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Oklahoma

State-to-state migration of people and income, 20222023 filing years

At a glance (2023)

Cost of living
89
11% below the U.S. average
Median home value
$185,900
national $303,400
Home prices, 5 years
+46.6%
over the 5 years to 2023
Monthly rent
$980
national $1,348
Homeownership
66%
national 65%
Unemployment
3.1%
national 3.6%
Household income
$63,603
national $78,538
Median age
36.9 yrs
national 38.7

The cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. The median home is valued at $185,900 (nominal). Home prices have risen about 47% over the five years to 2023. Median rent is about $980 a month. Unemployment averaged 3.1% in 2023 (national 3.6%). Median household income is $63,603. These figures describe all residents, not just tax filers, come from separate sources than the migration data on this page, and do not indicate why anyone moved.

Between the 2022 and 2023 filing years, Oklahoma saw a net gain of 5,285 tax-filing households and a net gain of 12,516 individuals. Against a population of about 4,053,824, that is a net inflow of about 3.1 per 1,000 residents. On net, the area gained $251.5M in associated adjusted gross income (AGI, nominal dollars). The largest inflow, about 11,582 households, came from Texas; the largest outflow, about 10,157 households, went to Texas. In the prior (2022) filing year, the area saw a net gain of 21,182 individuals. These figures cover federal income tax filers only and do not indicate why people moved.

Net income (AGI)
+$251.5M
nominal dollars
Net households
+5,285
tax returns
Net people
+12,516
exemptions

+3.1 net people per 1,000 residents (population 4,053,824)

Income (AGI) in and out

Moved in$2.7B
Moved out$2.5B
Net +$251.5M (nominal)
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Oklahoma counties

Net migration by county. Hover for figures; click a county to open it.

Net outNet in(AGI $)
Hover an area to trace its top 5 inbound (in) and outbound (out) moves.
Net income (AGI) that moved in minus out, in nominal dollars (not adjusted for inflation).Net tax returns (filing households) that moved in minus out.Net people per 1,000 residents, so larger and smaller areas compare fairly.
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Top origin states

  1. 1Texas11,582$733.3M
  2. 2California4,207$262.6M
  3. 3Arkansas2,929$137.9M
  4. 4Kansas2,651$148.9M
  5. 5Colorado2,278$156.4M
  6. 6Florida2,159$117.3M
  7. 7Missouri1,826$97.4M
  8. 8Arizona1,384$79.5M
  9. 9Washington1,050$68.4M
  10. 10Illinois861$54.9M
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Top destination states

  1. 1Texas10,157$667.5M
  2. 2Arkansas2,953$133.7M
  3. 3Kansas2,280$121.8M
  4. 4Florida2,213$171.3M
  5. 5California2,178$117.1M
  6. 6Missouri1,938$95.8M
  7. 7Colorado1,839$123.2M
  8. 8Washington989$64.3M
  9. 9Arizona961$55.6M
  10. 10North Carolina930$61.3M
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Churn by state · both directions at once

The biggest two-way exchanges of filing households, 20222023. Moved in and moved out are gross one-way counts; net is the difference. Click a column to sort.

Texas11,58210,157+1,425+$65.8M
California4,2072,178+2,029+$145.5M
Arkansas2,9292,953-24+$4.2M
Kansas2,6512,280+371+$27.1M
Florida2,1592,213-54-$54M
Colorado2,2781,839+439+$33.2M
Missouri1,8261,938-112+$1.6M
Arizona1,384961+423+$24M
Washington1,050989+61+$4.1M
North Carolina794930-136-$19M
Georgia827894-67-$5.4M
Illinois861754+107+$8M

Counts are filing households (IRS returns), matching the lists above; income is nominal AGI. A dash means the IRS published only one direction of that exchange (small flows are suppressed), so no net is computed.

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Net migration by year

Net 2012–2023: +$494M (+83,542 people)
20122023
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Net AGI and net people by year (nominal dollars)
YearNet AGINet people
2012+$106.9M+6,945
2013+$121.5M+9,012
2014-$70.9M+3,407
2015-$160M+2,525
2016-$220.6M-3,811
2017-$467.1M-8,822
2018-$102.2M+214
2019-$37.9M+4,024
2020+$71.5M+14,675
2021+$510.9M+21,675
2022+$490.5M+21,182
2023+$251.5M+12,516
Migration in context

How big is this move, relative to the state?

In the 20222023 filing year, about 12,516 more people moved into Oklahoma than left (counting tax filers and their dependents) — a net gain of about $251.5M in income (nominal) — in a state of 4,062,716 people.

Population
4,062,716
Census 2023 estimate
Net migration rate
+3.1
net people per 1,000 residents
A town of 10,000 would net about +31 people.
Net income per resident
+$62
nominal dollars
+$251.5M total across 4,062,716 residents.

The rate lets you compare Oklahoma with a stateof any size: it’s the net flow divided by population. The IRS counts tax filers; population counts all residents, so read the rate as a scale indicator, not a literal share of people.

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Components of population change · 2023 (Census)

Where the state’s overall change came from. Census counts all residents; the IRS migration above is one slice of the domestic-migration component.

Births
+48,864
Deaths
-45,126
Net domestic migration
+22,671
Net international migration
+11,204
Total change
+37,389

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program. Figures are people, not tax filers.

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Income & cost of living

What a dollar is worth here

Prices around Oklahoma run about 11% below the national average. In plain terms: $100 spent here buys about what $113 buys in the average American community. The figures below apply that to income, each compared to the U.S. average of $70,002 per person.

Income per person
$60,853
what people here earn (BEA 2023, nominal)
13% below the U.S. average
Price level
88.7
100 = U.S. average prices (BEA price parity)
everyday costs about 11.3% lower than average
What that income buys
$68,621
local income restated at U.S.-average prices
2% below the U.S. average
Cheaper than U.S. avgU.S. average (100)Pricier

Price parity shown at the state level (BEA does not publish a single figure below the metro level).

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Where the cost comes from · price parity by category

Index where 100 = U.S. average for that category. Housing is usually what separates one place from another.

Housing & rents65.0
Goods93.3
Utilities80.2
Other services95.7

Housing is measured from rents (including an estimated rental value for owner-occupied homes), so a run-up in purchase prices shows here only as it reaches rents. Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Covers all residents, a separate universe from the IRS filer income above. How the data works.

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Who lives here

The people of Oklahoma

American Community Survey, 2019–2023 (a 5-year average of all residents, not just tax filers).

Median age
36.9
years
Median household income
$63,603
per household (ACS 2019–2023, nominal)
19% below the U.S. median
College degree
28%
adults 25+ with a bachelor's or higher
Poverty rate
15.3%
residents below the poverty line
Average commute
22 min
mean travel time to work
Broadband at home
87%
households with any broadband
Race and ethnicity (share of residents)
White 63%Hispanic 12%Black 7%Asian 2%Other 16%

White, Black, and Asian counts are people who are not Hispanic or Latino; Hispanic or Latino can be of any race. Shares are rounded and may not total 100.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Covers all residents, a separate universe from the IRS filer data. A 5-year estimate is an average over 2019–2023; compare years at least five apart, since consecutive windows overlap. How the data works.

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Housing · what it costs to live here (ACS 2019–2023)

Median home value
$185,900
owner-occupied homes
39% below the U.S. median
Median rent
$980
gross rent per month
27% below the U.S. median
Homeownership
66%
of occupied homes are owner-occupied
Home-price appreciation · FHFA index, 2023
Past year
+7.2%
price change, 2022 to 2023
Past 5 years
+47%
price change, 2018 to 2023

A repeat-sales index (how much the same homes changed in price), so it tracks the market over time rather than the current level. Source: Federal Housing Finance Agency, annual all-transactions HPI; the county series is FHFA’s developmental index.

New home construction · building permits, 2023
13,405new housing units authorized in 2023
Single-family 77%Multifamily 23%

Units authorized by residential building permits (new supply), summed from counties for the state and U.S. Permits are authorizations, not completions. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey.

Home value is what owners estimate their homes are worth, not recent sale prices. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates (2019–2023), nominal dollars. How the data works.

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Local economy & risk

Jobs and natural hazards

Unemployment rate
3.1%
BLS 2023 annual average
Labor force
1,966,532
1,904,699 employed
Disaster declarations
3
major federal, 2023
most common: Severe Storm

Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (LAUS) and FEMA. A disaster declaration marks federal assistance eligibility, not damage severity, and says nothing about why anyone moved. How the data works.

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Unemployment now
4.5%
May 2026 · ▲ 1.4 points vs May 2025
January 2024May 2026

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (LAUS). Monthly unemployment for this state, not seasonally adjusted. Updated every month, so it moves faster than the annual average above. How the data works.

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Who’s moving by income

Net migration by income bracket

Tax-filing households that moved into Oklahoma minus those that left, by the adjusted gross income they reported, 20222023. Positive means more arrived than left at that income level.

$1–$10k
+1,301
In 5,498Out 4,197+$5.6M AGI
$10k–$25k
+1,148
In 10,531Out 9,383+$18.7M AGI
$25k–$50k
+1,282
In 12,503Out 11,221+$46.3M AGI
$50k–$75k
+372
In 6,447Out 6,075+$23M AGI
$75k–$100k
+334
In 3,744Out 3,410+$29M AGI
$100k–$200k
+586
In 5,211Out 4,625+$79.5M AGI
$200k+
+193
In 1,783Out 1,590+$53.6M AGI

Among the highest earners ($200k+), Oklahoma ranks #20 of 51 states for net household migration (+193).

Source: IRS Statistics of Income, state-level gross migration file (returns with negative AGI are excluded, so this won’t exactly match the totals above). Income is what filers reported, not a reason anyone moved. Compare all states by income bracket. How the data works.

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Goods trade

What Oklahoma ships and receives

Physical goods shipped between Oklahoma and other states, 2022. This is freight, not the migration of people or income shown above.

$104.0B
Ships to other states
+41% since 2017
$110.1B
Receives from states
+11% since 2017
-$6.1B
Net balance

Top goods shipped out

Mixed freight
$24.5B
Machinery
$17.5B
Pharmaceutical products
$12.3B
Fuel oils
$10.3B
Gasoline and aviation turbine fuel
$9.7B
Motorized and other vehicles (includes parts)
$9.6B

Top goods received

Mixed freight
$18.4B
Pharmaceutical products
$13.4B
Fuel oils
$11.3B
Gasoline and aviation turbine fuel
$11.2B
Machinery
$10.4B
Electronic and other electrical equipment and components, and office equipment
$7.4B

Biggest trading partners (both ways)

Goods trade runs in both directions: states swap different goods, so a partner is often near the top of both columns. Net is ships minus receives (positive means Oklahoma ships more to that partner than it gets back).

PartnerShips toReceivesNetTotal
Texas$34.4B$34.2B+$149M$68.6B
Kansas$7.3B$10.0B-$2.8B$17.3B
California$5.9B$6.0B-$135M$11.9B
Arkansas$5.3B$6.4B-$1.1B$11.7B
Missouri$5.1B$5.9B-$805M$11.1B
Illinois$3.5B$3.6B-$123M$7.0B
Ohio$2.4B$3.8B-$1.4B$6.2B
Georgia$2.7B$3.1B-$440M$5.8B

Goods shipped every five years by the Census Commodity Flow Survey (a sample, so figures are estimates and the smallest flows are withheld). Value is nominal. The totals and partner table above count trade between Oklahoma and other states; the goods lists count everything the state ships or receives, including within-state shipments. Compare all states. How the data works.

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Taxes the state collects

What Oklahoma collects in taxes

Total state taxes
$13.6B
FY 2023, nominal
Per resident
$3,359
total state taxes ÷ population
Largest categories (share of total)
Individual income tax$4.4B · 32%
General sales & gross receipts$3.8B · 28%
Severance taxes$1.8B · 13%
Motor vehicle license$851M · 6%
Corporation net income tax$774.8M · 6%

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Survey of State Government Tax Collections. This is what the state government collected (not local taxes), not a measure of any individual’s tax burden. How the data works.

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How Oklahoma has voted. Certified returns, popular vote only. This is a separate dataset from the migration figures on this page.

President, 19762024

YearDemocraticRepublicanOtherMarginTotal
2024499,5991,036,21330,361R +34.31,566,173
2020503,8901,020,28036,529R +33.11,560,699
2016420,375949,13683,481R +36.41,452,992
2012443,547891,3250R +33.51,334,872
2008502,496960,1650R +31.31,462,661
2004503,966959,7920R +31.11,463,758
2000474,276744,33715,616R +21.91,234,229
1996488,105582,315136,293R +7.81,206,713
1992473,066592,929324,364R +8.61,390,359
1988483,423678,3679,246R +16.61,171,036
1984385,080861,5309,066R +37.91,255,676
1980402,026695,57052,112R +25.51,149,708
1976532,442545,70814,101R +1.21,092,251

U.S. Senate races · all states →

YearWinnerDemocraticRepublicanOtherMargin
2022specialMarkwayne Mullin405,389710,64334,449R +26.5
2022James Lankford369,370739,96041,402R +32.2
2020Jim Inhofe509,763979,14067,458R +30.2
2016James Lankford355,911980,892111,244R +43.2
2014specialJames Lankford237,923557,00225,965R +38.9
2014James M. Inhofe234,307558,16628,260R +39.5
2010Thomas A. Coburn265,814718,48232,855R +44.5
2008James M. Inhofe527,736763,37555,708R +17.5
2004Tom Coburn596,750763,43386,663R +11.5
2002James M. Inhofe369,789583,57965,056R +21.0

U.S. House seats won · district maps →

2024
D 0 · R 5
2022
D 0 · R 5
2020
D 0 · R 5
2018
D 1 · R 4
2016
D 0 · R 5
2014
D 0 · R 5
2012
D 0 · R 5
2010
D 1 · R 4
2008
D 1 · R 4
2006
D 1 · R 4
2004
D 1 · R 4
2002
D 1 · R 4
2000
D 1 · R 5

2024 results by county

Republican wonDemocratic wonIndependent / other
Which party received the most votes, as a solid color.Winning margin as a share of all votes cast.Change in margin since 2020, in percentage points.Total votes cast, all candidates.
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Source: MIT Election Data and Science Lab county returns (CC0). Margins are the popular-vote gap as a share of all votes cast.

Counties in Oklahoma (77)

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