Bordering states

Arkansas vs Missouri

Short answer

Missouri has 6,245,466 residents, 2.0 times Arkansas's 3,088,354. Missouri is the larger by land, 1.32 times the size of Arkansas.
AR
3,088,354
MO
6,245,466

The two states, county by county

Both maps share one density scale, so the same shade means the same number of people per square mile on either side of the border. Darker counties are denser. Select a county to open its page.

Arkansas

Lincoln County: 23.0 per sq miCleveland County: 12.3 per sq miSt. Francis County: 34.4 per sq miHoward County: 21.1 per sq miDrew County: 20.4 per sq miVan Buren County: 22.8 per sq miSearcy County: 11.8 per sq miPoinsett County: 29.4 per sq miHot Spring County: 54.2 per sq miIzard County: 24.6 per sq miCross County: 26.3 per sq miGarland County: 147.4 per sq miNevada County: 13.0 per sq miWashington County: 282.7 per sq miUnion County: 35.6 per sq miPope County: 79.9 per sq miColumbia County: 28.7 per sq miConway County: 38.8 per sq miFaulkner County: 203.3 per sq miMiller County: 67.2 per sq miArkansas County: 16.2 per sq miClay County: 22.1 per sq miSaline County: 181.4 per sq miYell County: 21.6 per sq miCraighead County: 163.8 per sq miMonroe County: 10.6 per sq miCalhoun County: 7.5 per sq miMarion County: 29.5 per sq miCarroll County: 46.0 per sq miMississippi County: 42.2 per sq miAshley County: 19.4 per sq miIndependence County: 50.2 per sq miStone County: 21.1 per sq miMadison County: 21.4 per sq miJohnson County: 39.6 per sq miLittle River County: 21.9 per sq miMontgomery County: 10.9 per sq miPerry County: 18.6 per sq miPike County: 16.7 per sq miLee County: 13.5 per sq miRandolph County: 29.2 per sq miWoodruff County: 9.9 per sq miLafayette County: 11.4 per sq miGrant County: 29.4 per sq miGreene County: 81.3 per sq miJefferson County: 73.0 per sq miFranklin County: 28.9 per sq miDallas County: 9.1 per sq miCrittenden County: 76.2 per sq miWhite County: 76.5 per sq miLonoke County: 99.0 per sq miBradley County: 15.3 per sq miBenton County: 379.3 per sq miFulton County: 20.3 per sq miDesha County: 13.9 per sq miPulaski County: 529.0 per sq miNewton County: 8.6 per sq miLogan County: 30.3 per sq miScott County: 11.0 per sq miPrairie County: 12.3 per sq miPhillips County: 21.2 per sq miOuachita County: 29.6 per sq miPolk County: 22.7 per sq miCleburne County: 46.3 per sq miSebastian County: 244.8 per sq miClark County: 24.2 per sq miSevier County: 27.9 per sq miHempstead County: 26.3 per sq miJackson County: 26.3 per sq miChicot County: 14.6 per sq miSharp County: 30.0 per sq miCrawford County: 104.6 per sq miBoone County: 65.5 per sq miBaxter County: 77.6 per sq miLawrence County: 27.8 per sq mi

Missouri

Pettis County: 64.2 per sq miHenry County: 32.4 per sq miTexas County: 21.8 per sq miMadison County: 26.0 per sq miSt. Louis city: 4,531.7 per sq miCole County: 198.3 per sq miWashington County: 31.0 per sq miMacon County: 18.9 per sq miBarton County: 19.8 per sq miGrundy County: 22.4 per sq miCedar County: 31.7 per sq miRandolph County: 49.9 per sq miRay County: 40.8 per sq miCaldwell County: 21.1 per sq miBenton County: 29.3 per sq miDouglas County: 15.1 per sq miShannon County: 7.2 per sq miDade County: 15.6 per sq miWright County: 28.6 per sq miGentry County: 12.8 per sq miLawrence County: 64.0 per sq miCooper County: 30.3 per sq miHickory County: 22.0 per sq miMoniteau County: 36.9 per sq miDent County: 19.6 per sq miMonroe County: 13.7 per sq miMaries County: 16.1 per sq miBollinger County: 17.2 per sq miClinton County: 51.8 per sq miKnox County: 7.4 per sq miWebster County: 70.9 per sq miHarrison County: 11.3 per sq miPulaski County: 98.6 per sq miAdair County: 45.2 per sq miWarren County: 89.8 per sq miDaviess County: 15.2 per sq miAudrain County: 35.1 per sq miHoward County: 21.9 per sq miLinn County: 19.3 per sq miSaline County: 30.9 per sq miMiller County: 43.3 per sq miDallas County: 33.0 per sq miMorgan County: 37.5 per sq miNew Madrid County: 22.5 per sq miNewton County: 98.5 per sq miOregon County: 11.0 per sq miFranklin County: 116.2 per sq miGreene County: 456.0 per sq miRalls County: 22.3 per sq miLafayette County: 53.3 per sq miLivingston County: 27.5 per sq miMcDonald County: 44.6 per sq miBarry County: 45.8 per sq miCape Girardeau County: 144.6 per sq miCarroll County: 12.1 per sq miChristian County: 170.7 per sq miVernon County: 23.9 per sq miCarter County: 10.6 per sq miAndrew County: 41.8 per sq miJasper County: 198.1 per sq miWorth County: 7.0 per sq miLincoln County: 105.2 per sq miMarion County: 65.1 per sq miHolt County: 9.2 per sq miHowell County: 44.0 per sq miSt. Francois County: 149.4 per sq miChariton County: 9.8 per sq miButler County: 60.2 per sq miIron County: 17.1 per sq miPerry County: 40.3 per sq miCass County: 163.5 per sq miSt. Louis County: 1,954.6 per sq miDunklin County: 49.8 per sq miWayne County: 14.3 per sq miOzark County: 12.2 per sq miLaclede County: 48.0 per sq miReynolds County: 7.3 per sq miLewis County: 19.5 per sq miTaney County: 89.7 per sq miRipley County: 17.0 per sq miSte. Genevieve County: 37.2 per sq miScotland County: 10.8 per sq miPutnam County: 8.8 per sq miSchuyler County: 13.2 per sq miShelby County: 11.8 per sq miBoone County: 280.3 per sq miMercer County: 7.6 per sq miPlatte County: 269.7 per sq miCamden County: 67.3 per sq miBates County: 19.6 per sq miJohnson County: 67.4 per sq miSullivan County: 8.9 per sq miAtchison County: 9.4 per sq miScott County: 90.4 per sq miMontgomery County: 21.5 per sq miJefferson County: 353.3 per sq miClark County: 13.1 per sq miCallaway County: 54.1 per sq miSt. Clair County: 14.6 per sq miBuchanan County: 204.7 per sq miPemiscot County: 29.2 per sq miPolk County: 52.0 per sq miPhelps County: 68.0 per sq miStone County: 70.4 per sq miOsage County: 22.2 per sq miClay County: 662.3 per sq miNodaway County: 23.4 per sq miCrawford County: 30.7 per sq miJackson County: 1,203.2 per sq miSt. Charles County: 756.0 per sq miMississippi County: 28.5 per sq miPike County: 26.8 per sq miStoddard County: 34.5 per sq miGasconade County: 28.2 per sq miDeKalb County: 23.5 per sq mi
People per sq mi
  1. < 15
  2. < 23
  3. < 35
  4. < 73
  5. ≥ 73
no data

Residents, 2024

  1. 01Arkansas3,088,354
  2. 02Missouri6,245,466

Land, square miles

  1. 01Arkansas51,992
  2. 02Missouri68,746

People per square mile

  1. 01Arkansas59.4
  2. 02Missouri90.8

Median county household income

  1. 01Arkansas$50,387
  2. 02Missouri$56,121

Side by side

MeasureArkansasMissouri
Residents, 20243,088,3546,245,466
Rank by population33rd19th
Land, sq mi51,99268,746
People per sq mi59.490.8
County-equivalents75115
Median county residents18,13019,100
Median county income$50,387$56,121
Most populous countyPulaski CountySt. Louis County
Largest county by landUnion CountyTexas County
CapitalLittle RockJefferson City
Daylight at capital, June 2114 h 29 min14 h 52 min
Census divisionWest South CentralWest North Central
Census Vintage 2024 population, 2024 Gazetteer land area, SAIPE 2023 income. Daylight computed with SunCalc.

Population and density

Missouri has 6,245,466 residents, 2.0 times Arkansas's 3,088,354. Arkansas ranks 33rd and Missouri 19th of the 50 states and DC. Missouri is the more crowded, with 90.8 people per square mile against 59.4, 53% more.

Land area

Missouri has 68,746 square miles of land, 32% more than Arkansas's 51,992. The largest county-equivalent in Arkansas is Union County at 1,039 square miles; in Missouri it is Texas County at 1,177.

Counties

Missouri is divided into 115 county-equivalents and Arkansas into 75, so an average Missouri county covers 598 square miles against 693. The typical county in Arkansas has 18,130 residents, against 19,100 in Missouri. The most populous are Pulaski County (401,209) and St. Louis County (992,929).

32 county names appear on both sides of the border: Benton, Boone, Carroll, Clark, Clay, Crawford, Dallas, Franklin, Greene, Howard, Jackson, Jefferson, Johnson, Lafayette, Lawrence, Lincoln, Madison, Marion, Miller, Mississippi, Monroe, Montgomery, Newton, Perry, Pike, Polk, Pulaski, Randolph, Saline, Scott, Stone, Washington. Use the FIPS code, not the name, when joining data across the two states.

Household income

The median county in Missouri has a household income of $56,121, 11% above Arkansas's $50,387. The highest county incomes are Benton County ($92,632) in Arkansas and St. Charles County ($98,765) in Missouri, from SAIPE 2023.

Capitals and daylight

Little Rock and Jefferson City are 265 miles apart in a straight line; from Little Rock the initial bearing is 1°, N. On June 21, 2026, Little Rock gets 14 h 29 min of daylight and Jefferson City 14 h 52 min; on December 21 the figures are 9 h 49 min and 9 h 28 min. Month by month tables are on the Little Rock and Jefferson City daylight pages.

Where they sit

The border between them is also a Census region boundary: Arkansas is in the South and Missouri in the Midwest. By county internal points, Arkansas spans 1 UTM zone and Missouri 2.

Questions people ask

Which is bigger, Arkansas or Missouri?

Missouri, with 68,746 square miles of land against 51,992, 1.32 times as large.

Which has more people, Arkansas or Missouri?

Missouri has 6,245,466 residents, 2.0 times Arkansas's 3,088,354.

How far is Little Rock from Jefferson City?

265 miles in a straight line, heading N (1°) from Little Rock.

Do Arkansas and Missouri have counties with the same name?

Yes, 32: Benton, Boone, Carroll, Clark, Clay, Crawford, Dallas, Franklin, Greene, Howard, Jackson, Jefferson, Johnson, Lafayette, Lawrence, Lincoln, Madison, Marion, Miller, Mississippi, Monroe, Montgomery, Newton, Perry, Pike, Polk, Pulaski, Randolph, Saline, Scott, Stone, Washington.

Sources and data as of

Data as of: Census Vintage 2024 population estimates, 2024 Gazetteer land area and internal points, SAIPE 2023 median household income.

  1. 01Census Vintage 2024 county population estimates
  2. 02Census 2024 Gazetteer, counties
  3. 03Census SAIPE 2023 state and county estimates
  4. 04Census Bureau regions and divisions of the United States (last verified 2026-09-30)

How every number is computed: methodology. Spotted a wrong figure? Report an error.