Arkansas has the 7th highest poverty rate, 15.3%, but the 3rd lowest rent
Each state is shaded by how distressed its households are, from green (least) to red (most), with data through September 2026. Arkansas scores 58 out of 100.
Of Arkansas' 75 counties, 41 are more distressed than at least 80% of U.S. counties, and they hold nearly half the state's people. Eight of them, led by Phillips in the Delta, make the nation's list of 100 most distressed counties. Card trouble runs deep too: 18.0% of card borrowers were seriously behind in early 2025, 4th highest in the country. Cheap rent is what holds the state's score near the middle.
- Score
- 58/100
- Data through
- September 2026
- Edition
- October 2026
Next edition expected March 2027
How Arkansas ranks among the states
Arkansans borrow little, and still they fall behind. At the end of 2025 they carried $3,310 in credit card debt per person with a credit report, 5th lowest among the 50 states and D.C. (Federal Reserve Bank of New York). Yet in early 2025, 18.0% of Arkansas card borrowers were 90 or more days late, 4th highest in the country, against 13.5% nationwide (Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia). In 2025, the state also had the 8th highest rate of bankruptcy filings. Housing is what holds the score near the middle: rent here is among the cheapest anywhere, so fewer renters than in most states spend half their income on housing (see cost of living).
What drives the score
Each part below is a score from 0 to 100, made from one or more measures that are each placed by where Arkansas falls among the states. The State Distress Index score isn’t the average of the four. We take Arkansas’ average before rounding, 60, and count how many of the other 49 states and D.C. have a lower one: 29 of those 50, or 58%. So Arkansas scores 58. In the same way, a state that scores 80 is more distressed than 80% of the others.
- Collections and bankruptcy86In early 2025, 17.4% of Arkansans with a credit record had a debt in collections, against 13.2% nationwide. Bankruptcy filings ran 224.6 per 100,000 residents in 2025 (2025 population), against 166.3.
- Late payments85Arkansas borrowers were more likely than borrowers nationwide to be 90 or more days behind on cards and car loans in early 2025: 18.0% of card borrowers and 10.2% of auto borrowers.
- Jobs50Unemployment averaged 4.0% from June through August 2026, a little under the U.S. average of 4.1%.
- Renters’ housing costs19In 2024, 20.3% of Arkansas renter households paid half or more of their income for housing, well below the U.S. share of 26.1%.
Arkansas beside its neighbors
Four of the six states that border Arkansas score higher, and three of them, Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi, are among the most distressed in the country. Oklahoma is a few points above Arkansas. Tennessee and Missouri score lower, though only Missouri falls in a lighter shade on the map.
State Distress Index score, 0 to 100. Among the 50 states and D.C., Louisiana ranks 1st for distress, Mississippi 4th and Texas 6th. Rent is lower in Arkansas than in any of the six: a median of $947 a month from 2020 to 2024, against $954 in Mississippi, the next cheapest (Census Bureau).
Jobs and rent have moved Arkansas’ score up and down; collections have stayed high
At its worst
In the third quarter of 2007, Arkansas scored 92, the 5th most distressed state, its worst quarter since our full history starts, in mid-2006. Its best came in the first half of 2016: 40, 31st among the states.
What never let up
The collections and bankruptcy part has scored 70 or more in every quarter of the available series, which for that part go back to the start of 2005. Late payments have climbed: that part stood at 53 in mid-2011, 77 at the end of 2019 and 85 today. The big swings came from the jobs part, whose score fell sharply in 2008 and in the spring of 2020, and from new Census estimates of renters’ costs.
Since the chart ends
The chart stops in the first quarter of 2025, when Arkansas scored 66, 18th among the states. Today it scores 58, the 22nd most distressed. Almost all of that change came from the renters’ part, which dropped from 26 to 19 with the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. The other three parts moved little, and six states that sat below Arkansas in early 2025 now score above it.
Arkansas was the 5th most distressed state at its 2007 peak and 31st at its 2016 low; it stood 18th in early 2025
Arkansas’ State Distress Index score each quarter, 0 to 100, from the third quarter of 2006, the first with all four parts, to the first quarter of 2025.
Arkansas’ poorest and most distressed counties: the Delta leads both lists
Lee County, in the Delta, is the poorest county in Arkansas. In 2024, 41.3% of the people there were below the poverty line, more than in any other of Arkansas’ 75 counties, the Census Bureau estimates. Phillips County, just south of it, is the most distressed on our County Distress Index, which measures how strained household budgets are in every U.S. county. It scores 99, 12th of 3,144 counties nationwide, and eight Arkansas counties rank among the country’s 100 most distressed (see the national list). Benton County, in the northwest, home to Bentonville and Rogers, is the least distressed, at 14.
Arkansas’ most distressed counties sit in the Delta along the Mississippi River; the least distressed are in the northwest
All 75 Arkansas counties, colored by County Distress Index score from 0 to 100, with data through August 2026.
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The county map could not be loaded. Every county is in the lists on this page.
Most distressed
| Rank | County | Score | Poverty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Phillips | 99 | 35.8% |
| 2 | Crittenden | 99 | 22.5% |
| 3 | St. Francis | 99 | 30.6% |
| 4 | Desha | 98 | 25.9% |
| 5 | Lee | 98 | 41.3% |
| 6 | Chicot | 97 | 27.9% |
| 7 | Miller | 97 | 21.3% |
| 8 | Mississippi | 97 | 20.0% |
| 9 | Ashley | 96 | 19.0% |
| 10 | Monroe | 96 | 22.8% |
Least distressed
| Rank | County | Score | Poverty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 71 | Faulkner | 52 | 12.5% |
| 72 | Lonoke | 51 | 10.0% |
| 73 | Washington | 41 | 13.5% |
| 74 | Saline | 30 | 9.8% |
| 75 | Benton | 14 | 8.4% |
Rank in Arkansas, 1 = most distressed. Ranks come from unrounded scores, so Phillips ranks ahead of Crittenden and St. Francis though all three show the same score. The same goes for Desha and Lee and for Chicot, Miller and Mississippi, here and in the full list below. Poverty is each county’s 2024 Census Bureau rate.
Every county, by score
Of Arkansas’ 75 counties, 41 score 80 or more, and they are home to 46.9% of its people. The part of the state covered by the Delta Regional Authority, a federal and state development agency, holds 29 of them, including Pulaski County, home to Little Rock, at 83. Most of the rest are in southwest Arkansas.
41 score 80–100
Phillips, Crittenden, St. Francis, Desha, Lee, Chicot, Miller, Mississippi, Ashley, Monroe, Jefferson, Arkansas, Jackson, Hempstead, Lafayette, Woodruff, Clark, Bradley, Poinsett, Nevada, Drew, Ouachita, Lawrence, Howard, Dallas, Union, Scott, Craighead, Columbia, Lincoln, Greene, Cross, Sharp, Van Buren, Pike, Johnson, Garland, Izard, Pulaski, Hot Spring, White
14 score 70–79
Montgomery, Perry, Clay, Little River, Fulton, Randolph, Stone, Cleveland, Cleburne, Conway, Crawford, Sebastian, Sevier, Polk
17 score 50–69
Logan, Carroll, Marion, Pope, Baxter, Independence, Searcy, Franklin, Prairie, Calhoun, Yell, Madison, Boone, Newton, Grant, Faulkner, Lonoke
2 score 30–49
1 score 0–29
In Arkansas the poorest counties are also the most distressed, with a few exceptions
Our County Distress Index scores five parts equally. They are late payments; collections and bankruptcy; jobs; renters’ housing costs; and a part made from the poverty rate, child poverty, median household income, the share of people with a disability and the share without health insurance. Poverty is only part of it, yet in Arkansas the two lists line up at the top: the five poorest counties are all among the six most distressed. Some exceptions are in the Ozark hills. Searcy County, whose seat is Marshall (not the city of Searcy, in White County), has the 17th highest poverty rate in the state, 21.0%, and the 3rd lowest median household income, $41,124. Even so, Searcy ranks 62nd of 75 on distress, with few of its people behind on loans or in collections. Newton County is similar: its poverty rate is tied for 26th highest, but it ranks 69th. Mississippi County runs the other way. Its poverty rate is tied for 23rd highest, yet it ranks 8th on distress, with late-payment and collections scores among the highest in the state. A site that uses another Census survey or year may name a different poorest county; the poverty rates here are the Census Bureau’s 2024 Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates.
The five poorest counties
| County | Poverty | Distress rank |
|---|---|---|
| Lee | 41.3% | 5th |
| Phillips | 35.8% | 1st |
| St. Francis | 30.6% | 3rd |
| Chicot | 27.9% | 6th |
| Desha | 25.9% | 4th |
Cherry Street in downtown Helena, now part of Helena-West Helena, the seat of Phillips County, in March 2012. Phillips lost 23.8% of its people between the 2010 and 2020 censuses, falling from 21,757 to 16,568 residents (Census Bureau; the percentage is our calculation).
Source: U.S. Census Bureau. Photo: Thomas R. Machnitzki, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0.
The Delta and the northwest: two Arkansases
The Delta Regional Authority counts 42 of Arkansas’ counties in its region, home to 45.8% of Arkansans. Those counties include nine of the state’s 10 most distressed and seven of the eight Arkansas counties in the national top 100. The one top-10 county outside the region, Miller, on the Texas line around Texarkana, scores 80 or more on every part of the index. Northwest Arkansas looks very different. Benton, Washington and Madison counties, around Bentonville, Fayetteville and Springdale, hold 19.2% of the state’s people, and none scores higher than Madison’s 56. The scores show where household strain sits, not why. Many Delta counties are small and have been losing people: Phillips lost nearly a quarter of its residents from 2010 to 2020 (see the Helena photo above).
Delta Regional Authority, 2026 distressed counties and 2026 non-distressed counties with isolated areas of distress; American Default Research, County Distress Index; population shares are our calculation.
Is Arkansas a poor state?
Yes, by the Census Bureau’s measures. In 2024, 15.3% of Arkansans lived below the poverty line, the 7th highest rate among the 50 states and D.C., against 12.1% nationwide. The typical household earned $62,146, 4th lowest, against a U.S. median of $81,604 (Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates). Income per person, all the income residents receive divided by the number of residents, was $59,320, 6th lowest (U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis).
Residents in poverty
15.3%
U.S. 12.1%
7th highest of the states and D.C. for 2024
Children in poverty
19.6%
U.S. 15.5%
7th highest of the states and D.C. for 2024
Median household income
$62,146
U.S. $81,604
4th lowest of the states and D.C. for 2024
Arkansas’ poverty rate has been above the nation’s in every Census estimate since 1989
Percent of people living below the poverty line in Arkansas and in the whole U.S., 1989 to 2024. The Census Bureau made no state estimates for 1990 to 1992 or for 1994.
Disability, schooling and benefit income in Arkansas
A few measures describe who lives in Arkansas. From 2020 to 2024, 18.0% of residents had a disability, the 2nd highest share in the country, against 13.3% nationwide, and 11.3% of adults had no high school diploma, 9th highest (Census Bureau, American Community Survey). In 2024, government benefits such as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and veterans’ benefits made up 23.2% of all the income Arkansans received, 8th highest, against 18.3% for the U.S. (Bureau of Economic Analysis). These figures sit beside the state’s distress; they don’t show what causes it.
Why other sites print a slightly different poverty rate
Some sites quote the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, a separate survey that gives Arkansas a slightly different poverty rate and income. This page uses the Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates, which the Census Bureau makes for every state and county each year, so the state and county figures here come from one source. For the federal poverty guideline that programs use, see the questions below.
Benton is the richest county, and the least distressed
By median household income, Benton County was the richest in Arkansas in 2024, at $92,077, and it had the lowest poverty rate, 8.4% (Census Bureau). Saline County, southwest of Little Rock, came second, at $80,628. The poorest and most distressed counties →
Is Arkansas expensive to live in? Rent is among the cheapest in the country
Not for housing. The median rent in Arkansas was $947 a month from 2020 to 2024, 3rd lowest among the 50 states and D.C., against $1,413 nationwide (U.S. Census Bureau). Twelve months of that rent came to 18.3% of the typical Arkansas household’s income in 2024, against 20.8% for the U.S. as a whole (our calculation). We don’t hold prices for food, gas or electricity, so this page can’t say how Arkansas’ overall cost of living compares.
Median rent, a month
$947
U.S. $1,413
3rd lowest of the states and D.C. for 2020 to 2024
Renters spending at least 30% of income on housing
39.4%
U.S. 47.6%
4th lowest of the states and D.C. for 2020 to 2024
Homeowners spending at least 30% of income on housing
16.9%
U.S. 22.5%
4th lowest of the states and D.C. for 2020 to 2024
Arkansas renters have been less likely than U.S. renters to spend half their income on housing in every year published since 2005
Renter households paying half or more of their income for rent and utilities, Arkansas and the U.S., one-year Census estimates for 2005 to 2024. The Census Bureau published no one-year estimate for 2020.
What a basic budget costs in Arkansas
One adult with no children needs $41,615 a year before taxes to pay for basic needs in Arkansas, the MIT Living Wage Calculator estimates, 2nd lowest among the 50 states and D.C. Two working parents raising two children need $97,736. The estimates cover necessities only, with nothing set aside for savings.
The top state income tax rate is 3.7% for 2026, down from 3.9% (see what changed).
Rent is lower in Arkansas than in any neighboring state
Arkansas’ median rent is the lowest of the seven states in the table. Measured against income, Missouri’s rent takes a smaller bite, because its households earn more.
| State | Rent, a month | Median household income | Rent as share of income |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arkansas Rent as share of income 18.3% | $947 Median household income $62,146 | $62,146 | 18.3% |
| Mississippi Rent as share of income 19.3% | $954 Median household income $59,301 | $59,301 | 19.3% |
| Oklahoma Rent as share of income 18.4% | $1,014 Median household income $66,124 | $66,124 | 18.4% |
| Missouri Rent as share of income 17.3% | $1,033 Median household income $71,583 | $71,583 | 17.3% |
| Louisiana Rent as share of income 20.9% | $1,064 Median household income $61,038 | $61,038 | 20.9% |
| Tennessee Rent as share of income 19.8% | $1,189 Median household income $72,007 | $72,007 | 19.8% |
| Texas Rent as share of income 21.1% | $1,403 Median household income $79,723 | $79,723 | 21.1% |
Rent: median gross rent a month, 2020 to 2024 (Census Bureau, American Community Survey). Income: median household income, 2024 (Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates). Rent as share of income: a year of median rent divided by median household income, our calculation. Rent and housing costs by state →
What changed in Arkansas in the past year
-
July 1, 2026
SNAP was set to stop paying for soda and candy
Under a waiver the U.S. Department of Agriculture approved in June 2025, SNAP benefits in Arkansas were set to stop covering soda, other sweetened drinks and candy for two years starting July 1, 2026. On June 22, 2026, a federal judge set aside similar waivers for five other states. Arkansas wasn’t part of that case, so the ruling didn’t cover its waiver. The Arkansas Department of Human Services said the limit would start July 1 as planned, according to a July report from the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement (see SNAP in Arkansas).
U.S. Department of Agriculture, waiver approval letter, June 10, 2025; Arkansas Center for Health Improvement, July 2026; U.S. Department of Agriculture, court order of June 22, 2026, on its Tennessee waiver page
-
July 1, 2026
Medicaid’s work requirement was set to start with a trial run
Adults 19 to 64 covered through ARHOME, the state’s Medicaid expansion, must work, volunteer or go to school 20 hours a week unless they qualify for an exemption. The Arkansas Department of Human Services said in February that from July 1 it would send notices without penalties, and that from Jan. 1, 2027, people who don’t meet the rule could lose coverage or be turned down when they apply. The 2025 federal budget law requires the rule in states that expanded Medicaid (see what to watch).
-
May 6, 2026
The top state income tax rate was cut
In a special session, lawmakers lowered the top individual income tax rate to 3.7% from 3.9%, effective for all of 2026, and the governor signed the bill on May 6. The top corporate rate is set to drop in 2027.
-
Jan. 24, 2026
A federal emergency was declared for a statewide winter storm
The Federal Emergency Management Agency declared an emergency for the severe winter storm of Jan. 23 to 27, covering all 75 Arkansas counties. The declaration covered public assistance to state and local governments, not aid paid to households.
-
Nov. 21, 2025
SNAP’s work rule was set to reach more adults
From this date, SNAP’s work requirement was set to cover adults 18 to 64 with no child under 14; veterans, people experiencing homelessness and young adults who grew up in foster care would no longer be exempt, the Arkansas Advocate reported the day before. Adults the rule covers can get benefits for only three months in three years unless they meet it. The change came from the 2025 federal budget law (see SNAP in Arkansas).
-
Nov. 13, 2025
November SNAP benefits came late, then in full
The federal shutdown held up November’s SNAP benefits. Once it ended, the Arkansas Department of Human Services said full November amounts would load onto cards that night and the next day.
Are Arkansans behind on their bills? More than in most states
Yes, more than in most states. In early 2025, 21.7% of Arkansans with a credit record had a debt 90 or more days late, 8th highest among the 50 states and D.C., against 17.2% nationally, our population-weighted average of the states (Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia). These are debts that households owe, not the state government’s debt.
Arkansas’ place among the 50 states and D.C., with 1 the highest share: 4th for card borrowers, tied for 7th for collections, tied for 10th for car loans and tied for 14th for mortgages. Each U.S. bar is our average of the states, weighted by population.
Falling far behind on cards has become more common in Arkansas. The share of card borrowers 90 or more days late rose from 12.6% at the end of 2019 to 18.0% in early 2025. Collections went the other way on paper, from 24.5% at the end of 2019 to a low of 15.7% in mid-2023, before edging back up. Half of that fall came between early 2022, at 20.1%, and mid-2023, when the three big credit bureaus stopped reporting many medical debts. Debts left off a credit report haven’t necessarily been paid. Across the country, the share of people with a medical collection on their credit report fell from about 14% in March 2022 to about 5% in June 2023 (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau).
Counted in dollars, card balances run further behind than in most states
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York measures the share of the dollars owed that is 90 or more days late, a different count from the people counted above. At the end of 2025, 13.8% of Arkansas credit card balances were that far behind, 6th highest among the 50 states and D.C., against 12.4% nationwide. Car-loan and mortgage balances ran a little above the U.S. shares.
| Loan type | Arkansas | U.S. | Arkansas 2019 | U.S. 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Credit card | 13.8% End of 2025 U.S. 12.4% Arkansas 2019 9.7% · U.S. 2019 8.1% | 12.4% | 9.7% | 8.1% |
| Auto loan | 5.6% End of 2025 U.S. 5.2% Arkansas 2019 5.5% · U.S. 2019 4.9% | 5.2% | 5.5% | 4.9% |
| Mortgage | 1.1% End of 2025 U.S. 0.9% Arkansas 2019 1.0% · U.S. 2019 1.0% | 0.9% | 1.0% | 1.0% |
Share of balances 90 or more days past due, end of 2025 and end of 2019. Source: Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Consumer Credit Panel / Equifax. It counts dollars, not people, so it can’t be compared with the Philadelphia Fed chart above, and it keeps old debts that lenders have written off but still report.
More Arkansas mortgages than in most states have little equity
In the second quarter of 2026, 6.9% of Arkansas mortgages had less than 10% equity, the part of a home’s value the owner would keep after paying off the loan. On that measure Arkansas ranks 7th highest of the 50 states and D.C.; the U.S. share is 4.7% (Federal Housing Finance Agency).
| Measure | Arkansas | U.S. | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mortgages 30 to 89 days late, Sept. 2025 Tied for 7th highest | 2.2% U.S. 1.6% | 1.6% | Tied for 7th highest |
| Household debt per person with a credit report, end of 2025 3rd lowest | $43,090 U.S. $63,200 | $63,200 | 3rd lowest |
Rank among the 50 states and D.C. Mortgages 30 to 89 days late, the earliest sign of falling behind: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Debt per person, every kind of household debt added together: Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Late payments in every state →
Arkansas files for bankruptcy at one of the highest rates in the country
Arkansans filed 6,997 bankruptcy cases in 2025, or 224.6 for every 100,000 residents (2025 population), 8th highest among the 50 states and D.C., against 166.3 nationwide (Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts). Filings rose 5.2% from 2024, a smaller rise than the 11.1% nationwide. They have gone up each year since 2022, and 2025 had the most since 2020, when Arkansans filed 7,545.
More than half of Arkansas’ cases are filed under Chapter 13: 55.8% in 2025, 6th highest among the states, against 35.9% nationwide. In a Chapter 13 case, people usually keep their property and repay part of their debts through a court-approved plan over several years. In Chapter 7, the more common choice nationwide, many debts are wiped out, and property the law doesn’t protect can be sold.
Why Arkansas files so often is an open question. Two Brigham Young University economists studied differences in state bankruptcy rates in 1999 and 2000. Together, the ease of garnishing wages under state law and the share of Chapter 13 cases explained more than half those differences (Brigham Young University). Their study doesn’t single out Arkansas, and we haven’t compared Arkansas’ garnishment law with other states’. Arkansas’ high Chapter 13 share fits their finding, but we can’t say how much of Arkansas’ rate the law explains.
| Year | Filings |
|---|---|
| 2005 | 30,568 |
| 2010 | 16,503 |
| 2019 | 10,676 |
| 2020 | 7,545 |
| 2021 | 5,493 |
| 2022 | 5,481 |
| 2023 | 6,255 |
| 2024 | 6,654 |
| 2025 | 6,997 |
Cases under every chapter filed in Arkansas’ two federal bankruptcy courts, the Eastern and Western districts, in selected years and every year since 2019. 2005 was the peak of the available series, which cover 2001 to 2025 except 2004; a federal law that made filing harder took effect that October. Source: Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, Table F-2. Bankruptcy filings in every state →
SNAP in Arkansas: a poor state where fewer people get food help than in most
SNAP, the federal food benefit once called food stamps, reached 219,739 Arkansans in June 2026, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reports. That is 7.1% of the state’s 2025 population, 11th lowest of the 50 states and D.C.; nationwide the share is 10.6%. That’s a low share for a state with the 7th highest poverty rate. The number getting SNAP was 8.9% lower than in June 2025.
To apply for SNAP or check on a case, use the state’s Access Arkansas site →
People getting SNAP
219,739
June 2026, U.S. Department of Agriculture
Share of residents getting SNAP
7.1%
U.S. 10.6%
11th lowest of the states and D.C. for June 2026 (2025 population)
Change from a year earlier
−8.9%
June 2025 to June 2026
The decline is more than a decade old. Arkansas averaged 503,271 people a month on SNAP in 2012 and 237,126 in 2024, less than half as many. The yearly average fell in every year in between except 2020 (U.S. Department of Agriculture; the yearly averages are our calculation). So most of the fall came long before the 2025 federal budget law widened SNAP’s work rule in November 2025, and no source we’ve read splits this past year’s drop by cause.
The rules behind Arkansas’ SNAP numbers
The Arkansas Center for Health Improvement, a nonpartisan health-policy center, points to two state rules. Arkansas still counts savings and other assets against applicants, where most states have dropped that test, and since 2016 Arkansas hasn’t used the federal option to waive SNAP’s three-month time limit in areas with high unemployment. In the center’s words, the long decline “may reflect more restrictive state policies” (its July 2026 report). Other things also shape who signs up, such as outreach, paperwork and wages just above the limits, and we don’t measure them. A falling count doesn’t mean falling need. Newer rules are in what changed: the widened work rule and the soda and candy waiver. The poorest counties →
Arkansas’ unemployment rate has been below the nation’s every year since 2008
In August 2026, 3.9% of Arkansas’ labor force was out of work, 26th highest among the 50 states and D.C., against 4.1% nationwide (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics). The bureau doesn’t count that gap as statistically significant. The rate has eased from 4.4% in January and February 2026; a year earlier, in August 2025, it was 4.2%, a change the bureau also doesn’t count as significant. Measured by yearly averages, Arkansas’ rate has been below the nation’s every year from 2008 through 2025, and it was 4.1% in 2025, against 4.3%.
Filing a claim for unemployment benefits? That goes through the Arkansas Division of Workforce Services →
Unemployment rate
3.9%
U.S. 4.1%
26th highest of the states and D.C. for August 2026
Yearly average unemployment rate
4.1%
U.S. 4.3%
2025, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Highest county rate, Phillips County
7.2%
August 2026, not adjusted for seasonal swings
Arkansas’ unemployment rate was below the nation’s in 213 of the 223 months published since January 2008
Percent of Arkansas and U.S. workers without a job and looking for one, adjusted for seasonal swings, each month from January 1990 to August 2026. October 2025 has no figure: the federal shutdown stopped the count that month.
Unemployment is highest in Phillips County and lowest in Madison County
| County | Rate |
|---|---|
| Phillips (Helena-West Helena) | 7.2% |
| Desha | 6.6% |
| Nevada (Prescott) | 6.0% |
| Chicot (Lake Village) | 5.8% |
| Jefferson (Pine Bluff) | 5.5% |
| Pulaski (Little Rock) | 4.0% |
| Madison (Huntsville) | 2.8% |
Unemployment rate, August 2026, not adjusted for seasonal swings: the five highest of Arkansas’ 75 counties, Pulaski for the state’s largest county, and Madison, the lowest, with county seats in parentheses. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The state minimum wage and overtime rules are on the state labor office’s site →
How foreclosure works in Arkansas
Most Arkansas home foreclosures happen without a court. Under Act 53 of 1987, a mortgage company, bank or savings and loan can sell the home at auction. At least 60 days must pass after it records a notice of default and intent to sell. It must also publish notice of the sale once a week for four weeks (A.C.A. § 18-50-101 and following). There is no right to buy the home back after that kind of sale. A lender can also foreclose through a court. After a court-ordered sale, the owner can usually redeem the home within a year by paying the sale price, interest and costs, unless the mortgage waived that right. After a sale without a court, the lender has 12 months to ask a court for any balance still owed. The amount is limited using the home’s fair market value (A.C.A. § 18-50-112).
Under federal servicing rules, a mortgage company generally can’t start a foreclosure on the home you live in until the loan is more than 120 days past due. Arkansas’ homestead exemption, in the state constitution, protects a home from many creditors but doesn’t stop a mortgage foreclosure.
- Usually goes through a court
- No
- Earliest sale after the notice is recorded
- 60 days
- Buy-back right after a sale without a court
- None
- Buy-back right after a court sale
- One year
- Time to sue for the balance after a sale
- 12 months
What the law says for a home you live in. The one-year buy-back right after a court sale doesn’t apply when the mortgage waived it. Sources: Act 53 of 1987 (A.C.A. § 18-50-101 and following, including § 18-50-112), as amended by Act 885 of 2011; the Arkansas Supreme Court on the one-year right of redemption; federal rule 12 CFR 1024.41. How foreclosure works in Arkansas →
Arkansas was awarded $63.3 million from the federal Homeowner Assistance Fund and had helped 3,595 households with it through early 2026 (U.S. Treasury).
Arkansas homeowners’ complaints to the CFPB about mortgage companies
Since 2012 the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has logged 1,922 mortgage complaints from Arkansas. The issues raised most often are trouble during the payment process (545); loan servicing, payments or escrow (347); and struggling to pay the mortgage (322).
- Sept. 29, 2026 Village Capital Struggling to pay mortgage: Trying to communicate with the company to fix an issue related to modification, forbearance, short sale, deed-in-lieu, bankruptcy, or foreclosure Closed with explanation
- Sept. 28, 2026 Shellpoint / NewRez Struggling to pay mortgage: An existing modification, forbearance plan, short sale, or other loss mitigation relief Untimely response
- Sept. 26, 2026 Rocket Mortgage Trouble during payment process: Paying off the loan In progress
- Sept. 21, 2026 Wells Fargo Trouble during payment process: Trying to communicate with the company to fix an issue while managing or servicing your loan Closed with explanation
- Sept. 19, 2026 Paramount GR Holdings, LLC Trouble during payment process: Lien release Closed with explanation
- Sept. 16, 2026 Rocket Mortgage Trouble during payment process: Escrow, taxes, or insurance Closed with explanation
- Sept. 11, 2026 Rocket Mortgage Trouble during payment process: Payment process Closed with explanation
- Sept. 9, 2026 Shellpoint / NewRez Trouble during payment process: Escrow, taxes, or insurance In progress
- Sept. 5, 2026 21st Mortgage Struggling to pay mortgage: Trying to communicate with the company to fix an issue related to modification, forbearance, short sale, deed-in-lieu, bankruptcy, or foreclosure Closed with explanation
- Sept. 5, 2026 Planet Home Lending Struggling to pay mortgage: An existing modification, forbearance plan, short sale, or other loss mitigation relief In progress
The 10 newest Arkansas complaints about paying a mortgage or getting help with one, newest first, from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s public complaint database as of Oct. 14, 2026. Complaints about getting a new loan, and any that name a credit reporting company, are left out. Each complaint is one person’s account, which the bureau doesn’t verify; a complaint doesn’t mean the company did anything wrong. Every Arkansas mortgage complaint at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau →
What to watch before the next edition
Between now and the next edition, nearest first: a jobs report, two Entergy Arkansas rate cases and the start of Medicaid work-rule penalties.
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Oct. 20, 2026
September unemployment rates for the states
The Bureau of Labor Statistics is scheduled to publish state unemployment rates for September. They will show whether Arkansas’ rate kept easing after slipping from 4.4% early in the year to 3.9% in August.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, State Employment and Unemployment, August 2026 release
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By Nov. 13, 2026
A possible hearing on Entergy Arkansas’ yearly rate adjustment
Entergy Arkansas has asked the Arkansas Public Service Commission to lower its yearly revenue by $8.8 million under its formula rate plan, which the company says would cut what residential customers pay in total by 0.37% in 2027. The commission may hold a hearing by Nov. 13. If it hasn’t ruled by Dec. 15, the change takes effect on Jan. 4, 2027, subject to refund, the company says.
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Jan. 1, 2027
Medicaid’s work rule starts to carry penalties
ARHOME members who don’t meet the work requirement could lose coverage from this date, the Arkansas Department of Human Services says (see what changed).
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January 2027
Entergy Arkansas’ request for new base rates
Entergy Arkansas asked the Arkansas Public Service Commission in February for new base rates starting in January 2027. The company estimates a household using 1,000 kilowatt-hours a month would pay about $1.16 more a month, and it has proposed a discount on the monthly customer charge for households eligible for federal energy aid.
Where Arkansas ranks highest and lowest
| Measure | Arkansas | U.S. | Rank | Latest data |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residents with a disability 2nd highest · 2024* | 18.0% U.S. 13.3% | 13.3% | 2nd highest | 2024* |
| Card borrowers 90+ days late 4th highest · Early 2025 | 18.0% U.S. 13.5% | 13.5% | 4th highest | Early 2025 |
| Share of bankruptcy filings under Chapter 13 6th highest · 2025 | 55.8% U.S. 35.9% | 35.9% | 6th highest | 2025 |
| Residents in poverty 7th highest · 2024 | 15.3% U.S. 12.1% | 12.1% | 7th highest | 2024 |
| People with a debt in collections Tied for 7th highest · Early 2025 | 17.4% U.S. 13.2% | 13.2% | Tied for 7th highest | Early 2025 |
| Mortgages with less than 10% equity 7th highest · Apr.–June 2026 | 6.9% U.S. 4.7% | 4.7% | 7th highest | Apr.–June 2026 |
| Mortgages 30 to 89 days late Tied for 7th highest · Sept. 2025 | 2.2% U.S. 1.6% | 1.6% | Tied for 7th highest | Sept. 2025 |
| Bankruptcy filings per 100,000 residents (2025 population) 8th highest · 2025 | 224.6 U.S. 166.3 | 166.3 | 8th highest | 2025 |
| Unemployment rate, three-month average 25th highest · June–August 2026 | 4.0% U.S. 4.1% | 4.1% | 25th highest | June–August 2026 |
| Residents getting SNAP food benefits (2025 population) 11th lowest · June 2026 | 7.1% U.S. 10.6% | 10.6% | 11th lowest | June 2026 |
| Renters spending at least half their income on housing 6th lowest · 2024 | 20.3% U.S. 26.1% | 26.1% | 6th lowest | 2024 |
| Credit card debt per person with a credit report 5th lowest · End of 2025 | $3,310 U.S. $4,350 | $4,350 | 5th lowest | End of 2025 |
| Median household income 4th lowest · 2024 | $62,146 U.S. $81,604 | $81,604 | 4th lowest | 2024 |
| Median rent, a month 3rd lowest · 2024* | $947 U.S. $1,413 | $1,413 | 3rd lowest | 2024* |
| Household debt per person with a credit report 3rd lowest · End of 2025 | $43,090 U.S. $63,200 | $63,200 | 3rd lowest | End of 2025 |
Each rank places Arkansas among the 50 states and D.C., counted from the highest value or from the lowest as the row says; states with the same printed value share a rank. * Census five-year survey, 2020 to 2024. Card borrowers and people in collections count people with a credit record (Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia), with a U.S. figure that is our population-weighted average of the states. Debt per person: Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Equity: Federal Housing Finance Agency. The source for every row is in Sources and method. Download this table: CSV.
Questions about Arkansas
What is the poorest county in Arkansas?
Lee County, in the Delta, whose seat is Marianna: 41.3% of its residents lived in poverty in 2024, the highest rate of Arkansas’ 75 counties. Its median household income, $38,287, was the lowest (U.S. Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates). Phillips County, just to its south, is the most distressed on our County Distress Index. The poorest and most distressed counties →
Is Arkansas a poor state?
Yes, by the Census Bureau’s measures. Its poverty rate, 15.3% in 2024, was 7th highest among the 50 states and D.C., and its median household income, $62,146, was 4th lowest (U.S. Census Bureau). On our State Distress Index it ranks 22nd, nearer the middle, helped by cheap rent.
Is Arkansas expensive to live in?
Housing is cheap. Half of Arkansas renters paid less than $947 a month in 2020 to 2024, 3rd lowest of the 50 states and D.C. (U.S. Census Bureau). The MIT Living Wage Calculator puts a basic budget for one adult at $41,615 a year, 2nd lowest. We don’t hold prices for food, gas or electricity, so we can’t compare the full cost of living.
What’s the poverty level in Arkansas?
Arkansas programs go by the federal poverty guideline, set by the U.S. government for the 48 contiguous states and D.C., with higher figures only for Alaska and Hawaii. For 2026 it is $15,960 a year for one person and $33,000 for a household of four (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services). The 15.3% poverty rate on this page uses the Census Bureau’s own poverty thresholds, a separate measure.
What’s the richest county in Arkansas?
Benton County, in the northwest, home to Bentonville and Rogers. Its median household income was $92,077 in 2024, the highest in the state, and its poverty rate, 8.4%, the lowest (U.S. Census Bureau). It is also Arkansas’ least distressed county on our index.
What is Arkansas’ income tax rate?
The top individual rate is 3.7% for 2026, after lawmakers cut it from 3.9% in a special session in May 2026 (Arkansas Senate).
Cite or reuse Arkansas’ data
Reporters, researchers and grant writers may use these figures; please credit American Default Research.
State Distress Index
Arkansas
22ndmost distressed state
of the 50 states and D.C.
More distressed than 58% of the other states and D.C.
Arkansas ranks 22nd most distressed among the 50 states and D.C. in American Default Research’s State Distress Index, a measure of strain on household finances. In 2024 the Census Bureau put its poverty rate at 15.3%, 7th highest, and in early 2025, 18.0% of its credit card borrowers were 90 or more days late, 4th highest (Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia). Phillips County, in the Delta, is the state’s most distressed county, 12th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the County Distress Index.
For an interview or a custom cut of the data, reporters can write to press@americandefault.org
Sources and method
We gather the data, run the numbers and research each state ourselves.
This edition: October 2026 · Next edition expected March 2027
- Poverty and median household income, for the state and each countyCensus Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates1989 to 2024
- Renter households spending at least half their income on rent and utilitiesCensus Bureau, American Community Survey, one-year estimates2005 to 2024
- Rent, housing costs, disability and schoolingCensus Bureau, American Community Survey, five-year estimates2020 to 2024
- Phillips County population by censusCensus Bureau, decennial census2010 and 2020
- Income per person and benefit incomeU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis2024
- Unemployment, state, county and U.S.U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Local Area Unemployment StatisticsJan. 1990 to Aug. 2026
- Late payments and collectionsFederal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, Consumer Credit Explorerend of 2019 to early 2025
- Household debt and dollars behindFederal Reserve Bank of New York, Consumer Credit Panel / Equifaxend of 2019 and end of 2025
- Mortgages with little equityFederal Housing Finance Agency, National Mortgage Databasesecond quarter of 2026
- Mortgages 30 to 89 days late; mortgage complaints; medical debts on credit reportsConsumer Financial Protection Bureau: Mortgage Performance Trends; complaint database; Recent changes in medical collections on consumer credit recordsSept. 2025; Oct. 14, 2026; March 2022 to June 2023
- Bankruptcy filingsAdministrative Office of the U.S. Courts, Table F-22001 to 2025
- Why bankruptcy rates differ among statesBrigham Young University, on a study in the Journal of Law and Economics2009
- SNAPU.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Administration; Arkansas Center for Health Improvement2012 to June 2026; July 2026
- Cost of getting byMIT Living Wage Calculator2025 dollars
- Delta Regional Authority countiesDelta Regional Authority: 2026 distressed counties; 2026 isolated areas of distress2026
- Mortgage help fundU.S. Treasury, Homeowner Assistance Fundthrough early 2026
- Foreclosure lawAct 53 of 1987; Act 885 of 2011; Arkansas Supreme Court on redemption; 12 CFR 1024.41as of 2026
- Poverty guidelineU.S. Department of Health and Human Services2026
- Housing counselorsU.S. Department of Housing and Urban DevelopmentOctober 2026
- What changed and what to watchU.S. Department of Agriculture waiver letter, Arkansas Department of Human Services, Arkansas Senate, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Arkansas Advocate, Entergy Arkansas, Entergy, Bureau of Labor Statistics release. Each dated item carries its own source link (see what changed)Nov. 2025 to Jan. 2027
- PhotoThomas R. Machnitzki, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.02012
Jobs, late payments, collections and bankruptcy, and renters’ housing costs each carry the same weight. We average the four for every state, then give each the percentage of the other 49 states and D.C. that have a lower average: a state that scores 80 is more distressed than 80% of the rest. The full method →
We write with AI tools, and Ross Kilburn checks and reviews every page before it's published.
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Thanks, that helps.