Fort Smith, AR: Local News, Events & Neighbors

Fort Smith is the third-most populous city in Arkansas, United States, and one of the two county seats of Sebastian County. As of the 2020 census, the population was 89,142. It is the principal city of the Fort Smith, Arkansas–Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Area, a region of 298,592 residents that encompasses the Arkansas counties of Crawford, Franklin, and Sebastian, and the Oklahoma counties of LeFlore and Sequoyah. Fort Smith lies on the Arkansas–Oklahoma state border, situated in the Arkansas Valley at the confluence of the Arkansas and Poteau rivers, also known as Belle Point. Fort Smith was established as a western frontier military post in 1817, when it was also a center of fur tr…

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From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)

How Fort Smith ranks

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#9Most conserved land in AR #20Shortest commute in AR #37Most walkable in AR All AR rankings →

Town numbers

ZIP code72901, 72902, 72903

Area code479

Living in Fort Smith

Housing in Fort Smith

$195K▲ 3.1% in a year Typical home value · Zillow

The typical Fort Smith home is worth about $195,000, up 3.1% in a year, 14% below the Arkansas typical home.

A seller's market

Buyer’sBalancedSeller’s

Days on market44

Sale-to-list97.8%

Sold in May92

Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data CenterHousing market →

Safety in Fort Smith

D⁻

Safety Grade D-

Fort Smith reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 97% report less.

Violent crime per 1,000

Fort Smith 7.9

Arkansas 5.4

U.S. 3.3

Property crime per 1,000

Fort Smith 32.7

Arkansas 16.7

U.S. 15.5

FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to policeCrime & safety →

Schools in Fort Smith

All Fort Smith schools →

A⁻

School Grade A-

The public schools Fort Smith’s kids attend, from kindergarten through graduation, outperform 75% of Arkansas’s districts on state tests and graduation. Among towns with similar incomes, they rank near the top.

See how Fort Smith’s schools compare in AR →

DistrictFORT SMITH SCHOOL DISTRICTSchools36

Fairview Elementary School B+Elementary · Grades PK–5 · 582 students John P. Woods Elementary School A+Elementary · Grades PK–5 · 514 students Sunnymede Elementary School CElementary · Grades PK–5 · 510 students Harry C. Morrison Elementary School C-Elementary · Grades PK–5 · 493 students Elmer H. Cook Elementary School AElementary · Grades PK–5 · 459 students Sutton Elementary School C-Elementary · Grades PK–5 · 411 students

School data from the U.S. Department of Education (NCES, EDFacts). The School Grade is our own summary of state test results and graduation rates, graded within AR. Ratings are from neighbors.