by Jeff Della Rosa (JDellaRosa@nwabj.com)

Northwest Arkansas, or the Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers metro, remained the fastest-growing metro in the state in 2023. Benton County was the state’s fastest-growing county.

On Thursday (March 14), the U.S. Census Bureau released metro area and county population estimates as of July 1, 2023.

Alison Wright, data center division head of the Arkansas Economic Development Institute (AEDI), said the metro estimates were expected with the continued growth in Northwest Arkansas. The metro was the 18th fastest-growing in the United States. Its population rose by 2.3% to 590,337 in 2023 from 576,967 in 2022. The growth rate rank was up from 24th in the previous year. Northwest Arkansas had the 32nd largest population gain in the nation at 13,370. The rank was down from 30th in the previous year.

NWA 18th fastest growing U.S. metro; Benton County leads state’s growth