21,822 people (2024 Census estimate, −5.2% since 2020)
635 square miles of land · 34 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.
10 active community water systems list St. Francis County in the area they serve, reporting 28,332 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| FORREST CITY WATERWORKS groundwater · local government · AR0000004 | 9,986 served |
| CROSS COUNTY RURAL WATER SYS groundwater · local government · AR0000459 | 8,750 served |
| HUGHES COMMUNITY WATER ASSOC groundwater · local government · AR0000011 | 2,195 served |
| PALESTINE WATER ASSOCIATION buys groundwater · local government · AR0000536 | 1,649 served |
| CALDWELL WATER buys groundwater · local government · AR0000532 | 1,585 served |
| ST FRANCIS RURAL WATER ASSOC buys groundwater · local government · AR0000537 | 1,103 served |
| COLT WATER ASSOCIATION groundwater · local government · AR0000533 | 997 served |
| HUGHES WATERWORKS groundwater · local government · AR0000531 | 987 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 28 people were held in St. Francis County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2021), or 190 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2016 it was about 73.
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.
2 school districts have their office in St. Francis County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $42.8 million — $31.1 million to run schools, about $14,410 per student, plus $10.3 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2.5 million local (mostly property tax), $20.7 million state, $17.7 million federal. Long-term debt: $15.4 million.
Spent $12.1 million — $9.5 million to run schools, about $12,311 per student, plus $2.2 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $747,000 local (mostly property tax), $7.6 million state, $2 million federal. Long-term debt: $6.7 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 Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost St. Francis County about $18.9 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Very Low; social vulnerability: Very High.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
201 bridges in St. Francis County: 64 in good condition, 123 fair, and 14 poor (7.0%). “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.
| Us70/Sec18/L17.388 over Drainage Ditch · built 1931 | 3,300 vehicles a day |
| Sh306/Sec2/L10.731 over Languille River Relief · built 1979 | 1,400 vehicles a day |
| Us-70/Sec-19/L5.17 over St. Francis River · built 1933 | 1,300 vehicles a day |
| Sh-261/Sec-3/L0.81 over Languille River · built 1977 | 1,100 vehicles a day |
| Sh-306/Sec-3/L0.46 over Taylor Creek · built 1976 | 950 vehicles a day |
| Us-70/Sec-19/L8.84 over Fishing Lake · built 1959 | 940 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $14.1 million of work in St. Francis County in fiscal 2025, about $610 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 St. Francis 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 St. Francis County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Arkansas: the state government and every county in Arkansas.
Nearby counties: Lee County (17 mi) · Cross County (18 mi) · Crittenden County (28 mi) · Woodruff County (30 mi) · Tunica County, MS (33 mi) · Monroe County (35 mi).