Restaurants and food trucks.
Craighead County food-facility health permits run about $35 annually. Plan review runs about $50–$500. Confirm the exact amount with Arkansas Department of Health (ADH), Food Protection Program - STATE-administered statewide (flat statewide fee) before you budget.
Confirm the authority for your exact address. Some cities run their own health division, and building, planning, fire, sewer/grease and business-license approvals are separate even when Arkansas Department of Health (ADH), Food Protection Program - STATE-administered statewide (flat statewide fee) issues the health permit.
What the local foodservice landscape looks like — useful whether you’re opening here or sizing up the competition.
▲ 0.8% change in establishments since 2022 (245 → 247).
The average foodservice wage here is $117 below the Arkansas average ($20,241); Arkansas has about 5,664 food & drink establishments statewide.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023 (NAICS 722, food services & drinking places) — establishments with paid employees. Some small-county payroll figures are withheld by Census for confidentiality.
Uniform statewide flat fee administered by ADH; applies in Craighead County (Jonesboro); Source: https://law.justia.com/codes/arkansas/title-20/subtitle-4/chapter-57/subchapter-2/section-20-57-204/
Arkansas Dept. of Health issues no letter grade or score — only in/out of compliance; full inspection reports posted in the ADH online portal.
Mobile units require an approved commissary/base of operations per ADH rules
Fees/payment and forms are on the department site; application steps vary by concept — see the checklist below.
The government permit & plan-review fees below total roughly $120–$570 for Craighead County:
That’s the paperwork only. Add buildout, equipment, deposits and licenses with the cost-to-open calculator. Fees change — confirm current amounts with the department.
Check the health-inspection history and violation scores for any food establishment in Craighead County and Arkansas. The Arkansas Department of Health runs a statewide food protection portal reporting establishments as in or out of compliance, searchable by name, city, or zip.
Arkansas inspection lookup →Comparison uses the lowest published annual restaurant-permit figure in each county; confirm your exact tier with the department.
U.S. Census 2023 population; County Business Patterns 2022 (NAICS 722).
Plus building, fire, and business-license fees that vary locally — use the cost calculators and the checklist below to budget the full stack.
Under 2018 Arkansas Plumbing Code, food establishments here must control fats, oils & grease (FOG) with a grease interceptor or trap, and typically register with the local sewer/wastewater authority. Restaurants must install an approved grease interceptor under the state plumbing code administered by the Health Department, with discharge governed by the local sewer authority's FOG program.
Size the interceptor with our grease-trap sizing calculator, compare units in the grease-trap catalog, and confirm the local FOG permit with Arkansas Department of Health (ADH), Food Protection Program - STATE-administered statewide (flat statewide fee) (contact above).
Hood fire suppression (Arkansas Fire Prevention Code, 2021 Edition (2021 IFC)): commercial cooking under a Type I hood needs a wet-chemical suppression system to NFPA 96, permitted and inspected by the local fire marshal. Commercial kitchen hood suppression must meet NFPA 96 and the state-adopted fire code, enforced by the State Fire Marshal and local fire officials. See do I need a hood? and the hood CFM calculator.
Backflow prevention: Backflow prevention assemblies (typically an RPZ) require annual testing by a certified tester through the local water utility's cross-connection control program. A certified backflow assembly (often an RPZ) on the water service, tested annually, is standard — confirm with your water utility.
| Category | Annual fee | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Pushcart / mobile vending | $35.00/yr flat (mobile food units permitted as food service establishments under Ark; Code 20-57-204) | Statewide ADH flat fee; approved commissary/base required |
| Temporary / seasonal event | Arkansas Dept; of Health issues temporary food event permits but the fee is not published online (the $35 flat fee applies to standard food service establishments) | State-administered by ADH Food Protection Program |
Health-department plan review looks for specific, code-compliant fixtures. Compare spec-filtered options, then confirm counts and sizes with your local requirements. See the full list in what equipment a commercial kitchen requires.
Permit costs and rules change at the county line — compare Craighead County with its neighbors.
This is a typical sequence — confirm the exact sequence with your authority having jurisdiction.
Official plan-check requirements: plan-check guide →