It is native to the southeastern United States (eastern Texas, southern Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and the Florida Panhandle).

[4] Quercus arkansana is shade-loving tree that grows in the understories of mesic pine forests and southern hardwood stands, and it is frequently reported from sandhills, the upper portions of ravines, steepheads, and above the heads of small streams.

[1] It is rarely a dominant component of the vegetation, except for a few places in Arkansas and Florida where it is found in large stands.

It grows alongside Pinus taeda, P. echinata and other pines, as well as other oaks such as Quercus nigra, Q. pagoda, Q. margarettae, and Q. hemisphaerica.

It grows among various other hardwoods including Nyssa sylvatica, Liquidambar styraciflua, Vaccinium arboreum, Sassafras albidum, Magnolia grandiflora, and Diospyros virginiana.