Northwest Arkansas Data. Better Decisions.
Confidential benchmarking built around the employers, organizations and workforce of Northwest Arkansas. Participate in local surveys, compare your organization with relevant peers and turn community data into actionable intelligence.
How It Works
Four steps from participation to actionable intelligence.
Participate
Complete a confidential benchmarking survey for your organization in your own time.
Compare
Your data is normalized and compared against NWA peer organizations in your cohort.
Understand
Access percentile rankings, trend data, and narrative intelligence specific to NWA.
Improve
Use benchmark insights to make data-driven decisions that strengthen your organization.
12 Benchmark Categories
A comprehensive benchmarking architecture covering every dimension of the Northwest Arkansas employer landscape.
Benefits
Health, dental, vision, and supplemental benefit programs
Payroll / HRIS
Payroll systems, HR technology, and platform adoption
Compensation
Base pay, incentive structures, and total compensation
PTO / Leave
Paid time off, leave policies, and flexible work programs
Retirement Plans
401(k) design, employer match, and plan participation
Safety
Workplace safety programs, OSHA compliance, and incident rates
Compliance
HR compliance practices, policy adoption, and audit readiness
Workforce
Headcount, turnover, hiring trends, and workforce composition
NWA CPG Supplier Community
Benchmarks specific to CPG supplier organizations in NWA
SHRM Northwest Arkansas
HR practices and benchmarks for SHRM NWA chapter members
Self-Funding
Self-funded plan design, stop-loss, and claims analytics
Pharmacy Benefits
PBM strategy, formulary design, and Rx cost management
Why Local Benchmarking Matters
Benchmark categories covering the full employer landscape
Benton, Washington, Madison & Carroll Counties
Minimum n=5 confidentiality threshold per metric
NWA-sourced data — no national averages substituted
National data doesn't tell the NWA story.
National benchmarking surveys aggregate data across thousands of employers in vastly different labor markets, cost environments, and regulatory contexts. The result is a benchmark that may accurately describe the median employer in Cincinnati or Charlotte — but tells you very little about what's competitive in Bentonville, Rogers, or Fayetteville.
Northwest Arkansas has a unique employer ecosystem — anchored by global retail and CPG supply chain, a rapidly growing technology sector, a strong healthcare community, and a diverse small-to-mid-market employer base. The competitive dynamics here are not reflected in national data.
The NWA Benchmark Intelligence Platform exists to fill that gap — building a rigorous, locally-sourced benchmarking database that grows more valuable with every organization that participates.
Confidentiality & Data Protection
Your organization's data is protected at every step.
Benchmarking use only — unconditionally.
Data submitted to this platform is used exclusively to produce aggregated, anonymized benchmark statistics for the NWA employer community. It is never sold, shared with third parties, or used for any commercial purpose.
Read our full security & privacy standardsWhat We Collect
- Structured survey responses by category
- Organizational profile data (size, industry, county)
- Plan design and program details
- No personally identifiable employee information
- Company name is never required to participate
How We Protect It
- Minimum n=5 threshold before any metric is published
- All data aggregated and anonymized before reporting
- Individual responses never disclosed
- No data sold or shared with third parties
- Encrypted in transit and at rest
What You Receive
- Access to NWA benchmark reports for your categories
- Percentile positioning (25th, 50th, 75th)
- Cohort comparisons by size and industry
- Trend data as the dataset grows over time
Currently Open
Active benchmarking surveys accepting participant submissions.
2026 Northwest Arkansas Employee Benefits Benchmark
Frequently Asked Questions
Ready to add your organization's data to the NWA benchmark?
Participation is free. Your data is confidential. Your benchmarks are local.
Participate in a Benchmark