[2] The county was formed on December 18, 1840, and named for Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, naval hero in the War of 1812.

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 10,019 people, 3,668 households, and 2,824 families residing in the county.

Over the past few election cycles Perry County has trended heavily towards the GOP.

Multiple points of interest of the National Forest are located within Perry County, to include the Flatside Wilderness Area, the Ouachita National Recreation Trail, Flatside Pinnacle Mountain, Lake Sylvia Recreation Area, the Hollis CCC Camp, the South Fourche Recreation Area and multiple watershed lakes and streams.

Perry County's most popular annual event is the Arkansas Goat Festival[15] held in the Fall drawing thousands of tourists from around the country.

Each township includes unincorporated areas; some may have incorporated cities or towns within part of their boundaries.

However, the United States census does list Arkansas population based on townships (sometimes referred to as "county subdivisions" or "minor civil divisions").

Each town or city is within one or more townships in an Arkansas county based on census maps and publications.