ARKANSAS, USA — New Census data shows Northwest Arkansas is the 18th fastest growing metro in America with Benton and Washington counties seeing the largest population increases statewide.
The population in Northwest Arkansas increased by 2.3% from 2022 to 2023. Benton County had a 2.7% increase, while Washington County had a 1.9% increase.
Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce CEO and President Steve Clark says the chamber already has plans in place to handle the influx of people.
"We're planning around housing, how are we going to accommodate everybody as to housing, we're planning around transportation, what does that mean for people with vehicles and people without vehicles for public transportation?" Clark said. "We're also planning how we take care of people, so that's not just streets and roads, that's parks, that's law enforcement, if necessary, that's fire protection."
Census data also shows that 36 people move to Northwest Arkansas every day. While Clark's glad to have more people in Fayetteville, there are still a few concerns.
"Solid waste," he said. "When you add more people you have, say more water usage, you have more consumption of consumer goods and services and products, and then you have waste. So there's a lot of planning that's ongoing. But the planning is not just for next year. We see this as a continuing trend, potentially the next 20 years."
Northwest Arkansas is bike-friendly with trails as a main attraction. The city and stakeholders want to keep it that way.
"We have a city plan for bikes and trails, you can see we're operating and executing that right now," Clark said. "What I think is going to happen is the demand is going to require a reaction. There are too many people here who have found that the real benefit of biking is not health, it's happiness."
Meanwhile, the city is also creating a Black Historic District and a Civic Plaza near Dickson Street. Clark describes the projects as opportunities "to bring the entire community together from all backgrounds at one spot that we know they can come and gather."
Watch 5NEWS on YouTube.
Download the 5NEWS app on your smartphone:
Stream 5NEWS 24/7 on the 5+ app: How to watch the 5+ app on your streaming device
To report a typo or grammatical error, please email KFSMDigitalTeam@tegna.com and detail which story you're referring to.