Demographics of Arkansas


This article refers to the demographics of the U.S. state of Arkansas.
Arkansas is the 32nd largest state, with a population of 2,915,918 as of the 2010 United States Census.

Demographics

The United States Census Bureau estimates that the population of Arkansas was 2,978,204 on July 1, 2015, a 2.14% increase since the 2010 United States Census
As of 2015, Arkansas had an estimated population of 2,978,204, which is an increase of 11,835, or 0.2%, from the prior year and an increase of 62,286, or 2.14%, since the year 2010. This includes a natural increase since the last census of 52,214 people and an increase due to net migration of 57,611 people into the state. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 21,947 people, and migration within the country produced a net increase of 35,664 people. It is estimated that about 48.8% is male, and 51.2% is female. From 2000 through 2006 Arkansas has had a population growth of 5.1% or 137,472. The population density of the state is 51.3 people per square mile.
According to the 2010 United States Census, Arkansas had a population of 2,915,918. The racial composition of the population was:
6.4% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race.
According to the 2006–2008 American Community Survey, the ten largest ancestry groups in the state African American, Irish, German, American, English, French, Scotch-Irish, Dutch, Scottish and Italian.
European Americans have a strong presence in the northwestern Ozarks and the central part of the state. African Americans live mainly in the southern and eastern parts of the state. Arkansans of Irish, English and German ancestry are mostly found in the far northwestern Ozarks near the Missouri border. Ancestors of the Irish in the Ozarks were chiefly Scotch-Irish, Protestants from Northern Ireland, the Scottish lowlands and northern England: part of the largest group of immigrants from Great Britain and Ireland before the American Revolution. English and Scotch-Irish immigrants settled throughout the backcountry of the South and in the more mountainous areas. Americans of English stock are found throughout the state.

Birth data

Note: Births in table don't add up, because Hispanics are counted both by their ethnicity and by their race, giving a higher overall number.
Race201320142015201620172018
White:29,093 29,632 29,532 .........
> Non-Hispanic White25,287 25,940 25,714 24,953 24,089 23,609
Black7,354 7,376 7,767 7,098 7,082 6,966
Asian1,094 1,202 1,234 805 783 775
Pacific Islander.........420 470 498
American Indian291 301 353 233 239 220
Hispanic 3,834 3,837 4,008 4,064 4,048 4,099
Total Arkansas37,832 38,511 38,886 38,274 37,520 37,018

According to the 2006–2008 American Community Survey, 93.8% of Arkansas' population spoke only English at home. About 4.5% of the state's population spoke Spanish at home. About 0.7% of the state's population spoke any other Indo-European language. About 0.8% of the state's population spoke an Asian language, and 0.2% spoke other languages.
In 2006, Arkansas has a larger percentage of tobacco smokers than the national average, with 24.0% of adults smoking.

Religion

Arkansas, like most other Southern states, is part of the Bible Belt and is predominantly Protestant. The religious affiliations of the people as of 2001 are as follows:
The largest denominations by number of adherents in 2000 were the Southern Baptist Convention with 665,307; the United Methodist Church with 179,383; the Roman Catholic Church with 115,967; and the American Baptist Association with 115,916.