Alma is a city in Crawford County in the western part of the U.S. state of Arkansas, along I-40 about 13 miles from the Oklahoma border. It was incorporated in 1874, with W. P. Brown as mayor. Stories vary on how the town was named. According to 2006 Census Bureau estimates, the population of Alma is 4,734, making it the sixth largest city in the Fort Smith, Arkansas-Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Area.