — — 9.1% 12.1% 125,724 0.07
Scott 8 — — 17.2% 23.8% 9,839 0.33
Searcy 9 Yes Pop. loss 24.5% 41.4% 7,861 0.70
Sebastian 3 — — 16.3% 20.5% 128,448 0.14
Sevier 6 — Low ed. 19.6% 26.4% 15,797 0.27
Sharp 9 — Retire. 17.3% 21.0% 17,597 0.37
St. Francis 6 Yes Low emp., Low ed., Pop. loss, Housing 27.8% 39.4% 22,740 0.60
Stone 9 — Low emp., Retire. 21.6% 29.3% 12,474 0.39
Union 7 — Pop. loss 19.4% 23.7% 38,368 0.30
Van Buren 8 — Low ed. 19.5% 19.9% 15,936 0.34
Washington 2 — — 14.8% 15.2% 251,863 0.10
White 4 — — 16.4% 19.7% 77,395 0.18
Woodruff 9 Yes Low ed., Pop. loss 22.8% 29.5% 6,157 0.69
Yell 9 — Low ed. 13.3% 15.9% 20,195 0.35

Find a food pantry in Arkansas

Search Arkansas's 87 verified pantries, food banks, and meal programs — filtered by city, open-now status, and service type.

Arkansas pantry directory

Arkansas SNAP

Income limits, application steps, and EBT card details for residents of persistent-poverty counties and beyond.

Arkansas SNAP guide

Emergency food help

National hotlines, 211 referrals, and same-day food options — critical in rural counties where the nearest pantry may be 30+ miles away.

Emergency food

Food deserts atlas

Rural poverty and low food access often overlap. Compare persistent-poverty counties to USDA's low-income / low-access food desert designations.

Arkansas food deserts

Methodology

How we combined USDA ERS typology codes, the Rural-Urban Continuum, ACS poverty data, and PantryPath's own pantry directory — plus the risk-score formula.

Full methodology