Best Places for Business and Careers 2019

Little Rock, AR

Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR

Little Rock, AR

Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR

gross metro product

$37B

population

741.1K

median household income

$53,331

median home price

$149,000

cost of living

6% below nat'l avg

college attainment

31.1%

net migration

380 (year: 2018)

unemployment

3.3%

major industries

Agriculture, Aviation, Health care

job growth

0.8% (year: 2018)

As of October 2019

Little Rock operated under a city manager form of government until 2007 when voters elected to convert the city to a strong-mayor form of government, making the mayor's position a full-time position with veto power. Major corporations headquartered in Little Rock include�Dillard's Department Stores, Windstream Communications�and�Acxiom. One of the largest public employers in the state with over more than 10,000 employees is the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and its affiliates, which have a total economic

impact in Arkansas of about $5 billion per year. The Little Rock port is an intermodal river port with a large industrial business complex. Consequently, international corporations such as LM Wind Power have established new facilities adjacent to the port in recent years.

On forbes lists

#132

Best Places for Business and Careers 2019

#87

In Cost of Doing Business

#153

In Job Growth

#101

In Education

EmploymentHousingEducationQuality of Life

Job Growth

0.8% (year: 2018)

Projected Annual Job Growth

0.4%

Unemployment

3.3%

Median Household Income

$53,331

Household Income Growth

2.1%

High-Tech Employment

1.8%

Data is for the metro area
Sources: Moody's Analytics; Sperling's BestPlaces; U.S. Census.
Numbers as of October 2019
a - Value of 100 means that a family with the median income has exactly enough income to qualify for a typical mortgage on a median-priced single-family home. An index above 100 signifies that the family has surplus income.