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Fort Smith metropolitan area

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Coordinates: 35°22′07″N 94°23′55″W / 35.368691°N 94.398737°W / 35.368691; -94.398737
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Fort Smith metropolitan area
Metropolitan Statistical Area
Fort Smith, AR-OK
Metropolitan Statistical Area
Downtown Fort Smith
Downtown Fort Smith
Map
Components of the Fort Smith, AR-OK MSA
Country United States
State Arkansas
Oklahoma
Principal citiesFort Smith
Area
 • MSA10,000 km2 (4,000 sq mi)
Population
 (2022)
 • MSA
250,368
GDP
[1]
 • MSA$12.024 billion (2022)
Time zoneUTC-6 (CST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC-5 (CDT)
Part of a series on
Regions of Arkansas
Geographic Regions
Metropolitan Areas
Administrative divisions

The Fort Smith Metropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the United States Census Bureau, is a three-county area including two Arkansas counties and one Oklahoma county, and anchored by the city of Fort Smith, Arkansas.[2] The total MSA population in 2000 was 273,170 people, estimated by the Bureau to have grown to 289,693 people by 2007.[3]

Other major cities located within the area include Van Buren, Arkansas and Sallisaw, Oklahoma.

Definition

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Constituent counties of the MSA include:

Arkansas

Oklahoma

History

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The MSA designation included Franklin County, Arkansas between 2020 and 2023.[4] The MSA was revised to remove Le Flore County, Oklahoma in 2023 based on the results of the 2020 Census.[5]

Geography

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The Fort Smith MSA is predominantly located in the Arkansas River Valley region, an area generally defined as the area along the Arkansas River between the Ozark and Ouachita Mountains[6] consisting of flat lowlands covered in fertile farmland and lakes periodically interrupted by high peaks. Sequoyah County is within the Green Country region defined by the Oklahoma Department of Tourism and Recreation.

Ecology

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Ecologically, the majority of the three-county area is within the Arkansas Valley, a Level III ecoregion defined by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) parallel to the Arkansas River between the flat plains of western Oklahoma and the Arkansas Delta. The Arkansas Valley contains plains, hills, floodplains, terraces, and scattered mountains. Prior to the 19th century, uplands were dominated by a mix of forest, woodland, savanna, and prairie whereas floodplains and lower terraces were covered by bottomland deciduous forest. Today, less rugged upland areas have been cleared for pastureland or hayland. Poultry and livestock farming are important land uses. Water quality is generally good and influenced more by land use activities than by soils or geology; average stream gradients and dissolved oxygen levels are lower in the Arkansas Valley than in the Ouachita Mountains or Ozark Highlands, whereas turbidity, total suspended solids, total organic carbon, total phosphorus, and biochemical oxygen demand values are typically higher. The Arkansas River is continuously turbid.[7][8]

The northern halves of Crawford and Sequoyah counties are within the Ozark Highlands ecoregion. More sparsely populated than the flatter river valley, the Ozark Highlands contain many karst features. Cold, perennial, spring-fed streams occur. It is more rugged and wooded than the lithologically similar Springfield Plateau and the lithologically dissimilar Central Plateau. Potential natural vegetation is oak–hickory and oak–hickory–pine forests. Today, it remains dominated by forest and woodland. Logging, livestock farming, woodland grazing, recreation, quarrying, and housing are primary land uses.[7][8]

Fort Smith MSA is centrally located within the Arkoma Basin.

Communities

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Communities are categorized based on their populations in the 2000 U.S. Census.

Places with more than 75,000 inhabitants

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Places with 10,000 to 25,000 inhabitants

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Places with 1,000 to 10,000 inhabitants

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Places with 500 to 1,000 inhabitants

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Places with fewer than 500 inhabitants

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Unincorporated places

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Largest cities in the MSA

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City County State Population
(2007 est.)[9][10]
Fort Smith Sebastian Arkansas 84,375
Van Buren Crawford Arkansas 22,001
Sallisaw Sequoyah Oklahoma 8,740
Greenwood Sebastian Arkansas 8,482
Alma Crawford Arkansas 4,948
Barling Sebastian Arkansas 4,439
Roland Sequoyah Oklahoma 3,258
Muldrow Sequoyah Oklahoma 3,168

Demographics

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Historical population
CensusPop.Note%±
1910150,991—
1920171,39313.5%
1930155,138−9.5%
1940171,41610.5%
1950154,336−10.0%
1960145,323−5.8%
1970171,72218.2%
1980218,21627.1%
1990234,0787.3%
2000273,17016.7%
2010248,208−9.1%
2019 (est.)250,3680.9%
U.S. Decennial Census[11]
2019 Estimate[12]

As of the census[13] of 2000, there were 273,170 people, 104,506 households, and 75,005 families residing within the MSA. The racial makeup of the MSA was 82.78% White, 3.46% African American, 5.80% Native American, 1.80% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 2.26% from other races, and 3.87% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.54% of the population.

The median income for a household in the MSA was $30,500, and the median income for a family was $35,902. Males had a median income of $28,074 versus $20,182 for females. The per capita income for the MSA was $15,039.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Total Gross Domestic Product for Fort Smith, AR-OK (MSA)". fred.stlouisfed.org.
  2. ^ Revised Delineations of Metropolitan Statistical Areas, Micropolitan Statistical Areas, and Combined Statistical Areas, and Guidance on Uses of the Delineations of These Areas (July 21, 2023). "0MB BULLETIN NO. 23-01" (PDF). Office of Management and Budget. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
  3. ^ "Annual Estimates of the Population of Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2007 (CBSA-EST2007-01)". 2007 Population Estimates. United States Census Bureau, Population Division. 2008-03-27. Archived from the original (CSV) on 2008-09-05. Retrieved 2008-03-28.
  4. ^ Della Rosa, Jeff (March 26, 2020). "Northwest Arkansas continues to lead state growth, 13th fastest-growing U.S. metro over past decade". Talk Business & Politics. Retrieved July 12, 2025.
  5. ^ Tilley, Michael (March 17, 2025). "LeFlore County dropped from Fort Smith metro area jobs reports". Talk Business & Politics. Retrieved July 12, 2025.
  6. ^ Arkansas Tour Guide. Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism. 2013. p. 142.
  7. ^ a b Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from Woods, A.J.; Foti, T.L.; Chapman, S.S.; Omernik, J.M.; et al. Ecoregions of Arkansas (PDF). United States Geological Survey. (color poster with map, descriptive text, summary tables, and photographs).
  8. ^ a b Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from Woods, A.J.; Omernik, J.M.; Butler, D.R.; Ford, J.G.; et al. Ecoregions of Oklahoma (PDF). United States Geological Survey. Retrieved January 18, 2018. (color poster with map, descriptive text, summary tables, and photographs).
  9. ^ "Table 4: Annual Estimates of the Population for Incorporated Places in Arkansas, Listed Alphabetically: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2007" (CSV). 2007 Population Estimates. United States Census Bureau, Population Division. 2008-07-10. Retrieved 2009-01-01.
  10. ^ "Table 4: Annual Estimates of the Population for Incorporated Places in Oklahoma, Listed Alphabetically: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2007" (CSV). 2007 Population Estimates. United States Census Bureau, Population Division. 2008-07-10. Retrieved 2009-01-01.
  11. ^ "U.S. Decennial Census". Census.gov. Archived from the original on May 7, 2015. Retrieved April 18, 2020.
  12. ^ "Metropolitan Statistical Area; and for Puerto Rico". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved September 4, 2020.
  13. ^ "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2008-01-31.

35°22′07″N 94°23′55″W / 35.368691°N 94.398737°W / 35.368691; -94.398737

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