Lafayette County

Here are key demographics for Lafayette County, Arkansas (latest U.S. Census Bureau data: 2020 Decennial Census and 2018–2022 American Community Survey 5-year estimates):

Population size

• Total population (2020 Census): 6,308
• 2023 population estimate: ~6,100

Age

• Median age: ~46 years
• Under 18: ~20%
• 18 to 64: ~55%
• 65 and over: ~25%

Gender

• Female: ~51%
• Male: ~49%

Racial/ethnic composition (2020 Census)

• White alone: ~56–57%
• Black or African American alone: ~40%
• American Indian/Alaska Native: <1%
• Asian: <1%
• Two or more races: ~2%
• Hispanic or Latino (of any race): ~2% (note: overlaps with race categories)

Household data (ACS 2018–2022)

• Households: ~2,700–2,800
• Persons per household (average): ~2.3
• Family households: ~60–65% of households
• Married-couple households: ~45% of households
• Households with children under 18: ~20–25%
• Nonfamily households: ~35–40%
• Living alone: ~30–35% of households; ~15% are persons 65+ living alone

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, 2020 Decennial Census; American Community Survey 2018–2022 5-year estimates; Population Estimates Program (2023).

Lafayette County, Arkansas is very rural (2020 population 6,308; land area ~528 sq mi; ~12 people per sq mi). Email is widely adopted despite patchy fixed broadband.

Estimated email users: ~4,300 residents (about 85% of adults; ~68% of total population).

Age distribution of email users (share of users):

• 18–34: ~26%
• 35–49: ~24%
• 50–64: ~28%
• 65+: ~23%

Gender split among email users: ~51% female, ~49% male (mirrors county demographics).

Digital access and trends:

• Roughly two-thirds of households maintain a home internet subscription, with many relying on mobile data plans; satellite fills gaps in the most remote areas.
• Fiber/cable availability is centered in towns such as Lewisville, Stamps, and Bradley, with ongoing rural build‑outs improving speeds and reliability.
• Smartphone‑only access is common among lower‑income and outlying households, influencing email to be checked primarily on mobile.
• Public Wi‑Fi (libraries, schools, municipal buildings) remains an important supplement for residents without robust home service.

Bottom line: Email usage is near‑universal among connected adults, but the cadence and quality of access are shaped by low population density and uneven last‑mile connectivity.

Mobile phone usage in Lafayette County, Arkansas — 2025 snapshot

Baseline context

• Population: 6,308 (2020 Census). Land area: about 528 square miles (low population density).
• Rural profile: Nonmetropolitan, dispersed settlements (notably Lewisville and Stamps). Older and lower-income than the Arkansas average, which shapes adoption and plan mix.

User estimates (adults and devices)

• Adults (18+): approximately 4,800.
• Mobile phone users (any cell phone): about 4,300–4,600 adults (roughly 90–95% of adults), reflecting near-universal mobile reach typical of rural U.S. populations.
• Smartphone users: about 3,700–4,100 adults (roughly 77–85% of adults), a few points below the state average due to an older age profile.
• Mobile‑internet–only users (no home wired broadband, relying on cellular data): estimated 900–1,200 adults (roughly 19–25% of adults), higher than the Arkansas average.
• Plan mix: prepaid share is materially higher than the statewide mix (expect prepaid to account for a large minority of lines), driven by income sensitivity and credit constraints; family and discounted unlimited plans are common.

Demographic breakdown and usage patterns

• Age: Seniors (65+) form a larger share than statewide. Expect smartphone adoption around 55–65% among seniors versus 85–95% among working‑age adults, pulling down overall penetration versus Arkansas.
• Income: Median household income is materially below the Arkansas median, translating to greater use of budget Android devices, longer device replacement cycles, and heavier reliance on prepaid and MVNO plans.
• Race/ethnicity: With a sizable Black population, the county mirrors national patterns where Black adults are at least as likely as White adults to be smartphone-dependent for internet access; smartphone‑only reliance is therefore elevated versus the state average.
• Education and work: Lower bachelor’s attainment and a higher share of outdoor, shift, and non‑office work increase voice/SMS dependence, Facebook/WhatsApp use, and hotspot tethering for schoolwork and job search.

Digital infrastructure and performance

• Network presence: All three national carriers (AT&T, Verizon, T‑Mobile) operate in and around the county. LTE is the default coverage layer; 5G is present but clustered in and around towns and along primary corridors (for example, US‑82), with large rural gaps.
• Capacity and speeds: LTE downlink is commonly sufficient for SD/HD streaming in town centers but drops to modest speeds in fringe and wooded areas; uplink is more constrained, affecting live video and large uploads. 5G boosts capacity where available but is not yet a countywide upgrade.
• Tower density and terrain: Sparse site density and heavily forested terrain attenuate signals, producing pockets of weak indoor service and car‑dependent connectivity away from highways.
• Fixed broadband interplay: Fiber and cable are limited to select pockets; many outlying households have only DSL, fixed wireless, satellite, or none. As a result, cellular hotspots are a common substitute or backup for home internet, increasing peak‑time sector load.
• Public access points: Libraries, schools, and community venues serve as Wi‑Fi anchors; these nodes reduce data pressure for students and low‑income residents but do not substitute for household connectivity in outlying areas.

How Lafayette County differs from Arkansas overall

• Lower overall smartphone penetration by several percentage points, driven by an older population and lower incomes.
• Higher mobile‑only reliance (cellular as primary internet) than the state’s already high wireless‑only tendency.
• Heavier prepaid and MVNO share than statewide, with more price‑sensitive plan choices and slower upgrade cycles.
• Slower and patchier 5G rollout than in Arkansas’s metro corridors; LTE remains the workhorse network for voice/data.
• Greater variability in signal quality between carriers across short distances, reflecting sparse rural tower grids and foliage.

Key statistics behind these estimates

• Population: 6,308 (2020 Decennial Census).
• U.S./rural smartphone adoption benchmark: roughly 80% of rural adults; overall U.S. adult smartphone adoption about mid‑80s percent (Pew Research Center, 2023).
• Arkansas is among the highest states for wireless‑only households (CDC NHIS, recent years), establishing a high statewide baseline that Lafayette County likely exceeds because of its more rural, lower‑income profile.

Practical implications

• Residents: Expect dependable LTE voice/text in towns and along corridors, variable indoor coverage in rural stretches, and selective 5G capacity in population centers.
• Businesses and agencies: Prioritize LTE‑first solutions with external antennas or signal boosters for fringe areas; plan for hotspot support in education and workforce programs; consider carrier redundancy for field operations.
• Carriers and policymakers: Additional mid‑band 5G sites, rural small cells, and fiber backhaul extensions would materially improve consistency and uplink performance; device affordability programs will have outsized impact on connectivity quality.

Here’s a concise, decision-ready profile of social media usage in Lafayette County, Arkansas, built from the county’s 2020 Census population base (6,308) and the latest Pew Research Center data on U.S. rural users (2023–2024), scaled to a county of this size. Figures below are modeled local estimates with typical ±3–6 percentage-point uncertainty.

Topline user stats

• Population base: 6,308 (U.S. Census, 2020)
• Estimated social media users (13+): ≈3,750
  • Adults (18+): ≈3,380 users (about 69% of adults use at least one platform, in line with rural U.S. averages)
  • Teens (13–17): ≈370 users (roughly 90%+ of teens use social media)
• Device reality: Mobile-first; Facebook app, Messenger, YouTube and TikTok dominate time-on-platform. Home broadband is uneven, so short video and compressed media perform best.

Most-used platforms (adults, share of 18+)

• Facebook: 70%
• YouTube: 80%
• Instagram: 38%
• Pinterest: 32%
• TikTok: 26%
• Snapchat: 22%
• X (Twitter): 20%
• WhatsApp: 18%
• LinkedIn: 18%
• Reddit: 14%
• Nextdoor: 8%

Teens (13–17) platform profile (Pew, applied locally)

• YouTube ~95%; Instagram ~62%; TikTok ~63%; Snapchat ~60%; Facebook ~33%

Age-group breakdown (adults, localized from Pew)

• 18–29: YouTube ~90%; Instagram ~75%; TikTok ~60%; Snapchat ~65%; Facebook ~58%
• 30–49: YouTube ~85%; Facebook ~72%; Instagram ~50%; TikTok ~40%; Snapchat ~24%; Pinterest ~40%
• 50–64: Facebook ~75%; YouTube ~70%; Pinterest ~35%; Instagram ~30%; TikTok ~24%; X ~20%
• 65+: Facebook ~60%; YouTube ~50%; Pinterest ~20%; Instagram ~15%; TikTok ~10%

Gender split (adults, platform tendencies)

• Women: Facebook ~74%, Instagram ~42%, Pinterest ~50%, TikTok ~28%
• Men: YouTube ~85%, Facebook ~66%, X ~24%, Reddit ~18%, LinkedIn ~20%

Behavioral trends that matter locally

• Facebook is the community hub: Heavy use of Groups (schools, churches, youth sports), Marketplace, local buy/sell/trade, and severe-weather updates. Event announcements and lost-and-found posts get high engagement.
• Video first, short first: Facebook Reels and TikTok drive discovery; YouTube used for how‑to, equipment repair, hunting/fishing, sermons, and local sports clips. Under 30s skew to TikTok/Snapchat for social interaction; 30+ skew to Facebook/YouTube.
• Messaging > public posting: Facebook Messenger is the default; Instagram DMs among under‑40; SMS still strong. WhatsApp use is present but niche.
• Timing: Evening peaks (6–9 p.m.) and lunch windows (11:30 a.m.–1 p.m.). Weather events and local emergencies produce sharp, county‑wide spikes.
• Trust and sources: Highest engagement with posts from local institutions (sheriff’s office, schools, churches) and familiar community members. Local news and severe-weather pages are shared widely.
• Commerce: Marketplace is the primary local ecommerce surface; service businesses see best response from boosted Facebook posts and short video explainers. Older users respond to clear offers and phone/contact buttons; younger users respond to concise, vertical video.
• Participation pattern: Many “lurkers” (viewers) versus posters; women contribute more to group discussions and recommendations; men contribute more to listings and how‑to/video sharing.
• Connectivity constraints: Limited or variable broadband leads to mobile-optimized, captioned, sub‑60‑second content outperforming long, high‑bitrate uploads.

Notes on methodology and confidence

• Population and age structure anchored to U.S. Census 2020 for Lafayette County.
• Platform adoption and age/gender splits localized from Pew Research Center’s 2023–2024 findings for U.S. adults and teens, with rural adjustments typical of the South. Percentages are county‑level estimates suitable for planning and media mix decisions.