Saline County Area Profile

Regional Data Centrally Located in Saline County, AR

Discover all the major Arkansas statistics and information with the help of the area profile organized by Saline County Economic Development Corporation.

Located in the heart of Arkansas, Saline County is conveniently located between Little Rock, the state capital, and Hot Springs, Arkansas, the childhood home of 42nd president, Bill Clinton. Both of these cities are outside the county but within a 20-30-minute commute time.

Whether your company requires close proximity to interstate roadways, railroads, river ports, or air cargo access, Saline County, AR, can meet and exceed those needs. Call Saline County Economic Development Corporation with any questions or to learn more.

Saline County General Statistics

• County population in 2012: 111,845 (compared to 83,529 in 2000)
• County owner-occupied houses and condos in 2010: 32,245 (compared to 25,645 in 2000)
• Renter-occupied apartments: 9,196 (compared to 6,133 in 2000)
• Land area: 723 square miles
• Water area: 7.0 square miles
• Population density average: 151 people per square mile
• March 2012 cost of living index in Saline County: 86.6 (less than average, as the U.S. average is 100)

Public Schools and Demographic Growth in Saline County

The two largest public school districts in Saline County, Benton High School and Bryant High School, have recently finished major construction projects.

Financial technology company SmartAsset released the rankings from its third annual Healthiest Housing Markets Study, and Bryant ranked #1 on the list for Arkansas. The study measures market health by the average number of years residents spend in homes, home values, ease of sale, and the costs associated with ownership. Congratulations to our community!

Check out the table below for a closer look at the results:

Good news for folks looking to sell their home in Bryant: a recent study ranked it among the easiest places in Arkansas to sell. SmartAsset ranked cities in the US by the number of days their homes spend on the market. You can see where Bryant ranked in Arkansas in the table below:

The rankings are part of SmartAsset’s comprehensive study on the healthiest housing markets in the country. Click here for an interactive map of the healthiest housing markets and more details regarding the study and methodology.

Saline County has ranked among the top counties in Arkansas. Counties in the analysis were measured by GDP growth over a four-year period.

The latest Metroplan report shows that Central Arkansas is seeing a slowdown in its growth, but trail-oriented developments are gaining traction.

The 2019 Demographic Review and Outlook chronicle trends in the Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway metropolitan statistical area, including six counties in the central part of the state. The latest report highlighted:

• The regional trend of slow but steady population and housing growth continues
• Saline County continues to be the region’s fastest-growing area
• Single-family housing construction remained steady in 2018, but multi-family construction slowed from a record pace in 2017
• Nearly half of all commuters are going to jobs in Little Rock

The report notes that Little Rock is now shown with a population of 198,816 city residents. Pulaski County, the state’s most populous county, has an estimated 396,000 residents, down from 399,000 in the previous year’s estimate.

Over the last nine years from the last Census, Metroplan shows that Saline County has had the strongest growth of the six counties in the group’s footprint. Saline County has seen its population grow by an estimated 13.1%, led by 18% growth in Benton and 26% growth in Bryant.

Faulkner County is up an estimated 10.7% this decade, while Lonoke County’s population has risen 6.6%. Pulaski County has grown 3.5% during the decade on the strength of growth in Maumelle (+10.3%), Sherwood (+10.2%), and North Little Rock (5.6%).

Among the other counties studied by Metroplan, Grant County has grown by 1.9%, while Perry County has declined by 0.9% since 2010.

“Regional housing construction ticked down in 2018 compared with the year before,” the Metroplan report said.

Single-family housing was stable, with 1,313 units started in the region’s nine largest cities. Maumelle, Conway, and Bryant had the most housing starts during the year. In contrast, Little Rock and Jacksonville saw declines in housing starts.

“Multi-family housing ran more slowly in 2018 after a banner year for new construction in 2017,” according to the report. “The multifamily index below shows that, during most quarters over the past two years, the Little Rock region has exceeded U.S. trends in multi-family construction.”

Travel Patterns and Trails

Central Arkansas bucks a national trend with its work commuting patterns. The region has less “orbital” suburb-to-suburb commuting seen in other large metropolitan areas and more direct to Little Rock commuting traffic.

For instance, the top seven city-to-city commuting routes over a four-year period are:

• North Little Rock to Little Rock – 13,780 daily travelers
• Little Rock to North Little Rock – 7,565
• Benton to Little Rock – 6,275
• Sherwood to Little Rock – 6,105
• Bryant to Little Rock – 5,680
• Maumelle to Little Rock – 5,290
• Conway to Little Rock – 4,720

The new Metroplan report highlights several developments and the economic impact of trails throughout the region.

For instance, Rockwater Village on the banks of the North Little Rock side of the Arkansas River has converted a declining neighborhood into a vibrant live-work-play community on the 16-mile Arkansas River Trail bike/pedestrian loop. The development, put together by Lisa Ferrell and Jim Jackson, has a mix of apartments and high- and middle-end single-family homes at a variety of price points as well as a marina for boats. More development is planned for the community.

The Big Dam Bridge in west Little Rock has helped connect the bike/pedestrian trail system and featured a cycling event in 2018. That event brought out 3,436 bikers from 33 states. The Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau estimated that the one-weekend event generated 1,093 hotel room stays, sales tax revenue of $11,000, and an economic impact of more than $1.3 million.