The Searcy, AR Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes White County, is one of the largest metropolitan regions in the US state of Arkansas. It is home to more than 2,000 people and the second largest metro station in Arkansas with a population of over 2.5 million. The Searcey, SUR (see "Searcy" for "Lake") is an urban area with about 1,500 residents and an average household income of $44,300.
Searcy Public Schools, including Searcy High School, the city's public school system and the City School District, serve the far eastern part of the city. Searcey is home to an elementary school within the city limits that serves the Riverside section of Searccy.
Searcy was named after a transplanted Tennessee citizen who served as a judge on the Arkansas Supreme Court. The city was named after the city of Searcy, Tennessee, where the Tennessee Valley Authority, the state's first district court, is based.
Searcy was the terminus of the disused Missouri - North Arkansas Railroad, which operated passenger and freight traffic from 1906 to 1946. When leading citizens recognized the importance of the railroad, they founded the Searcy Branch Railroad Company to connect the city with the Arkansas - Tennessee - Mississippi Railroad and the Tennessee Valley Authority. The EPA built a town hall and an American Legion hut, and New Deal programs reached Searcies.
Searcy was rebuilt in the 1930s, as the landmark Searcy Art Gallery and American Legion Hall, which are still in use today, show. The Searcys Art Gallery is housed in a restored Italian house from the 1870s in the south of the city, just south of Interstate 35.
Private education has been available since 1849, when A.M. Rafter founded the Polytechnic Institute of Searcy. The Foothills Vocational and Technical School began its students in 1966 and became the Searccy Campus of Arkansas State University in 2003. Formerly operated as the Footon Technical Institute, it offered several two-year programs and housed bee and beekeeping schools, as well as a high school, college and university.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.4 million square kilometers, about half of which is land and about a third is water. The university has continued to develop and expand, including the Searcy Campus of Arkansas State University and the Foothills Campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, as well as other campuses in Arkansas and South Carolina. According to a United Nations report on the US Geological Survey, "the city has an average population of about one million people per square mile (3.5 million per year), with about 2 million on land and 3 million (4.1 million) in water, according to an estimate by the Arkansas Department of Natural Resources and Conservation.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are 9,244 residential units in Searcy, averaging 1.5 per square mile (2.2 per year). These are located in the city's central business district, the largest in Arkansas and the second largest of its kind in North America.
The racial composition of the city is predominantly black, white and brown, with a small percentage of Hispanics and Asians. It is the second largest city in the state of Arkansas and the third largest in Arkansas, after Little Rock.
27.4% have children under 18 living with them, 51.8% of them are in married couples, 10.6% in non-family households and 10% to 8% have a housekeeper with husband, while 34.1% are "non-families." 28.2% have children over 16 years of age, 27% have children under 18 years of age, 50.7% have a child under 17 years of age, but 34% or 1% live in non-family households. There are 29.3% without children aged 16 and over, 37.9% for married families, with 27% and 4.0% having children under 18 with their child, respectively.
14.7% are 65 years or older and the population is distributed over 65 years and older, with 14% or 7% being 65 years or older. The poverty line in the US is $15,000 per year for a family of four, which means household income of less than $30,500 per year, or $1,200 per month for an individual. The population is distributed among 15.5%, of whom 14% to 7.0% are 65 + years old.
Median income per household in the city is $33,415, and median income per family is $41,334. The median poverty line for a family of four in Arkansas was $15,500 per year, or $1,200 per month for an individual, in 2016, while the median income for all families is $40,000, with a median household income of $34,843 and a household size of 3.5.
In the early 20th century, Searcy also benefited from the expansion of the railroads from Missouri and North Arkansas into the city. The Cairo and Fulton Railroad was built in the late 19th century to bypass Searcey due to the flatter terrain. Although the two railways were victims of the crisis and eventually filed for bankruptcy, they have since experienced steady growth.