Northwest Arkansas needs to build 15 housing units a day to keep up with growth — and it's not doing that.

Why it matters: While NWA is building a lot of apartments, it's not enough for the approximately 20 people moving to Benton County daily and 10 people to Washington County every day, Mervin Jebaraj, director at the University of Arkansas' Center for Business and Economic Research said during an event Thursday.

• Housing in NWA has a vacancy rate of about 3.3%, Jebaraj said.

Driving the news: The Northwest Arkansas Council and the University of Arkansas Walton College of Business released their annual State of the Region report last week.

• The findings look at changes in economic factors like wages and poverty rates and compare NWA to six other "peer regions" — Austin, Texas; Des Moines, Iowa; Madison, Wisconsin; Durham, North Carolina; Raleigh, North Carolina; and Provo, Utah.

State of play: Wages have increased fast in NWA and aren't the reason for the region's affordability problem — it's that the cost of housing is outpacing them, Jebaraj said.

• The median household income in 2023 was $77,695, up about 34% from $57,911 five years earlier, according to an earlier report.
• But the median sale price of single-family homes increased by about 71% from 2019 to 2023, according to census data Jebaraj shared.
• And rents have increased by roughly 43% over five years, hitting a typical price of about $1,000 per unit in 2023 compared to about $700 in 2018. They've continued to inch up this year topping $1,000.

The intrigue: The cost of child care is one of the region's major challenges to improving the labor market, Jebaraj said.

• NWA has an unemployment rate of 2.4%, making it nearly tied with the lowest of its peer regions as Madison had a 2.3% rate.
• The overall labor force participation rate for people ages 25-64 in NWA is 81.5%, compared to the national rate of 79.9%. However, moms with children ages 6 and under have a labor force participation rate of 70.3%, lower than the national rate of 74.7%.

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Some areas of Arkansas have an especially high concentration of potential Halloween trick-or-treaters, per an Axios analysis of census data.

• Benton County skews higher in NWA with 14.6% of its population the mostly likely ages to beg for candy this week.

The big picture: Five-to-14-year-olds — prime trick-or-treating age — make up about 12.5% of the U.S. population.

Zoom in: Kids 5-14 make up the greatest shares of the state population in Utah (16.2%), Texas (14.4%) and Georgia (13.3%).

• In Arkansas, it's 13.1%.

How it works: That's according to the 2022 five-year American Community Survey, a demographics-tracking effort from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Caveat: Plenty of kids younger than 5 and older than 14 go trick-or-treating, but this is the least imperfect way to slice the census data for our purposes.

The bottom line: Use this to gauge how much candy you might need on hand.

Go deeper: See an interactive version of the map.

🎉 All week we're appreciating our members who support our local journalism with fun prizes!

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🧑‍⚖️ Benton County has started its mental health court program intended to keep people with mental health disorders convicted of crimes — but not violent felonies or sex crimes — out of jail. (Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

🏨 Colorado outdoor hospitality brand Campfire Ranch will open lodge Campfire Ranch Little Sugar in Bella Vista in spring 2025 at the former Inn at Bella Vista property on Chelsea Road. (Northwest Arkansas Business Journal)

🏀 The Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball team won 85-69 in a charity exhibit against No. 1 University of Kansas on Friday. The game doesn't count toward the season, but it was newly hired Coach John Calipari's first debut. (Fayetteville Flyer)

We've told you about beer at Flyway Brewing, but we wondered about small plates for a snacky dinner.

The setup: You don't have to be a duck hunter to like Flyway's food, but it doesn't hurt. The theme throughout is "game," complete with a mounted four-point buck in the men's room.

• Giant screens inside make this a prime spot for game days and the patio, as anyone who's familiar with the location will know, is perfect for post-bike-ride revelry and refreshment.

The food: I tried the cheddar bomb sliders ($14), the hummus dip with pita chips ($9) and, because it felt like the right thing to do, the duck tenders ($11).

• Pizza, pretzels, venison or quail sliders are also on offer.

The verdict: This is bar food, best enjoyed with friends over brewed beverages. The sliders have a great schtick — a fried cheese skirt — and the humus was delightfully light.

• The few times I've eaten duck, it's been at very high-end restaurants on the East Coast. I've enjoyed it before, but not this time.
• The tenders are likely more for those who grew up in south Arkansas shooting and preparing their own, and are jonesing for a taste of home.

Check it out: 11am-10pm Sunday-Thursday, 11am-11pm Friday and Saturday at 1550 E. Zion Road in Fayetteville.