State Profile

Arkansas

Population (2023): 3.067 million

Arkansas’s emergency preparedness is not as strong as many other states and its health outcomes are mixed. The state placed in the low performance tier for public health emergency preparedness in TFAH’s 2024 Ready or Not: Protecting the Public’s Health from Diseases, Disasters, and Bioterrorism report. Deaths within the state due to drug misuse, alcohol, or suicide trail the country as a whole. Based on 2022 data, its rates of obesity and related conditions indicate an area of concern, with the percentage of adults with obesity, diabetes, and hypertension higher than the U.S. median.