County Maps US

Howard County, Arkansas

A county in Arkansas, ranked 56 of 75 by population.

CountyFIPS 05061

Within Arkansas
Howard County, highlighted, with the areas around it. Boundaries generalised from the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file; neighbour fills carry no data. The dot marks Nashville, the county seat, located via the 2025 Census Gazetteer.

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Population
12,306
-454 (-3.6%) since 2020
Land area
587.3
square miles. A further 1.4% of the total area is water
Population density
21.0
people per square mile, computed rather than published
County seat
Nashville
Seat of county government.
Established
1873
152 years ago
Largest city
Nashville city
Population 3,945.

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; Wikidata (CC0), Wikidata. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

Satellite view

Aerial imagery of Howard County with its boundary drawn on top. A map shows you the shape; this shows you what is inside it, and which side of the line a place falls on.

Aerial view of Howard County, Arkansas from the USGS National Map, with its boundary outlined
Imagery: USGS National Map, USGS Imagery Only, public domain, requested from USGS by your browser when you reach this point on the page, at 510 by 800 pixels. The boundary is the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file, reprojected to Web Mercator to match the imagery. You can also open the USGS National Map viewer.

Where Howard County ranks

Position among the 75 counties of Arkansas, and among all 3,144 US counties and county-equivalents. Computed from the figures on this page.

MeasureValueIn ArkansasNationally
Population12,30656th of 752,267th of 3,144
Land area587.3 sq mi63rd of 751,670th of 3,144
Population density21.0 per sq mi51st of 752,206th of 3,144
Median household income$45,60357th of 752,945th of 3,143

Full data for Howard County

Every figure below is attributed to the Census Bureau product it came from, with the vintage of that product.
MeasureValueSource and vintage
Population12,306Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 202012,760Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?12,788Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area587.3 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area8.2 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area595.6 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?21.0 per sq miComputed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income$45,603American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value$153,900American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age38.8American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households5,098American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units6,173American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; US Census Bureau, American Community Survey, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates, released 29 January 2026. Population density is computed here, not published: it divides the Vintage 2025 population estimate by the 2025 Gazetteer land area, which are two different Census products. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

How the population changed

The Census Bureau publishes the components behind an estimate, not just the total. For the year to July 2025:

Births minus deaths
-55
126 births, 181 deaths
Net migration
-131
More people moved out than moved in.

Source: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

The 6 areas bordering Howard County

Ordered by the length of the border actually shared, which the Census Bureau publishes in its county adjacency file and which no other county reference presents.

Bordering areaStateShared borderPopulation
Sevier CountyArkansas68 mi15,758
Polk CountyArkansas30 mi19,486
Pike CountyArkansas30 mi9,964
Hempstead CountyArkansas25 mi19,080
Little River CountyArkansas0.1 mi11,763
Montgomery CountyArkansasa single point8,579

Source: US Census Bureau, County Adjacency File, 2025 County Adjacency File, released 15 September 2025. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

All 75 counties of Arkansas

Open the interactive Arkansas county map, or jump straight to any of them.

Data on this page last rebuilt 30 August 2026. How these figures are produced.