Local Area Definitions
Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs)
Metropolitan Statistical Area is a term applied by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget to counties or aggregations of counties that have one or more central cities and that meet specified criteria of population, population density, commuting patterns, and social and economic integration.
Listed below are the Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) used to group some data reported on this web site and the counties that comprise them. The listed MSAs are current as of January 1st, 2025. Due to the implementation of the 2020 Census data, some of the back data on this website have been revised using these new MSA definitions.
Specifically, the new MSA definitions impacted 3 MSAs in Arkansas: 1. Pine Bluff MSA (consisting of Cleveland, Jefferson, and Lincoln counties) was demoted from MSA to Micropolitan Statistical Area; 2. The McDonald County in Missouri was removed from the Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers MSA.; and 3. The LeFlore County in Oklahoma was removed from the Fort Smith MSA.
Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers MSA
Benton County, AR
Madison County, AR
Washington County, AR
Fort Smith MSA
Crawford County, AR
Sebastian County, AR
Sequoyah County, OK
Hot Springs MSA
Garland County, AR
Jonesboro MSA
Craighead County, AR
Poinsett County, AR
Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway MSA
Faulkner County, AR
Grant County, AR
Lonoke County, AR
Perry County, AR
Pulaski County, AR
Saline County, AR
Memphis MSA
Benton County, MS
Crittenden County, AR
DeSoto County, MS
Fayette County, TN
Marshall County, MS
Shelby County, TN
Tate County, MS
Tipton County, TN
Tunica County, MS
Texarkana MSA
Bowie County, TX
Little River County, AR
Workforce Development Areas (WDAs)
A Workforce Development Area is a labor market area that is usually a group of contiguous counties where employment, training, and educational services are provided. These areas were established through the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to provide services for dislocated workers and other eligible individuals. The State of Arkansas is divided into ten local workforce development areas based on common geographic and economic factors.
Workforce Development Areas were formerly named Workforce Investment Areas (WIAs). These Arkansas Workforce Development Areas contain the same counties as the predecessor Workforce Investment Areas contained.
Click here to go to an Arkansas map to locate the areas.
Note: For OES Wage Rates and QCEW Data - City of Little Rock Workforce Development Area includes all of Pulaski County and Central Arkansas Workforce Development Area does not include Pulaski County.
| Central Arkansas Faulkner Lonoke Monroe Prairie Pulaski (Except City of Little Rock) Saline |
Eastern Arkansas Crittenden Cross Lee Phillips St. Francis |
Little Rock Arkansas |
| North Central Arkansas Cleburne Fulton Independence Izard Jackson Sharp Stone Van Buren White Woodruff |
Northeast Arkansas Clay Craighead Greene Lawrence Mississippi Poinsett Randolph |
Northwest Arkansas Baxter Benton Boone Carroll Madison Marion Newton Searcy Washington |
| Southeast Arkansas Arkansas Ashley Bradley Chicot Cleveland Desha Drew Grant Jefferson Lincoln |
Southwest Arkansas Calhoun Columbia Dallas Hempstead Howard Lafayette Little River Miller Nevada Ouachita Sevier Union |
|
| West Central Arkansas Clark Conway Garland Hot Spring Johnson Montgomery Perry Pike Pope Yell |
Western Arkansas Crawford Franklin Logan Polk Scott Sebastian |
