Five years ago, the Walton Family Foundation’s original Our Housing Future report warned of an impending housing crisis in Northwest Arkansas. In 2025, those warnings have become reality.
While our region remains rich in opportunity and culture, soaring costs and shrinking supply now demand a bold, regional response or our growth will leave too many behind.
The recent report, produced by Enterprise Community Partners, “Our Housing Future: A Call to Action for Northwest Arkansas,” provides a clear view of our position. Since 2019, median multifamily rent has surged by nearly 50%, and home prices have soared by more than 70%. Meanwhile, the number of cost-burdened households spending more than 30% of their income on housing has jumped by 10%.
This data is staggering, but it tells a very relatable, human story: families struggling to stay in the communities they helped build; essential workers, from teachers to firefighters, priced out of stable housing; and younger generations unsure if they can afford to put down roots here.
The report outlines five priorities: establish a regional housing vision, create a trust fund, leverage public land, utilize state and federal dollars, and offer development incentives. But at the heart of these strategies is one truth: We must act together.
In addition to collaboration, real change will require creativity and innovation. In that spirit, I want to highlight some responsive new wins coming from regional organizations. Groundwork NWA bridges municipal boundaries and aligns stakeholders to drive regional housing solutions. A recent success: working with Rep. Nicole Clowney, D-Fayetteville, and Sen. Bart Hester, R-Cave Springs, to pass Act 313, which allows Arkansans to build backyard cottages and garage apartments without excessive red tape.
Other local wins include Urban Land Institute Northwest Arkansas’ Faithful Foundations, an educational cohort that helps faith-based communities leverage the development of underutilized land into affordable housing, Mercy Housing’s expansion to the region, Bring It Home’s new community land trust, and Community Development NWA’s growing pipeline of new developments with affordable rentals that match community need.
We are seeing impressive movement in these areas, and what these organizations are doing is incredibly effective and important. But we cannot create real, seismic change alone. Significant progress will require sustained partnership across philanthropy, government and community.
Other regions offer lessons. In Austin, Texas, a centralized housing agency pools resources to fund developments, creating an appeal for affordable housing developers. We need similar tools here in Northwest Arkansas. Without them, even well-intentioned developers struggle to make projects financially viable. Without the right tools, we risk losing momentum at a critical moment.
The risk is especially high regarding subsidized housing. By 2040, over half of our region’s 3,200 subsidized units could vanish as federal support expires. Without intervention, those units may be sold off or converted, reducing our already strained housing stock. The good news is that we can get ahead of it by extending affordability commitments and mobilizing resources to preserve what we already have.
Northwest Arkansas is projected to surpass 1 million residents by 2050. That future is fast approaching, whether we’re ready for it or not. If we want to preserve this region’s character and economic vitality, we must treat housing as the essential infrastructure it is. That means coordinated planning, shared funding and an unwavering commitment to unified action. Let’s make this the moment we join forces — cities, nonprofits, developers and residents alike — to build a Northwest Arkansas where everyone has a place to call home.
Editor’s note: Stacy Jurado-Miller is a senior program officer for the Walton Family Foundation’s Home Region Program. The opinions expressed are those of the author.
