Centerton, AR

Centerton is a fast-growing Benton County city just west of Bentonville on Highway 102. It began as a railroad stop and fruit-orchard community, but Northwest Arkansas growth has turned it into a major bedroom suburb for the Bentonville area. The population surge has been dramatic, and schools in the Bentonville district are a major part of everyday life. Centerton still has a simpler residential feel than Bentonville, but its location puts it directly inside the region's Walmart-driven economic orbit.