Fort Smith

Population & Demographics

Fort Smith, AR

Fort Smith is home to 89,805 people. Explore its demographics, housing, and economy — plus how its 37,680 resident workers commute each day.

ArkansasCensus ACS 5-Year · LODES 2023
89,805
people
Population

89,805 residents

Median age 36.5 · U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year (2024).

Fort Smith population & demographics

Who lives in Fort Smith — population, age, housing, and income, from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Population
89,805
Median age
36.5yrs
Median household income
$54,816
Median home value
$178,100
Median gross rent
$884/mo
Bachelor’s degree or higher
23.9%
Poverty rate
18.3%

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS) 2024 5-Year Estimates. Values shown as “—” are suppressed or unavailable for this place.

Race & ethnicity in Fort Smith

How Fort Smith breaks down by race and ethnicity — each bar is that group’s share of the population, from the U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year (2024).

White58.1%
Hispanic or Latino20.5%
Two or more races8.0%
Black7.0%
Asian5.3%
American Indian / Alaska Native0.7%
Some other race0.3%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander0.0%

Race across Fort Smith

Each dot is a group of people, placed in their 2020 Census block and colored by race or ethnicity — the pattern shows where groups live across Fort Smith.

Fort Smith at a glance
Employed Residents
37,680
Fewer than the city’s total population
Median home–work distance
12.3mi
Straight-line, not road distance
Work Locally
60.4%
Share working within the area
Work from home
7.8%
Residents who work from home (ACS)
Top destination outside city
Van Buren
Excludes local — most work in-city

These figures are for Fort Smith proper — the Census place within its city limits — not the surrounding metro area. Metro-wide totals you’ll see elsewhere are larger because they bundle in neighboring cities and suburbs.

How Fort Smith commutes

Every dot is a worker moving between home and job. Trace where the area pulls people in from — and where its residents head each day.

84
Commute Score

84 / 100

How short the typical commute is here, on an absolute 0–100 scale (higher is shorter). How it’s calculated.

Fort Smith

37,680 commutes, one dot at a time

Fort Smith

Where 37,680 workers commute

Each dot ≈ 75 workers

Where residents work

Top destinations for people who live in Fort Smith, by worker count.

1Fort Smith0.0 mi22,773
2Van Buren6.2 mi2,791
3Little Rock124.3 mi1,025
4Fayetteville50.9 mi773
5Rogers67.3 mi652
6Bentonville69.2 mi635
7Springdale58.2 mi597
8Greenwood12.8 mi309

Who commutes in

Top origin places for workers who travel into Fort Smith.

1Fort Smith0.0 mi22,773
2Van Buren6.2 mi4,045
3Greenwood12.8 mi1,981
4Barling6.0 mi1,275
5Fayetteville50.9 mi942
6Pocola8.2 mi782
7Springdale58.2 mi768
8Alma12.9 mi759

Top industries

The sectors that employ Fort Smith’s workforce. Each bar is scaled to that sector’s share of all local jobs — the top sectors shown don’t add up to 100%.

Bar length = each sector’s share of all local jobs (0–100%)
HCHealth Care and Social Assistance18.6%
MFManufacturing18.4%
RTRetail Trade10.3%
ADAdministrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services9.1%
AFAccommodation and Food Services8.9%
EDEducational Services5.5%
WSWholesale Trade4.8%
COConstruction4.0%
TRTransportation and Warehousing3.9%
Connectivity

Internet options for Fort Smith

The biggest home-internet providers in the area — tap any to compare local plans.

6 providers · 3 with fiber
Speed availabilityshare of homes a plan reaches
1 Gbps~all homes
2 Gbps100%
5 Gbps100%
8 Gbps74%
See all internet providers in Fort Smith

FindBetterInternet is a CensusFlow partner site — we link out so you can compare local plans, and CensusFlow’s Census data stays independent. Provider data is from the FCC National Broadband Map (satellite + fixed wireless excluded).