More housing, other development calls for infrastructure upgrades
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Northwest Arkansas' rapid growth is pressuring its small towns to build out water, sewer and roads — and its larger cities to make big infrastructure upgrades, too.
Case in point: Pea Ridge, a small town just northeast of Bentonville that had a population of about 6,550 in the 2020 census, built a new sewer plant in 2021 that gives the city the capacity to serve 30,000 people. It already plans to expand that capacity in 2032 or 2033.
- "We're just trying to be proactive to the growth rather than reactive to the growth," Mayor Nathan See told Axios. The town's population has doubled and is at about 13,000 people now, he said.
- The city is on track with water and sewer and is turning its attention to roads in 2026 as traffic on its two-lane streets has gotten more congested, See said. Pea Ridge has plans to build three new roads and has at least five major sidewalk and trail projects on deck. Leaders are also considering ways to alleviate traffic, such as shuttle options to take people to the new Walmart headquarters.
State of play: More housing is needed, but some places in Northwest Arkansas effectively have building moratoriums because of a lack of infrastructure like sewage capacity, Duke McLarty, executive director of the Northwest Arkansas Council's housing arm Groundwork, told Axios.
- Community Development NWA, a nonprofit that develops income-capped affordable housing, isn't proceeding with plans to develop 120 units in Gentry because of a lack of sewer capacity, director Casey Kleinhenz told Axios.
- Farmington has had people want to develop land in eastern and southern parts of the city where there wasn't available sewer infrastructure, Mayor Ernie Penn told Axios. The town just southwest of Fayetteville's population increased by about 38% from about 7,590 in 2020 to 10,470 in 2024, according to census estimates.
Zoom out: Of NWA's four largest cities, Bentonville has seen the highest growth rate in recent years — jumping about 14% from about 54,200 people in 2020 to about 61,800 in 2024, according to census estimates. And that's up from about 35,000 in 2010.
The latest: The Bentonville City Council in December 2025 approved issuing a bond and taking out a $239 million loan with the Alice L. Walton Foundation to finance expanding the city's wastewater system's capacity. Utility upgrades are generally paid by rate payers, but this loan will instead be repaid by a new fee for developers, Mayor Stephanie Orman told Axios.
- The cost of housing isn't just the cost of the housing unit itself — cost of living has to take into account other expenses associated with living there like utilities, she said. Bentonville has done extensive research to understand what utility upgrades it needs for its land use plan and is using this new funding mechanism with the intention of having growth pay for growth.
- The city is also ramping up quality and inspection requirements for any new water pipes to prevent breaks and leaks as some of its current pipes are not lasting as long as they should, Orman said.
What's next: Fayetteville voters will decide in March whether to continue a 1-cent sales tax to fund a $375.5 million bond issue that is largely for infrastructure, including $150.5 million in water and sewer work.
Go deeper: How housing prices jumped in NWA and Leaders tackle growth with zoning and policy changes