Independence County, Arkansas

• White (non-Hispanic) 31,345 82.1%
• Hispanic or Latino (any race) 3,382 8.9%
• Black or African American (non-Hispanic) 700 1.8%
• Asian (non-Hispanic) 308 0.8%
• Two or more races (non-Hispanic) 2,022 5.3%
• American Indian / Alaska Native (non-Hispanic) 60 0.2%
• Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander (non-Hispanic) 111 0.3%
• Some other race (non-Hispanic) 247 0.6%

• Under 18 9,283 24.3%
• 18–24 3,656 9.6%
• 25–44 9,095 23.8%
• 45–64 9,433 24.7%
• 65 and over 6,708 17.6%

Median household income

$56,616

90% interval $51,129–$62,103

−$5,530 vs AR · 26th of 75

Below poverty line

17.0%

90% interval 14.3%–19.7%

+1.7 pp vs AR · 42nd of 75

Unemployment (12-mo)

3.6%

−0.6 pp vs. state

County GDP

$2.6B

1.4% of state

Avg. annual pay

$51,300

Establishments

964

• Education & health services 5,580 31.4%
• Manufacturing 3,992 22.5%
• Trade, transportation & utilities 2,951 16.6%
• Professional & business services 1,412 8.0%
• Leisure & hospitality 1,280 7.2%
• Construction 920 5.2%
• Financial activities 673 3.8%
• Public administration 338 1.9%
• Other services 283 1.6%
• Natural resources & mining 232 1.3%
• Information 92 0.5%

Home ownership

69.2%

+2.8 pp vs AR · 47th of 75

Median gross rent

$845

−$102 vs AR · 22nd of 75

Owner-occupied

10,128

Renter-occupied

4,510

• Concentrated

  Top three sectors employ 71% of the county workforce. Most panelists likely share employer relationships within these sectors, surface those connections early in voir dire before any institutional-defendant or sector-specific framing.

• Moderate wage spread

  Highest-paid sector (Financial activities, $70,580/yr) pays 3.8× the lowest (Leisure & hospitality, $18,538/yr). Expect meaningful income variation across the panel.

• Institutional employer scale

  Average establishment employs 18 workers, typical of an institutional-employer economy where large hospitals, plants, schools, and government agencies dominate. Expect many panelists to share an employer rather than work for themselves.

• Republican 11,023 78.7%
• Democratic 2,689 19.2%
• Other / third-party 299 2.1%

• Spanish 1,846 5.1%
• Chinese 55 0.2%
• Vietnamese 41 0.1%
• German or other West Germanic 29 0.1%
• French, Haitian, or Cajun 22 0.1%
• Tagalog 12 0.0%
• Russian, Polish, or other Slavic 2 0.0%

Households

14,638

Family households

9,995

68.3% of households

Married couples w/ children

3,108

31.1% of families

Single-mother families

722

7.2% of families

Veterans

1,784

6.2% of civilians 18+

• Evangelical Protestant 22,818 60.1%
• Mainline Protestant 2,664 7.0%
• Other (non-Christian + minor traditions) 932 2.5%
• Catholic 775 2.0%
• Black Protestant 546 1.4%

Health insured

90.0%

±1.6 pp

Uninsured

10.0%

±1.6 pp

15th of 75

With a disability

19.5%

±1.9 pp

55th of 75

Bachelor's or higher

18.1%

±2.2 pp

−7.6 pp vs AR · 29th of 75

Uninsured, under 65 (2024)

11.9%

90% interval 10.6%–13.2% · Census SAHIE

The under-65 uninsured rate is not comparable to the ACS insurance figures, which cover all ages.

Trial court

16th Judicial Circuit Court

Judges

4 (Circuit Court judges per circuit (general civil + criminal jurisdiction across five subject-matter divisions: civil, criminal, juvenile, probate, domestic relations); District Court judges (limited jurisdiction) separate. Vintage 2026 arcourts.gov; counts for small rural circuits are approximate (single-county or single-judge circuits typically carry 2-4 judges per Ark. Code Ann. § 16-13-2402). Five circuits (8th, 9th, 11th, 18th, 19th) are administratively subdivided into East/West subdistricts for judge-residence purposes; the counts here combine both subdistricts.)

Court seats

Batesville, Heber Springs, Melbourne, Mountain View, Salem

This judicial district spans multiple counties.

Traffic fatalities

10

34.61 per 100k adults (18+)

Fatal crashes

10