Jobs & money · BLS monthly · FDIC annual
Who's hiring, and where the money sits
Jobs tell you who will fill the space. Deposits tell you where the money is parked and which banks have it to lend. Both are public record, and both are here in full.
Jobs by industry
Sep 2026 vs Sep 2025
| Industry | Jobs | 1 year | Since 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leisure & hospitality | 36.5k | +2.5k +7.4% | +46.0% |
| Mining, logging & construction | 19.4k | +0.8k +4.3% | +88.3% |
| Retail trade | 30.0k | +0.9k +3.1% | +16.3% |
| Professional & business services | 66.6k | +1.2k +1.8% | +34.8% |
| Government | 36.3k | +0.6k +1.7% | +19.0% |
| Education & health | 38.0k | +0.6k +1.6% | +39.2% |
| Manufacturing | 27.5k | +0.3k +1.1% | +10.4% |
| Wholesale trade | 14.1k | +0.1k +0.7% | +22.6% |
| Information | 2.5k | 0.0k 0.0% | +47.1% |
| Other services | 11.5k | 0.0k 0.0% | +8.5% |
| Transportation & utilities | 18.4k | -0.1k -0.5% | +7.0% |
| Financial activities | 10.8k | -0.1k -0.9% | +44.0% |
Thousands of jobs by place of work. Fastest growth: leisure & hospitality (+7.4%). Construction isn't published separately for this metro; it's inside mining, logging & construction. The latest month is BLS's preliminary estimate, revised next month.
Income and output, by county
BEA · Census · via FRED
| Measure | Benton County | Washington County | Year | 5-year change, Benton / Washington |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Per-capita personal income | $120,594 | $54,752 | 2024 | +45.4% / +35.3% |
| Median household income | $92,077 | $74,040 | 2024 | +30.1% / +42.0% |
| Homeownership rate | 69.2% | 59.3% | 2024 | +0.5 pts / +3.4 pts |
| Real GDP (2017 dollars) | $21.2B | $14.1B | 2024 | +35.3% / +21.2% |
| New housing units authorized | 6,307 | 2,632 | 2025 | +46.7% / +30.9% |
Per-capita personal income and real GDP: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Median household income: Census Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates. Homeownership: Census American Community Survey (5-year). Housing units: Census Building Permits Survey. All via FRED (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis). Benton County's per-capita income includes investment income of a few very large households, so the median household figure is the better read of a typical household.
New businesses
Census Business Formation Statistics · 2025
A business application is a filing for an employer ID number (EIN) with the IRS. Applications show intent, not openings. High-propensity applications are the ones likely to become employers. County counts are yearly; Arkansas and U.S. counts are monthly and seasonally adjusted. Arkansas and U.S. yearly totals here are sums of the county file. New businesses need space a few quarters later: offices, flex, retail bays, shop buildings.
Where the money sits
FDIC Summary of Deposits · June 30, 2026
| Bank | Deposits | Share | 5 years | Branches |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arvest Bank | $8.54B | 43.1% | +21.4% | 44 |
| First Security Bank | $1.52B | 7.7% | +20.9% | 18 |
| Signature Bank of Arkansas | $1.19B | 6.0% | +104.6% | 6 |
| Legacy Bank | $1.15B | 5.8% | +46.9% | 10 |
| Bank OZK | $940M | 4.8% | +80.2% | 13 |
| Bank of America | $730M | 3.7% | -11.9% | 4 |
| Generations Bank | $621M | 3.1% | +110.1% | 5 |
| Simmons Bank | $501M | 2.5% | +10.8% | 8 |
| Grand Savings Bank | $501M | 2.5% | +43.1% | 11 |
| The Farmers & Merchants Bank | $471M | 2.4% | +14.2% | 7 |
| First Western Bank | $415M | 2.1% | +51.7% | 6 |
| Centennial Bank | $364M | 1.8% | -20.1% | 8 |
| Chambers Bank | $343M | 1.7% | +26.0% | 4 |
| The First National Bank of Fort Smith | $270M | 1.4% | +19.1% | 5 |
| Regions Bank | $262M | 1.3% | +3.5% | 4 |
40 banks have branches in Benton and Washington counties. Deposits are booked to the branch that holds the account, as reported to the FDIC each June 30. "5 years" compares with June 2021; a blank means the bank wasn't here then. For Madison and Carroll counties too, plus each bank's branches and commercial real estate lending, see the bank directory.
| City | Deposits | 5 years | Branches |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fayetteville | $5.01B | +20.0% | 50 (+2) |
| Bentonville | $4.39B | +44.0% | 31 (+5) |
| Rogers | $3.84B | +31.0% | 45 (+8) |
| Springdale | $3.15B | +24.9% | 33 (+4) |
| Siloam Springs | $781M | +21.8% | 9 (-1) |
| Bella Vista | $692M | +28.4% | 6 |
| Lowell | $263M | +7.9% | 2 (-1) |
| Farmington | $262M | +41.9% | 4 (+1) |
| Prairie Grove | $244M | +57.1% | 3 |
| Gravette | $225M | +36.0% | 3 |
| Pea Ridge | $203M | +45.5% | 3 (+1) |
| Centerton | $160M | +21.4% | 4 |
Branch counts in brackets are the change since 2021. New branches are also new retail pads: a bank opening in a city is a tenant signing a lease or buying a site.
Owners buying their own buildings
SBA 504 loans · as of 2026-09-30
An SBA 504 loan finances a business buying or building the property it operates from: a bank lends about half, an SBA-backed lender about 40%, the owner puts in about 10%. So 504 volume is a direct count of owner-user commercial purchases in NWA, and nobody else publishes it.
| Fiscal year | Loans | Financing | Jobs supported |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2026 | 11 | $20.1M | 83 |
| FY2025 | 13 | $23.0M | 175 |
| FY2024 | 6 | $21.3M | 77 |
| FY2023 | 6 | $24.7M | 27 |
| FY2022 | 8 | $21.2M | 249 |
| FY2021 | 11 | $12.5M | 75 |
| FY2020 | 10 | $13.3M | 104 |
| FY2019 | 4 | $8.4M | 60 |
Federal fiscal years end September 30; FY2026 runs through 2026-09-30. Financing = the bank's loan plus the SBA-backed loan; the owner's equity isn't published. Groups of fewer than three loans are withheld or folded into "Other".
By city, FY2022–FY2026
| city | Loans | Financing |
|---|---|---|
| Rogers | 7 | $34.0M |
| Fayetteville | 14 | $26.0M |
| Springdale | 8 | $21.8M |
| Bentonville | 5 | $7.1M |
| Other (groups of fewer than 3 loans) | 10 | $21.4M |
By industry, FY2022–FY2026
| industry | Loans | Financing |
|---|---|---|
| Health care | 9 | $27.6M |
| Professional services | 6 | $17.1M |
| Hotels & restaurants | 8 | $14.8M |
| Other services | 7 | $14.0M |
| Manufacturing | 4 | $9.7M |
| Arts & recreation | 3 | $5.9M |
| Other (groups of fewer than 3 loans) | 7 | $21.2M |
By bank lender, FY2022–FY2026
| bank lender | Loans | Financing |
|---|---|---|
| Arvest Bank | 10 | $31.0M |
| First Security Bank | 16 | $24.5M |
| Legacy National Bank | 6 | $14.1M |
| Other (groups of fewer than 3 loans) | 12 | $40.8M |
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Employment Statistics (State and Area), series SMU05222200000000001 and industry series; FDIC Summary of Deposits. Both public domain. Market commentary, not advice. Also as data: the 479 API.
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