ExecutivePulse
Official Federal Data

Pulaski County, Arkansas

FIPS 05119 · Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR · Population 399,818
9 Sources Updated June 22, 2026
$62,873
Median Income
$80,734 national
4.2%
Unemployment
4% national
$41.4B
GDP
37.9%
Bachelor's+
35.7% national

Demographics & Population

Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 · 5-Year Estimates

Household Income

Source: U.S. Census Bureau · American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median Household
$62,873
Per Capita
$40,670
Mean Household
$92,992
Poverty Rate
16.7%
Median Income Comparison
Pulaski County$62,873
Arkansas$60,773
National$80,734

Population Profile

Source: Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 · Tables B01001, B02001, B03003
65+: 16.7% (66,665 residents) 55-64: 12.1% (48,279 residents) 35-54: 24.8% (99,145 residents) 18-34: 23.1% (92,551 residents) Under 18: 23.3% (93,178 residents) 38 Median Age
Cohorts
Under 18 · 23.3%
18-34 · 23.1%
35-54 · 24.8%
55-64 · 12.1%
65+ · 16.7%
Race & Ethnicity
White49.4%
Black or African American36.8%
Asian2.2%
Hispanic or Latino(any race)8.4%
Hispanic or Latino is an ethnic category and overlaps with the race categories above.

Educational Attainment

Source: Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 · Table B15003 · Population 25+
92.2%
High School+
National: 89.6%
▲ +2.6 pts
37.9%
Bachelor's+
National: 35.7%
▲ +2.2 pts
15.4%
Graduate+
National: 14.1%
▲ +1.3 pts

Employment Overview

Source: U.S. Census Bureau · American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
399,818
Population
197,667
Labor Force
Employed
186,113
Unemployment Rate BLS LAUS 2025 annual
4.2% ▲ +0.7 pts YoY
Mean Commute 6 min below national avg
20.3 min
Work From Home vs 15.1% national
11.9%
Key Takeaways
  • Income gap: Households earn meaningfully less than the national median, which directly affects retail demand, housing absorption, and tax base.
  • Elevated poverty: At 16.7%, the rate is in economically distressed territory and supports federal funding narratives (CDFI, NMTC, EDA).

Economy & Industry

Bureau of Labor Statistics QCEW · Bureau of Economic Analysis

$41.4B
Gross Domestic Product · 2024
Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis · CAGDP1 Regional GDP

Top Industries by Employment

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics · Quarterly Census of Employment & Wages 2025 Annual
Top industries by employment in Pulaski County, Arkansas, with employment, share of top sectors, and average wage
IndustryEmploymentShare of Top 10Avg Wage
1Health Care and Social Assistance
40,151 22.1%
$66,389
2Retail Trade
24,821 13.7%
$41,035
3Accommodation and Food Services
20,176 11.1%
$24,577
4Transportation and Warehousing
17,764 9.8%
$53,844
5Administrative and Support and Waste Management
15,486 8.5%
$44,020
6Manufacturing
13,474 7.4%
$72,783
7Finance and Insurance
13,392 7.4%
$102,235
8Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services
12,664 7.0%
$89,946
9Wholesale Trade
12,541 6.9%
$84,783
10Construction
11,008 6.1%
$74,020
Track industry shifts with AI

ExecutivePulse monitors WARN notices, BLS changes, and SEC filings for your top employers.

Learn More
Key Takeaways
  • Largest sector: Health Care and Social Assistance employs 40,151 workers (22.1% of tracked sectors), at an average wage of $66,389.
  • Economic scale: Regional GDP of $41.4B (2024).
  • Wage stratification: Finance and Insurance averages $102,235 while Accommodation and Food Services averages $24,577, a 4.2x spread in the same local economy, with implications for workforce development and talent strategy.
Source: BLS QCEW + BEA Regional GDP.
Seeing a change here?

EP customers get year-over-year deltas, WARN notices, and SEC filings for every sector tracked above, surfaced as proactive alerts, not after-the-fact news.

Get Deeper Trends

Industry Concentration

Location Quotient measures regional specialization vs. national average. LQ > 1.0 = concentrated.

Location Quotient Analysis

Concentrated Industries
Source: BLS QCEW · 3-digit NAICS sub-sector · Location Quotient vs. national employment share
Same source as the Top Industries table above, sub-sector view surfaces the specialization the supersector view masks (e.g., Plastics & Rubber Manufacturing inside the Manufacturing supersector).
Warehousing and Storage
2.33x
7,478
Truck Transportation
2.15x
5,374
Utilities
2.10x
2,137
Insurance Carriers and Related Activities
1.86x
8,144

Cluster Depth

Source: BLS QCEW · Sub-sectors with LQ ≥ 1.5 indicate genuine cluster concentration
Dominant Cluster
Transportation & Warehousing Cluster
Coherent grouping of concentrated sub-sectors, signals supply-chain fit for site selectors
12,852
Cluster Employment
2.33x
Peak LQ
Concentrated Sub-Sectors
Warehousing and Storage
2.33x 7,478
Truck Transportation
2.15x 5,374
Utilities
2.10x 2,137
Insurance Carriers and Related Activities
1.86x 8,144

Attraction Opportunities

LQ < 0.5 with ≥ 50 employed, realistic diversification targets. Source: BLS QCEW
0.11x
Support Activities for Agriculture and Forestry
70 employed
0.12x
Crop Production
106 employed
0.25x
Air Transportation
238 employed
0.36x
Miscellaneous Manufacturing
373 employed
0.42x
Computing Infrastructure Providers and Data Processing
344 employed
0.43x
Publishing Industries and Telecommunications
655 employed
Key Takeaways
  • Top specialization: Warehousing and Storage concentrates at 2.33x the national norm.
  • Cluster depth: 4 sub-sectors register LQ ≥ 1.5, suggesting an interconnected industrial base rather than reliance on a single employer or sector.
  • Attraction whitespace: 8 sub-sectors register LQ < 0.5, candidates for diversification or recruitment depending on labor-market fit.
Source: BLS QCEW sub-sector Location Quotients.
Pulaski County's Top Sectors by Workforce Share
Each rectangle's area is proportional to that sector's share of total private-sector employment across all NAICS supersectors. Hover for exact employment.
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics QCEW 2025 Annual · Private sector, NAICS supersectors

Housing & Affordability

Census ACS · HUD Fair Market Rents FY2026

Housing Overview

Source: Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates · Tables B25001, B25077, B25064
$214,700
Median Home Value vs 2019
$1,080
Rent/Mo
57%
Owner-Occ
10.9%
Vacancy
3.4x
Home Value to Income Ratio
vs. ~4.1x national average

HUD Fair Market Rents

Source: HUD · Fair Market Rents FY2026
Studio
$984/mo
1 Bedroom
$989/mo
2 Bedroom
$1,147/mo
3 Bedroom
$1,540/mo
4 Bedroom
$1,822/mo
30% of monthly median household income (~$1,572/mo) · rents above this line are typically considered cost-burdened.
Key Takeaways
  • In line with national: Home value to income ratio of 3.4x sits near the ~4.1x national average; affordability is neither a clear advantage nor a recruitment friction.
  • Elevated vacancy: 10.9% vacancy rate. In resort, rural, and seasonal markets much of this is recreational/seasonal (second homes), not available supply; confirm the vacancy-by-reason split before treating it as a redevelopment opportunity.
  • Affordable rent tiers: 4 of 5 HUD Fair Market Rent bedroom tiers sit below the 30%-of-median-income affordability threshold (~$1,572/mo).
Source: Census ACS housing tables + HUD Fair Market Rents.

Workforce Pipeline

Labor force readiness, commuting, and workforce composition

Labor Market Overview

Source: Census ACS 2020-2024 · Tables B01001, B23025, B08303, B08301
239,975
Working Age (18-64) vs 2019
Mean Commute 6 min below national avg
20.3 min
Work From Home vs 15.1% national
11.9%
Prime-Age Employed (25-54)
78.8%
of prime-age population
Labor force participation rate: 64.5% of working-age population (18-64) 64% Participation
▼ vs 2019

Education & Talent Pipeline

Source: Census ACS 2020-2024 · Table B15003 · College Scorecard
Bachelor's+
37.9%
HS Diploma+
92.2%
Regional / Statewide Institutions
Total credentials awarded
23,161/yr
University of Arkansas 7,274/yr
Arkansas State University 5,133/yr
Arkansas Tech University 3,923/yr
University of Central Arkansas 2,507/yr
University of Arkansas at Little Rock 2,279/yr
NorthWest Arkansas Community College 2,045/yr

Aging Workforce

Source: Census Bureau ACS · Derived from age & employment tables
20.1%
55-64 of working-age population (18-64)
Elevated retirement risk, above the 20% threshold. Succession planning recommended.

Workforce by Occupation

Source: Census ACS 2020-2024 · Table C24010 · Civilian employed population 16+
Management / Professional
46%
Service
14.8%
Sales & Office
21.2%
Construction / Maint.
6.8%
Production / Transport
11.2%
Bars scaled 2× for visual differentiation; percentage labels show actual share of 186,113 employed workers.
Key Takeaways
  • Short commutes: 20.3-minute mean commute is a quality-of-life and labor-access advantage worth surfacing for site selectors.
  • Talent pipeline: 6 regional institutions feed the workforce; the top three combined produce 16,330 annual credentials.
Source: ACS workforce data and College Scorecard.

AI Insights

AI-assisted analysis, drawn from 9 federal data sources

Sample AI Insight

Pulaski County shows emerging potential for warehousing and storage attraction, with a 2.33x concentration and 7,478 jobs in this sub-sector.

The interconnected base across warehousing and storage, truck transportation, and utilities creates supply-chain attraction leverage rather than single-employer risk, a structural advantage for industrial recruitment.

Industry Shift Analysis

Manufacturing Automation Risk
High
Healthcare Growth Forecast
+4.2% CAGR
Remote Work Migration
67/100

Prospect Match Scores

Advanced Manufacturing
92/100
Life Sciences
84/100
Data Centers
71/100
Illustrative example

Take it further

AI Insights: Built into ExecutivePulse. Continuous analysis tied to your own pipeline: industry-shift signals, prospect matches, retention prompts.

Managed Services: Prefer to hand it off? Our team delivers the analysis and consulting for you.

Schedule a Demo
Available as premium offerings.

Data Sources

Updated from official federal government data.

Census ACS 5-Year2024
BLS QCEW2025 annual
BLS LAUS (via FRED)2025 annual
BEA Regional GDP2024
Census CBP2023
HUD Fair Market RentsFY2026
FCC Broadband Map2024
USAspending.govFY2026
College ScorecardAY 2022-23

Frequently Asked Questions

Key economic and demographic figures for Pulaski County, Arkansas, from federal data sources.

What is the population of Pulaski County, Arkansas?

399,818 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates).

What is the median household income in Pulaski County, Arkansas?

$62,873 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates).

What is the unemployment rate in Pulaski County, Arkansas?

4.2% (2025 annual average, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, LAUS).

What is the GDP of Pulaski County, Arkansas?

$41.4B (U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, CAGDP1).