2025

Counties in Arkansas ranked by Black Population

This list ranks the 75 counties in Arkansas based on their Black or African American population, as estimated by the United States Census Bureau. It also highlights population changes in these counties over the past five years.
Updated Feb 10, 2025

Top 5 counties with the largest Black population in Arkansas

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  • 1
    Pulaski County
    Black population in Pulaski County is 155,729
    36.56% of Pulaski County population is Black
  • 2
    Jefferson County
    Black population in Jefferson County is 37,984
    55.75% of Jefferson County population is Black
  • 3
    Crittenden County
    Black population in Crittenden County is 25,598
    49.21% of Crittenden County population is Black
  • 4
    Craighead County
    Black population in Craighead County is 20,866
    17.43% of Craighead County population is Black
  • 5
    Faulkner County
    Black population in Faulkner County is 17,021
    12.91% of Faulkner County population is Black

List of 75 counties in Arkansas by Black Population

View Methodology
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Rank by Black Population
County
Black Population
% of Total County Population
% of Total Arkansas Black Population
5 Year Rank Trend
1 Pulaski County 155,729 36.56% 31.29%
2 Jefferson County 37,984 55.75% 7.63%
3 Crittenden County 25,598 49.21% 5.14%
4 Craighead County 20,866 17.43% 4.19%
5 Faulkner County 17,021 12.91% 3.42%
6 Mississippi County 14,571 34.59% 2.93%
7 Union County 12,917 32.24% 2.60%
8 12,589 54.03% 2.53%
9 12,421 9.29% 2.50%
10 11,984 4.01% 2.41%
11 11,429 25.92% 2.30%
12 10,749 7.56% 2.16%
13 9,953 60.75% 2.00%
14 9,857 9.29% 1.98%
15 9,275 40.16% 1.86%
16 8,840 2.44% 1.78%
17 8,087 34.93% 1.62%
18 6,106 28.96% 1.23%
19 5,496 48.03% 1.10%
20 5,428 6.86% 1.09%
21 5,381 51.32% 1.08%
22 5,337 24.05% 1.07%
23 4,888 5.95% 0.98%
24 4,867 26.67% 0.98%
25 4,738 53.26% 0.95%
25 4,738 24.20% 0.95%
26 4,591 26.59% 0.92%
27 4,137 11.92% 0.83%
28 4,020 29.64% 0.81%
29 3,365 18.22% 0.68%
30 2,950 26.75% 0.59%
31 2,842 43.46% 0.57%
32 2,835 21.05% 0.57%
33 2,757 39.20% 0.55%
34 2,663 31.75% 0.54%
35 2,651 14.74% 0.53%
36 2,616 12.10% 0.53%
37 2,538 20.13% 0.51%
38 2,533 3.69% 0.51%
39 2,326 35.70% 0.47%
40 1,772 28.09% 0.36%
41 1,677 2.49% 0.34%
42 1,660 6.76% 0.33%
43 1,451 2.98% 0.29%
44 1,175 2.87% 0.24%
45 1,020 13.26% 0.20%
46 945 11.10% 0.19%
47 883 5.20% 0.18%
48 736 2.62% 0.15%
49 593 11.61% 0.12%
50 551 2.93% 0.11%
51 492 4.58% 0.10%
52 483 2.29% 0.10%
53 438 1.10% 0.09%
54 429 1.89% 0.09%
55 410 1.19% 0.08%
56 387 1.95% 0.08%
57 372 2.48% 0.07%
58 331 0.74% 0.07%
59 308 1.65% 0.06%
60 303 1.76% 0.06%
61 301 1.16% 0.06%
62 226 2.13% 0.05%
63 164 1.56% 0.03%
64 154 0.93% 0.03%
65 143 0.69% 0.03%
66 105 1.39% 0.02%
67 102 1.15% 0.02%
68 92 0.45% 0.02%
69 70 0.37% 0.01%
70 62 0.48% 0.01%
71 54 0.36% 0.01%
72 52 0.29% 0.01%
73 32 0.24% 0.01%
74 22 0.25% -

Methodology

This ranking list is based on data from the American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year Estimates, conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. The ACS is one of the most reliable sources for understanding population trends across different locations, and it provides estimates for various racial and ethnic groups at city, county, state and all geography levels down to the Census block group.
This list ranks counties in Arkansas by their Black or African American population, using the most recent ACS data available.

How the Census Defines Black Population

The U.S. Census Bureau allows people to self-identify their race, meaning individuals can choose one or more racial categories when responding to the survey. In this ranking, we include everyone who identifies as Black, whether alone or in combination with another race.
Here are a few important things to know about how race is reported:
  • Some people identify as Black alone, while others identify as Black along with another race (such as Black and White).
  • Hispanic / Latino origin is reported separately from race, so someone can be both Hispanic and Black .
  • We’ve used the “Black alone or in combination” category unless noted otherwise, which gives a broader picture of the Black population in each area.

How We Ranked the Data

This ranking is based on the total number of people who identified as Black alone or in combination in counties. To provide additional context, we’ve also included two key percentages:
  1. % of Total County Population – This shows what percentage of the total state population identifies as Black .
  2. % of Total Arkansas Black Population – This tells us how much of the entire U.S. Black population lives in that state.
To keep things simple, all population numbers have been rounded to the nearest whole number, and percentages are rounded to one decimal place. Because of rounding, some percentages may not add up to exactly 100%.

Things to Keep in Mind

Like all survey-based data, ACS estimates come with some limitations. Here are a few things to be aware of:
  • In places with very small Black populations, the numbers may not be reported at all due to privacy protections or sampling variability in the survey.
  • Since the ACS is based on a sample, the numbers are estimates, not exact counts. That means they may slightly differ from other sources like the decennial U.S. Census.
  • Counties that don’t have any reported Black population are not included in the ranking but are listed separately below for reference.
This ranking is meant to provide a clear, data-driven look at where Black populations are most concentrated while keeping the numbers easy to understand.

Sources

U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS) 2019-2023 5-Year Estimates.