Document Type

Report

Publication Date

2023

Keywords

Economics; Northwest Arkansas; Employment; Unemployment; Business Growth; Poverty; Education; Homeownership; Commuting

Abstract

The State of the Northwest Arkansas Region Report is an annual publication, commissioned by the Northwest Arkansas Council, that serves as a tool for measuring economic performance. In July 2018, the Northwest Arkansas Council created a new blueprint for development in which Northwest Arkansas is benchmarked with other high-performing regions, namely Austin, Des Moines, Madison, Durham-Chapel Hill, Raleigh and Provo-Orem. The 2023 report compares Northwest Arkansas with these geographies in gross domestic product, employment, unemployment, establishment growth, median household income, average annual wages, poverty, educational attainment, research and development spending, homeownership costs, commuting time and average domestic airfares. The following table provides a summary of the performance of the Northwest Arkansas region (Benton, Madison, and Washington counties) on these measures. Important indicators such as population growth, household income and wages showed strong increases from 2020, while improvements in metrics such as higher education attainment were more limited. The data in this report covers a time period that includes the COVID-19 pandemic, and metrics such as the gross domestic product, unemployment rate and airfares reflect the impacts of the pandemic.

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