Northwest Arkansas

(Page 2 of 6)

September/October 1986
By the Mother Earth News editors 
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Benton County's largest town is Rogers (17,429), though its county seat is Bentonville (8,756). The county's total population is 78,115, or 92.6 people per square mile. Its work force numbers 43,000, and its unemployment rate in March '86 was 4.3%. Again, manufacturing and agriculture employ a great number. Benton's average annual salary is $14,396.

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The more mountainous Carroll County, with a population of 16,203, or 25.6 per square mile, relies on tourism for a great deal of its income, and many people have to commute into Washington or Benton to work, though Tyson's (a large poultry-processing company) employs over 2,000 and is still expanding. Employment is also found with a defense contractor and a log-home company. Even so, with 9,225 in the work force, unemployment in March 1986 stood at 9.5%, and the annual average salary was only $10,813.

Carroll's main centers of activity are its county seat of Berryville (2,966) and Eureka Springs (1,989), an old mineral springs resort whose winding streets, lined with charming Victorian houses, are packed with tourists during the spring, summer, and fall.

Madison County (population 11,373, or 13.6 per square mile) is the most rural and least prosperous of the four counties, with an average annual income of $9,625. Its county seat, Huntsville, has a population of only 1,394, and its labor force numbers 4,725, but its unemployment is a whopping 10.1%. Agriculture and tourism make up most of its income, but many talented craftspeople can be found tucked back in its remote coves, and it's only a 45-minute commute from Huntsville to Fayetteville.

As in any area of the country, northwest Arkansas has its crimes against property and domestic disputes that end in death, but random violence is rare, and you don't have to be overly concerned about rape, murder, and muggings as you wander about the towns and countryside here. Even in terms of crime statistics — which count only homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, theft, auto theft, and arson — northwest Arkansas comes out looking relatively good. While the national average for such crimes is 5,222 per 100,000, Washington County has 4,065; Benton, 2,319; Carroll, 2,947; Madison, 1,291. (The rate for cities in the United States is 6,220 per 100,000.)

Real Estate and Taxes

Rental housing is plentiful in Fayetteville, where a two-bedroom apartment runs $200 to $425 a month, but rentals are scarce in the smaller towns and in the countryside.

There's good news, however, for the newcomer who wants to purchase land: In absolute dollar values, land costs less than it did eight years ago. (The only exceptions are the houses in Eureka Springs, which start somewhere around $50,000.) How much you'll pay depends on how far you want to live from major towns.

Rough land in Madison County and the southern section of Washington County sells for $100 to $300 an acre. The thin-soiled grassland in Carroll County also starts at $300 an acre. In Lincoln, some 16 miles southwest of Fayetteville in the rich, prairie-like strip that runs through west Benton and Washington counties, 40 acres is selling for $24,000 and 80 acres for $35,000. Any good piece of property close to Fayetteville or Springdale sells for around $10,000 an acre for three to five acres, $8,000 an acre for 10 to 15 acres, and $5,000 an acre for 40 acres. Being in the Fayetteville school district can add another $2,000 to $3,000 an acre to the going price. On the other hand, you can get a two-bedroom, 1,200-square-foot house on a lot in Berryville for $26,000 to $28,000. Furthermore, building permits and building-code inspections are required in urban areas, but are practically nonexistent in the counties.

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