Fayetteville’s population is enumerated every 10 years during the U.S. Census. Interim estimates are made each year based on factors such as housing construction and job growth. The U.S. Census Bureau estimated Fayetteville’s population on July to be 103,134.
Fayetteville’s population has grown in every decennial census except for the 1870 census, in part a result of the devastation that the Civil War had on the city inhabitants and the out-migration of Union-sympathetic residents to northern states.
The peak growth in terms of percentage gain occurred during the 1940s after the end of World War II, which resulted in a surge of veterans returning to college at the University of Arkansas and influx of residents to the city as well, more than doubling the city’s population between 1940 and 1950.
Fayetteville became the second largest city in the state as of the 2020 Census, released in 2021 due to covid-19. Two years later in 2024, the Census Bureau estimated that Fayetteville’s population had risen above 100,000 for the first time.
Population — 1840 to 2020
| Year | Population | Change in Number | Percent Change |
| 1840 | 425 | ||
| 1850 | 598 | +173 | 40.7% |
| 1860 | 972 | +374 | 62.57% |
| 1870 | 955 | –17 | –1.7% |
| 1880 | 1,788 | +833 | 87.2% |
| 1890 | 2,942 | +1,154 | 64.5% |
| 1900 | 4,061 | +1,119 | 38.0% |
| 1910 | 4,471 | +410 | 10.1% |
| 1920 | 5,362 | +891 | 19.9% |
| 1930 | 7,394 | +2032 | 37.9% |
| 1940 | 8,212 | +818 | 11.1% |
| 1950 | 17,071 | +8,859 | 107.9% |
| 1960 | 20,274 | +3,203 | 18.8% |
| 1970 | 30,729 | +10,455 | 51.6% |
| 1980 | 36,608 | +5,879 | 19.1% |
| 1990 | 42,099 | +5,491 | 15.0% |
| 2000 | 58,047 | +15,948 | 37.9% |
| 2010 | 73,580 | +15,533 | 26.8% |
| 2020 | 93,949 | +20,369 | 27.7% |