(December 2020) Nearly 100,000 students attend charter, home or private schools, or are eligible to participate in a public school choice program, state Department of Education and non-profit records show.1 The following 25 counties have the largest number of charter, home and private school students.2 Most Arkansas public companies are based in one of the 10 largest markets.
| #1 | Pulaski County | 26,162 |
| #2 | Benton County | 12,601 |
| #3 | Washington County | 11,164 |
| #4 | Garland County | 3,168 |
| #5 | Faulkner County | 2,421 |
| #6 | Sebastian County | 2,390 |
| #7 | Baxter County | 1,904 |
| #8 | White County | 1,803 |
| #9 | Crittenden County | 1,475 |
| #10 | Crawford County | 1,445 |
| #11 | Boone County | 1,434 |
| #12 | Saline County | 1,430 |
| #13 | Mississippi County | 1,420 |
| #14 | Craighead County | 1,181 |
| #15 | Phillips County | 1,070 |
| #16 | Lonoke County | 1,041 |
| #17 | Independence County | 781 |
| #18 | Greene County | 759 |
| #19 | Pope County | 726 |
| #20 | Jefferson County | 686 |
| #21 | Sharp County | 598 |
| #22 | Poinsett County | 491 |
| #23 | Conway County | 441 |
| #24 | Miller County | 456 |
| #25 | Cross County | 411 |
Economic Strength & Top School Choice Markets
Publicly-traded companies are the backbone of a state’s market-based economic system. Eleven Arkansas public companies have headquarters in one of the 10 largest school choice markets.
1 Arkansas Department of Education and Arkansas Non-Public Accrediting Association. The niche market (2020-21) includes 40,512 in charters, 27,563 at home, and 17,843 in private schools. About 13,000 are eligible for public school choice programs.
2 Other counties: Carroll 407; Union 388; Bradley 386; Arkansas 378; Polk 346; Columbia 343; Hot Spring 334; Randolph 331; Logan
320; Cleburne 319; Madison 301; Lawrence 297; Grant 279; Stone 268; Van Buren 256; Johnson 240; Searcy 237; Franklin 205;
Ouachita 174; Yell 173; Marion 170; Ashley 160; Fulton 138; Izard 132; Drew 131; Clark 129; Howard 127; Newton 121; Pike 120;
Clay 118; Jackson 114; Montgomery 99; Hempstead 98; Cleveland 88; Perry 81; Scott 81; Nevada 68; Bradley 67; Little River 65;
Lincoln 57; Prairie 55; Sevier 55; St. Francis 52; Desha 44; Chicot 43; Woodruff 42; Calhoun 36; Lee 28; Lafayette 27; Monroe 27;
and Dallas 15.
(#1, Pulaski County) Bank of the Ozarks, Dillard’s, Uniti;
(#2, Benton County) America’s Car-Mart, J.B. Hunt, Walmart
(#3, Washington County) P.A.M. Transportation Services, Tyson Foods; (#5, Faulkner County) Home Bancshares;
(#6, Sebastian County) ArcBest;
(#10, Crawford County) USA Truck.3
Proximity to Higher Education
A large number of post-secondary institutions are based in the 10 largest county school choice markets.
(#1, Pulaski County) Arkansas Baptist College, Philander Smith College, Pulaski Technical College, Univ. of Arkansas at Little Rock, Univ. of Arkansas for Medical Sciences;
(#3, Washington County) University of Arkansas;
(#4, Garland County) National Park Community College;
(#5, Faulkner County) Central Baptist College, Hendrix College, University of Central Arkansas;
(#6, Sebastian County) Univ. of Arkansas at Fort Smith;
(#7, Baxter County) Arkansas State University Mountain Home;
(#8, White County) Arkansas State University Beebe, Harding Academy; (#9, Crittenden County) Arkansas State University Mid-South.
The state Department of Education reports 473,004 students in Arkansas public schools in the 2020-2021 school year.
–Greg Kaza
