Oklahoma is a $213 billion enterprise. Most of the people who built it have never seen the books. You're one of them.
Two sets of books. The government — a low-debt, oil-levered public enterprise with a growing net worth. And the economy — a $213-billion machine still pumping crude, but quietly rebuilt on aerospace, wind, and tribal enterprise.
Sources: State of Oklahoma ACFR FY2024 (OMES); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis; Oklahoma Policy Institute; OERB; United for Oklahoma; BLS; Census; HUD. Government figures are for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2024 — the most recent audited report. Full source list at the end.
Every row below is a strict 1:1: the same metric, the same year, the same source. Oklahoma against the U.S. average. The only thing that changes is the geography — so the gap is the story.
| Metric | Oklahoma | U.S. | Gap | Verdict | Same source · year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unemployment (U-3) | 3.8% | 4.3% | −0.5 pt | Better | BLS · 2025 |
| Underemployment (U-6) | 7.2% | 8.0% | −0.8 pt | Better | BLS · 2025 |
| Per-capita personal income | $62,661 | $72,425 | −13.5% | Below | BEA · 2024 |
| Uninsured rate | 11.5% | 8.0% | +3.5 pt | Worse | Census · 2024 |
| Life expectancy | 72.8 yrs | 78.4 yrs | −5.6 yrs | Worse | CDC · 2023 |
| Incarceration (all forms, per 100k) | 905 | 664 | +36% | Worse | Prison Policy Initiative · 2024 |
Where a clean same-year, same-source U.S. figure could not be confirmed (e.g. median household income, food insecurity), the metric is shown elsewhere as Oklahoma-only rather than forced into an unfair comparison. "Gap" is OK minus U.S. (points) or percent difference. Verdict reflects whether the gap is good or bad for residents.
Oklahoma households collectively generate roughly $130 billion in personal consumption expenditure each year — about $4,122 every second. This counter tracks estimated spending since you opened this page.
Government-wide statement of activities, all funds, fiscal year ended June 30, 2024. The State took in $33.3 billion and spent $31.5 billion — booking a $1.89 billion surplus that lifted its net worth.
Health Services alone ($11.1B) is larger than education, social services and government administration would be if you removed any one of them. Source: ACFR FY2024, Statement of Activities.
| Operating grants & contributions (mostly federal) | $14.49B |
| Charges for services | $5.35B |
| Individual income tax | $4.52B |
| Sales tax | $3.78B |
| Gross production (oil & gas) | $1.07B |
| Motor-vehicle tax | $1.02B |
| Corporate income tax | $0.65B |
| Fuel, other taxes & earnings | $2.41B |
| Total revenues | $33.29B |
| Health services | $11.10B |
| Education — general | $5.75B |
| Social services | $3.89B |
| Government administration | $3.53B |
| Transportation | $1.45B |
| Public safety & defense | $1.23B |
| Higher-education payments | $1.00B |
| Resources, justice, business-type & other | $3.50B |
| Total expenses | $31.45B |
Figures rounded from the audited Statement of Activities, ACFR FY2024 (in $ thousands). "Other" includes natural resources, legal & judiciary, regulatory services, interest on debt, museums, and the four business-type activities (unemployment insurance, group insurance, lottery, local-government loans).
Government-wide statement of net position, June 30, 2024. Against $46.3B of assets sit just $12.9B of liabilities — leaving a $34.1B net position. By state standards, this is a fortress balance sheet.
| Assets | $ billions |
|---|---|
| Current assets (cash, receivables, investments) | $22.85 |
| Capital assets (roads, buildings, land) | $15.20 |
| Other long-term assets | $8.24 |
| Total assets | $46.29 |
| Liabilities | |
| Other (current) liabilities | $8.08 |
| Noncurrent liabilities (debt, pensions) | $4.85 |
| Total liabilities | $12.93 |
| Net position | $34.08 |
The net worth splits three ways: $13.4B tied up in capital assets the State can't sell (the roads it drives on), $9.2B legally restricted to specific uses, and $11.4B genuinely unrestricted — real flexibility. Add a $1.4B Constitutional "Rainy Day" reserve and a $18.4B combined governmental fund balance, and the picture is a state that has been saving aggressively on a tide of federal pandemic money.
Share of $34.1B total net position. Source: ACFR FY2024, Statement of Net Position.
Two ledgers side by side — the state’s revenue and spending, and a typical Oklahoma household’s income and expenses. The same dollar that enters one flows through the other.
The State Ledger — FY2024
Revenue in · Expenses out · Net surplus retained
Source: Oklahoma ACFR FY2024. Revenue $33.29B; Expenses $31.45B; Net surplus +$1.84B. Small bars (<10px) suppress labels.
The Household Ledger
Where income comes from · Where spending goes
Source: BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey 2023; Census ACS 2023. Shares of ~$61,364 median annual household income. Values in $thousands.
The audited financial statements count every federal dollar and fee. The appropriated budget is the portion the legislature directly controls — $12.08 billion in FY2026, covering education, health and human services, public safety, transportation, and general government. In real per-capita terms, this is approximately 11.8% below the FY2000 appropriated level.
Education = 48% of appropriations; Health & Social Services = 19%. Bars scaled to the $5.76B education line. Source: Oklahoma Policy Institute, FY2026 Budget Highlights; HB 2766.
smaller than the FY2000 budget once you adjust for inflation and population growth. Oklahoma has roughly one-fifth less real revenue per person to run shared services than it did 25 years ago — even as the state added people.
Sources: Oklahoma Policy Institute FY2026 Budget Highlights; HB 2764; HB 2766; Oklahoma Tax Commission.
Step outside the capitol and the bigger income statement is the whole economy. State GDP hit $213.5 billion in 2025, up 1.5% — and its engine room has quietly diversified far beyond the derrick.
Bars scaled to the oil & gas footprint. Note: figures mix BEA value-added (government, real estate, professional services) with total-activity / impact estimates (oil & gas, aerospace, tribal), so they overlap and are not additive — they show relative heft, not a clean GDP decomposition. Sources: BEA; OERB (oil & gas, FY24); Oklahoma Dept. of Commerce / advancedmanufacturing.org (aerospace); United for Oklahoma (tribal); USDA (agriculture).
Oklahoma's quiet story is energy convergence: the same windy plains that made it the nation's #6 oil state now make it #3 in wind. Almost all of its electricity-generation growth since 2010 has been wind. Meanwhile Tinker Air Force Base — the country's largest air-logistics depot — seeded an aerospace cluster now worth $44B and 206,000 jobs, the state's fastest-growing industry and its hedge against the next oil bust.
But concentration cuts both ways. Oil & gas is still ~23% of all economic activity and the swing factor in state tax receipts. When crude rolls over, gross-production tax can fall half a billion dollars in a single year — exactly what happened in FY2024. Oklahoma's prosperity is real, but it is levered to a commodity price it does not control.
One way to analyze land productivity is to measure not how much land a county has, but how much assessed value is packed onto each acre of it. Mapping Oklahoma's 77 counties this way reveals a concentrated pattern: the value density is highest in two counties and disperses sharply from there.
All 77 counties with accurate boundaries; major lakes shown approximately. Value = 2024 gross assessed valuation (Oklahoma Tax Commission, Ad Valorem Division) ÷ county land area. Range: $57/acre (Cimarron, far panhandle) to $24,831/acre (Oklahoma County) — a 436× spread. Oklahoma and Tulsa counties alone hold ~38% of the entire state property tax base on ~3% of its land.
| County | Assessed value | Value / acre |
|---|---|---|
| Oklahoma | $10.92B | $24,831 |
| Tulsa | $8.70B | $23,175 |
| Cleveland | $3.33B | $9,508 |
| Canadian | $2.38B | $4,170 |
| Mayes | $1.26B | $2,967 |
| Rogers | $1.30B | $2,848 |
| Payne | $1.15B | $2,579 |
| Wagoner | $0.94B | $2,511 |
| Washington | $0.51B | $1,916 |
| McClain | $0.56B | $1,583 |
| Garfield | $1.00B | $1,518 |
| Comanche | $1.02B | $1,517 |
| Carter | $0.77B | $1,486 |
| Grady | $0.94B | $1,370 |
| Creek | $0.81B | $1,326 |
| Muskogee | $0.67B | $1,298 |
| Logan | $0.61B | $1,280 |
| Delaware | $0.62B | $1,215 |
| Pottawatomie | $0.58B | $1,155 |
| Kay | $0.66B | $1,103 |
| Lincoln | $0.59B | $975 |
| Bryan | $0.56B | $969 |
| Kingfisher | $0.53B | $932 |
| Stephens | $0.52B | $926 |
| Pontotoc | $0.40B | $888 |
| Marshall | $0.22B | $809 |
| Garvin | $0.41B | $800 |
| Ottawa | $0.23B | $756 |
| Okmulgee | $0.29B | $663 |
| Custer | $0.41B | $660 |
| Murray | $0.17B | $656 |
| Pittsburg | $0.53B | $619 |
| Cherokee | $0.30B | $616 |
| Noble | $0.28B | $609 |
| Sequoyah | $0.27B | $606 |
| Seminole | $0.24B | $602 |
| Coal | $0.17B | $537 |
| Beckham | $0.29B | $515 |
| Blaine | $0.27B | $459 |
| Love | $0.14B | $436 |
| Woodward | $0.34B | $433 |
| McIntosh | $0.19B | $431 |
| Johnston | $0.17B | $421 |
| Jackson | $0.21B | $414 |
| Hughes | $0.21B | $408 |
| Adair | $0.14B | $381 |
| Osage | $0.55B | $379 |
| McCurtain | $0.45B | $378 |
| Le Flore | $0.36B | $353 |
| Caddo | $0.28B | $353 |
| Grant | $0.22B | $346 |
| Pawnee | $0.12B | $334 |
| Dewey | $0.20B | $318 |
| Major | $0.19B | $314 |
| Woods | $0.25B | $310 |
| Washita | $0.19B | $300 |
| Texas | $0.34B | $261 |
| Craig | $0.12B | $256 |
| Nowata | $0.09B | $238 |
| Okfuskee | $0.09B | $235 |
| Atoka | $0.14B | $226 |
| Alfalfa | $0.13B | $225 |
| Haskell | $0.08B | $211 |
| Ellis | $0.16B | $203 |
| Choctaw | $0.10B | $197 |
| Latimer | $0.09B | $189 |
| Roger Mills | $0.12B | $171 |
| Kiowa | $0.10B | $160 |
| Beaver | $0.18B | $152 |
| Jefferson | $0.06B | $120 |
| Cotton | $0.05B | $113 |
| Pushmataha | $0.10B | $113 |
| Tillman | $0.06B | $110 |
| Harper | $0.07B | $108 |
| Greer | $0.03B | $83 |
| Harmon | $0.02B | $73 |
| Cimarron | $0.07B | $57 |
The pattern is the point: a single downtown block can out-earn hundreds of acres of farmland or sprawl, and a productive well can out-earn both — but only while it flows. Magnitudes are illustrative of documented value-per-acre patterns applied to Oklahoma land types; not parcel-level tax data. Source: Oklahoma Tax Commission Ad Valorem data; economic land-use research.
Oklahoma is 68,595 square miles of mostly rural land — yet its assessed value concentrates in a few points. Population growth since 2020 has concentrated in the urban centers: Oklahoma County (806,199), Tulsa County (680,794) and fast-growing Cleveland and Canadian counties on the OKC fringe. Oklahoma and Tulsa counties together hold approximately 38% of the entire state property tax base on roughly 3% of its land area.
The fiscal pattern this creates: infrastructure costs — roads, pipes, utilities — are incurred across the full land area, while assessed value and the tax base that funds shared services concentrates in a small portion of the map. Each mile of new infrastructure is a long-term maintenance liability for the full tax base. Source: Oklahoma Tax Commission Ad Valorem Division.
The audited balance sheet counts cash and concrete. The real Oklahoma balance sheet is its capital stock — what's under the ground, on the land, and in its people. Some of it is appreciating; some is being run down.
| Total economic output (2023) | $23.4B |
| Share of state GDP | ~8% |
| Jobs supported statewide | 139,860 |
| Wages & benefits | $7.8B |
| Health services to Oklahomans | $582M |
| Education funding | $351M |
| Growth, FY2019→FY2023 | +$4.9B |
Since McGirt v. Oklahoma reaffirmed reservation boundaries across much of eastern Oklahoma, the tribal economy has become impossible to treat as a footnote. Casinos, health systems, manufacturing and compacts now move $23.4 billion a year and support nearly 140,000 jobs — many in rural counties where they are the largest employer and the de-facto safety net, spending more than half a billion dollars a year on health care alone. On the State's hidden balance sheet, this is the asset class growing fastest.
When a dollar is spent at a locally-owned business, a measurably larger share recirculates within the community before leaving. This is documented economic fact, not advocacy.
Estimated share of revenue that recirculates locally before leaving the state
Local owners spend profits locally. Local employees spend wages locally. Local suppliers are paid locally.
Estimated share of revenue that recirculates locally before leaving the state
Profits flow to corporate HQ. Supply chains are centralized. Wages stay; most else leaves.
Sources: Census trade data; OMES procurement records; ILSR "The Economics of Local" meta-analysis (2012 update); American Independent Business Alliance. Multiplier figures are ranges, not point estimates. Methodology notes in Sources section.
The population is growing, urbanizing, and — at the ballot box — almost uniformly red. In 2024 Donald Trump carried all 77 counties by a 34-point margin. The only contested ground is the two big-city cores.
Boundary is accurately projected (panhandle, 100th-meridian west edge, Red River south); the red mosaic is a texture, not literal county lines. Trump carried all 77 counties. Oklahoma County decided by <2 pts; Tulsa County by ~15 (Harris 41.3% — the Democrats' best there since 1964). Markers at true OKC & Tulsa coordinates. Source: AP / state results, 2024.
Oklahoma is one of the reddest states in America, yet 2024 also showed the urban–rural split widening: as rural counties shifted further right, the OKC and Tulsa cores moved the other way. The same two dots that dominate the value-per-acre map are the only places the state's politics are genuinely competitive.
Race/ethnicity shares overlap (Census categories). American Indian share is among the highest of any state.
Three of the top five ring Oklahoma City. The remaining 72 counties share the rest. Median household income statewide: $61,364 — about 18% below the U.S. Source: Census / world population review.
In 2023, 107,679 people moved in and 84,309 moved out — a net gain of +23,370, and roughly 88 new arrivals a day. After decades of "brain drain," Oklahoma is now a net importer of people, especially young ones: millennial in-migration ran 53% above out-migration, and OKC ranked 8th nationally for millennial moves.
Net domestic in-migration by origin state. Oklahoma also ranks 12th for growth in families with children. Sources: IRS/Census migration; OCPA; KC Fed.
The momentum already exists. The question is whether you are part of it.
Sources: IRS/Census migration flows; Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs; Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.
Source: Global Entrepreneurship Monitor; U.S. Chamber of Commerce; BLS Southwest Region, 2025.
Source: United for Oklahoma economic-impact report, 2023 data.
Source: Oklahoma Aerospace & Defense Initiative; Oklahoma Dept. of Commerce; Tinker AFB economic impact data.
By the headline numbers, Oklahomans are working and starting businesses at a brisk clip. The state added 140,000 jobs in five years and now has the highest rate of new business ownership in at least two decades.
The entrepreneurial surge is real: the share of working adults who are new business owners climbed from 12.8% a decade ago to nearly 19% — and Oklahoma County alone logged 14,955 new business applications in 2023, the most of any county in the state. In 2024, 75 company expansions or relocations were announced, carrying a potential $5.19 billion in investment and 5,564 jobs.
| Unemployed residents (U-3) | 76,800 |
| Marginally attached to labor force | 18,600 |
| U-3 unemployment rate | 3.8% |
| U-6 underemployment rate | 7.2% |
| New-business-owner rate | ~19% |
"Marginally attached" want work and looked in the past year but not the last 4 weeks. Source: BLS Southwest, 2025; GEM; U.S. Chamber.
The state runs a surplus; many of its households do not. Behind a low jobless rate sits thin savings, rising rents, real hunger, and a homelessness count moving the wrong way.
The drop in the average Oklahoma household's savings balance from 2019 to 2023 — the second-steepest decline in the nation. Incomes are below average too: per-capita income of $62,661 ranks 40th, and median household income sits ~18% under the U.S.
Food insecurity is the 5th–6th highest rate in the U.S. (2021–23 avg). Child poverty exceeds the U.S. average. Sources: Census; America's Health Rankings; USDA; Feeding America.
| Rental homes short for lowest-income renters | ~85,000 |
| Extremely-low-income renters severely cost-burdened | 70%+ |
| OKC median rent, 2000 → 2018 | $483→$851 |
"Severely cost-burdened" = paying >50% of income on rent. Source: National Low Income Housing Coalition; OK Housing Needs Assessment 2024.
| Oklahoma City point-in-time count, 2024 | 1,838 |
| Change vs 2023 | +402 (~28%) |
| Chronically homeless (OKC) | 474 (+17%) |
| Statewide (HUD AHAR, 2024) | ~5,400 (+17%) |
Point-in-time counts undercount; treat as a floor. Source: OKC PIT 2024; HUD Annual Homelessness Assessment Report.
Behind the economy sits a web of public subsidy — cash to employers, credits to drillers and wind farms, and tax cuts that shrink the base. The flagship, the Quality Jobs Program, pays companies up to 5% of new payroll in cash.
A 2021 analysis found 2011–18 payouts of $524.8M generated ~$4,025M in added state tax revenue — net positive on those terms. Manufacturing (36.8%) and oil & gas (27.1%) took over half the rebates. Source: OK Policy; Incentive Evaluation Commission.
The incentive stack runs deeper than Quality Jobs: a 21st Century version pays knowledge-economy firms up to 10% of payroll for a decade; oil & gas has drawn gross-production tax breaks; wind built out on production tax credits before they were curtailed. An Incentive Evaluation Commission now scores these against their cost.
Set against the revenue side, the picture sharpens: the grocery-tax repeal (~$418M/yr) and the income-tax cut path toward zero are themselves a giant, permanent subsidy — to taxpayers broadly — that shrinks the base funding schools and health. Oklahoma subsidizes both its industries and its tax-cutters, and is spending savings to do it.
| Quality Jobs family of programs (cash to employers) | ~$47–85M |
| Grocery sales-tax repeal (foregone revenue) | ~$418M |
| Income-tax cut, HB2764 (foregone, full-year FY27) | ~$340M |
| Direction of travel | Base shrinking |
Items are different in kind (direct cash vs foregone tax) and not strictly additive; shown together to size the public cost of "keeping the engine running." Sources: OK Policy; Oklahoma Tax Commission; HB2764.
Before you raise capital or hire your first employee, there are people whose job it is to help you get there. Most of it is free.
Every Oklahoma county is served by an SBDC that offers free business advising — business plans, financial projections, licensing, market analysis. No cost. No obligation. Search “[your county] SBDC Oklahoma” or ask at your local chamber of commerce.
Oklahoma’s flagship incentive returns a percentage of new payroll to qualifying employers. Designed for businesses creating new jobs in-state. A 2021 analysis of 2011–18 payouts found $524.8M in rebates generated ~$4B in added state tax revenue. Your local chamber can tell you whether your business qualifies and how to apply.
CDFIs are mission-driven lenders that specifically serve entrepreneurs who don’t qualify for conventional financing. They operate throughout Oklahoma. Ask your local bank or chamber which CDFIs serve your area, or visit your county’s economic development office.
Source: Oklahoma Dept. of Commerce; Oklahoma Policy Institute; Incentive Evaluation Commission.
Oklahoma's national rankings on education and health outcomes, measured by the same sources and years used for the other metrics on this site. Every number is sourced; every rank is on a 1–50 scale where 50 is last.
| Overall public-education rank | 50th |
| Per-pupil spending | 49th |
| Per-pupil spend (amount) | $11,311 |
| Avg. teacher pay rank | 41st |
| Avg. teacher pay (amount) | $62,055 |
| Real per-pupil funding since 2008 | −16% |
Each student now receives ~$717 less, in real terms, than in 2008. Sources: WalletHub; NAEP; Oklahoma Policy Institute.
| Overall health & well-being | 47th |
| Health-care system rank | 49th |
| Uninsured rank | 48th |
| Uninsured rate | 11.5% |
| Life expectancy (yrs) | 72.8 |
| Poverty rate | 15.3% |
| Child poverty rate | 20.5% |
Bottom-five in nearly every America's Health Rankings measure. Life expectancy fell from 74.1 yrs in 2020. Sources: America's Health Rankings; Commonwealth Fund; Census; CDC.
For context: Oklahoma's FY2024 net position is $34.08B with $2.31B in combined savings reserves. Per-pupil K–12 spending of $11,311 ranks 49th nationally; the U.S. average is approximately $14,347. Life expectancy of 72.8 years compares to a U.S. average of 78.4 years. Sources: WalletHub; NAEP; Oklahoma Policy Institute; America's Health Rankings; CDC; Commonwealth Fund.
Oklahoma's incarceration rates, by the numbers. All figures are from national databases using the same methodology year over year.
Oklahoma's female incarceration rate has been among the highest in the United States for an extended period; reforms enacted over the past several years have reduced it from its previous peak, and the state now ranks in the U.S. top three. Counting prisons, jails, and detention together, Oklahoma's all-forms incarceration rate of 905 per 100,000 residents is among the highest of any country with available data. Source: Prison Policy Initiative, 2024; Vera Institute.
The corrections system is a significant budget line: public safety and defense expenditures totaled $1.23B in FY2024, representing approximately 3.9% of total government-wide expenses. Source: ACFR FY2024, Statement of Activities; Bureau of Justice Statistics; Oklahoma Watch.
It was built by people who didn't wait for permission. Settlers, wildcatters, tribal nations that turned sovereignty into economic engines, soldiers who came home and started businesses, families who stayed when it would have been easier to leave.
That instinct didn't disappear. It's sitting in 4 million people who haven't yet been shown a clear picture of what they're sitting on — or what they're capable of building together.
Five years from now, Oklahoma could be the state that journalists start writing about differently. Not the cheap place to live. Not the flyover. The place where something is happening — where people are staying and building, where small towns are coming back, where the next generation is choosing Oklahoma on purpose.
That story doesn't start in Oklahoma City or Washington.
It starts with one person deciding they're a participant, not a spectator.
That person is you.
If every Oklahoman picks one thing they actually care about — one corner of this enterprise — and gives it 1% more attention, dollars, time, or talent, the compound effect is transformational. That is not optimism. That is math.
Money has a geography. When you spend at a locally-owned business, a measurably larger share of that dollar stays in your community before it leaves. A modest shift — made consistently — compounds over time.
Oklahoma has one of the highest new business formation rates in the country. If you have seen a gap in your community — a need going unmet — that gap is an invitation. The infrastructure to help you start exists locally and most of it is free.
The decisions that shape your street, school, and local business environment are mostly made at city council, county commissioner, and school board meetings most people never attend. One person who shows up consistently changes the room.
Choices are made by people in office. Those people are chosen by you. Knowing the numbers before you vote is the floor, not the ceiling.
Key budget line items and session changes — no party labels, no individual names. Numbers before and after.
| Budget line | Before | After | Change | Session | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| K-12 Education | $5.49B | $5.76B | +$270M | 2024–25 | |
| Health & Human Services | $5.85B | $6.31B | +$460M | 2024–25 | |
| Transportation | $1.32B | $1.45B | +$130M | 2024–25 | |
| Top income-tax rate | 4.75% | 4.50% | −0.25 pts | 2025 | |
| 3 lowest income-tax brackets | Active | Eliminated | Removed | 2025 | |
| Gross production tax* | $1.57B | $1.07B | −$500M | Market | |
| *Statutory rate unchanged; decline reflects commodity price movement FY2023→FY2024. | |||||
Sources: Oklahoma Policy Institute FY2026; HB 2764; HB 2766; ACFR FY2024; Oklahoma Tax Commission.
Visit oklegislature.gov and search “Find Your Legislator” by your home address. You will see your representative’s name, contact information, and committee assignments.
Visit ok.gov/elections. Search by your name and date of birth to see your registration, upcoming sample ballot, and polling location.
| Primary | June 2026 |
| Primary runoff (if needed) | August 2026 |
| General election | Nov 3, 2026 |
| Races include | Governor, AG, all 101 House seats |
Local elections — city council, county commissioner, school board — are typically decided by fewer than 500 votes. Turnout is the variable.