130,035 people (2024 Census estimate, +1.7% since 2020)
531 square miles of land · 245 people per square mile
“Highest” and “lowest” are just order, not grades: a high rank for poverty or hazard losses means more of it. Each figure's source is in its section below.
16 active community water systems list Sebastian County in the area they serve, reporting 133,323 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| FORT SMITH WATER UTILITIES surface water · local government · AR0000507 | 86,209 served |
| JAMES FORK REGIONAL WATER DISTRICT surface water · local government · AR0000513 | 11,538 served |
| GREENWOOD WATERWORKS surface water · local government · AR0000504 | 9,905 served |
| BARLING WATERWORKS buys surface water · local government · AR0000512 | 5,822 served |
| MILLTOWN-WASHBURN WATER USERS buys surface water · local government · AR0000773 | 4,325 served |
| RIVERSOUTH RURAL WATER DIST buys surface water · local government · AR0000674 | 4,275 served |
| LAVACA WATERWORKS buys surface water · local government · AR0000510 | 3,650 served |
| MANSFIELD WATERWORKS buys surface water · local government · AR0000509 | 2,367 served |
Source: U.S. EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), active community systems, . Look up any system's violations and test results with EPA's search using its ID.
About 418 people were held in Sebastian County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2019), or 512 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2014 it was about 385.
Source: Vera Institute of Justice, Incarceration Trends (built from federal Bureau of Justice Statistics jail surveys). Counties without their own jail, or that share one, may show no figure.
4 school districts have their office in Sebastian County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $198.2 million — $178 million to run schools, about $12,459 per student, plus $12.3 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $27.2 million local (mostly property tax), $136.4 million state, $41.8 million federal. Long-term debt: $186.2 million.
Spent $46.7 million — $44.4 million to run schools, about $11,216 per student, plus $984,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $7.6 million local (mostly property tax), $34.1 million state, $6 million federal. Long-term debt: $45.3 million.
Spent $13.6 million — $9.5 million to run schools, about $11,391 per student, plus $3.7 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $4.6 million local (mostly property tax), $7.5 million state, $2.1 million federal. Long-term debt: $11.2 million.
Spent $11 million — $9.1 million to run schools, about $11,129 per student, plus $1.7 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $1.2 million local (mostly property tax), $7.6 million state, $2.6 million federal. Long-term debt: $3.9 million.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 Annual Survey of School System Finances. Districts are listed by the county of their main office; some serve neighboring counties too.
Source: County Health Rankings & Roadmaps 2025 (University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute), which gathers federal data (CDC, Census, and others); measures cover different recent years. Blank lines aren't reported for small counties.
Overall risk: Relatively Moderate compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Sebastian County about $58.4 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively Low; social vulnerability: Relatively Moderate.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
325 bridges in Sebastian County: 113 in good condition, 195 fair, and 17 poor (5.2%). “Poor” means a main part — the deck, the beams, or the supports — is rated 4 or lower on the federal 0–9 scale. It doesn't mean unsafe to drive; unsafe bridges are closed.
| US 71 - Seb. Co. over Prairie Creek · built 1944 | 8,291 vehicles a day |
| US 71-Seb. Co. over Old Prairie Creek · built 1930 | 8,107 vehicles a day |
| State Highway 45 over Hackett Creek-Seb. Co. · built 1941 | 4,920 vehicles a day |
| State Highway 45 over James Fork Creek Seb.Co. · built 1948 | 2,700 vehicles a day |
| State Highway 45 over Stream- Seb. Co. · built 1968 | 2,700 vehicles a day |
| South Cliff Drive over I 540-Sec 1 Seb. Co. · built 1968 | 2,600 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $52.4 million of work in Sebastian County in fiscal 2025, about $410 per resident — to the county, cities, schools, hospitals, nonprofits and others.
Source: USAspending.gov, grants by place of performance, fiscal 2025 (Oct. 2024 to Sept. 2025). Search it by county to see each award.
From Grants.gov: posted grants listing county governments as eligible, soonest deadline first; research-only and overseas programs left out; list updated 2026-10-13, refreshed weekly. 62 are open in all. Cities, towns, school districts and nonprofits have their own lists there.
General election: Tuesday, November 3, 2026. Last day to register to vote: 2026-10-05. Early voting: 2026-10-19 to 2026-11-02. Absentee application due (by mail, email, or fax): 2026-10-27. Absentee ballot hand-delivered by you: last day: 2026-10-30. Election Day — and mailed absentee ballots must arrive: 2026-11-03. Provisional ballot: show your ID by noon: 2026-11-09. General runoff (only where a race needs one): 2026-12-01.
Source: Arkansas Secretary of State, 2026 election calendar · Fayetteville Flyer, Oct. 5, 2026 · sos.arkansas.gov — voting in Arkansas
The budget, property tax rates, audits, local officials and offices for Sebastian County come from the county's own records, which we haven't gathered — not gathered, never hidden. See what a full county site looks like, or ask to have Sebastian County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Arkansas: the state government and every county in Arkansas.
Nearby counties: Scott County (26 mi) · Crawford County (27 mi) · Franklin County (31 mi) · Logan County (31 mi) · Le Flore County, OK (31 mi) · Sequoyah County, OK (34 mi).