Updated September 4, 2026. Quick answer: Arkansas ties its homestead to acreage rather than a simple dollar figure: outside a city or town, up to 160 acres (at least 80 acres protected regardless of value); inside a city or town, up to 1 acre (at least ¼ acre protected regardless of value). Either way, the protected value is capped at $2,500, a figure that has not been adjusted for inflation.
This is one of the lowest dollar caps in the country. The $2,500 value cap has not been adjusted for inflation in decades. In practice, the acreage floor (80 rural acres or ¼ urban acre protected regardless of value) is what actually protects most Arkansas homeowners, not the dollar figure.
This is protection against an ordinary money judgment creditor under Ark. Code Ann. § 16-66-210 (implementing Ark. Const. art. 9, §§ 3 through 5), a different question from a property tax bill or exemption, which this page does not cover.
How it works in Arkansas
- Filing rule not addressed in the cited source. Confirm with a local attorney or your county recorder before relying on this being automatic.
- Married couples and joint owners: Available to any resident who is married or the head of a family; the exemption also extends to minor children after a qualifying parent’s death.
What it does not protect against
Purchase-money debt on the property, mechanics’ and laborers’ liens for improving the homestead, and taxes.
Read it yourself
Verbatim from Ark. Code Ann. § 16-66-210(c)(1) (implementing Ark. Const. art. 9, §§ 3 through 5): “The homestead outside any city, town, or village, owned and occupied as a residence, shall consist of no more than one hundred sixty (160) acres of land, with the improvements thereon, to be selected by the owner. The homestead shall not exceed in value the sum of two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500), but, in no event shall the homestead be reduced to less than eighty (80) acres, without regard to value.” Read the full official text before relying on any figure here. Exemption law is fact-specific, and this is a source-backed planning guide, not individualized legal advice.