Oklahoma City metro statistics at a glance
Oklahoma City?s metro area is large enough to matter regionally, but still compact enough that the numbers feel readable as a single story.
The headline figure is 1,497,821 residents in the Oklahoma City, OK Metro Area (Census Reporter ACS 2024 1-year), spread across 5,511.7 square miles with a density of 271.8 people per square mile (Census Reporter ACS 2024 1-year). That combination tells you a lot immediately: the metro is populous, geographically broad, and still far less dense than a core big-city corridor.
Fast facts
- Population: 1,497,821 (Census Reporter ACS 2024 1-year)
- Households: 588,886 (Census Reporter ACS 2024 1-year)
- Median household income: $72,930 (Census Reporter ACS 2024 1-year)
- Poverty rate: 13.6% (Census Reporter ACS 2024 1-year)
- Mean travel time to work: 23.5 minutes (Census Reporter ACS 2024 1-year)
- Bachelor?s degree or higher: 35.3% of residents age 25+ (Census Reporter ACS 2024 1-year)
- Veteran status: 7.7% of the population, or 87,339 veterans (Census Reporter ACS 2024 1-year)
Oklahoma City metro statistics table
A compact comparison is the fastest way to see how the metro?s core social and economic measures fit together.
| Measure | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Population | 1,497,821 | Census Reporter ACS 2024 1-year |
| Land area | 5,511.7 square miles | Census Reporter ACS 2024 1-year |
| Population density | 271.8 people per square mile | Census Reporter ACS 2024 1-year |
| Median age | 36.4 years | Census Reporter ACS 2024 1-year |
| Median household income | $72,930 | Census Reporter ACS 2024 1-year |
| Poverty rate | 13.6% | Census Reporter ACS 2024 1-year |
| Households | 588,886 | Census Reporter ACS 2024 1-year |
| Housing units | 634,802 | Census Reporter ACS 2024 1-year |
| Bachelor?s degree or higher | 35.3% | Census Reporter ACS 2024 1-year |
| Mean travel time to work | 23.5 minutes | Census Reporter ACS 2024 1-year |
What the population figure says about the metro
The Oklahoma City metro?s 1,497,821 people make it a major population center, but the larger story is the balance between size and spread (Census Reporter ACS 2024 1-year).
A metro with this many residents and 5,511.7 square miles of area behaves differently from a compact, high-rise urban region. The density figure of 271.8 people per square mile points to a metro where suburban and exurban development matter a lot, and where travel patterns, housing choices, and service delivery are shaped by distance as much as by volume (Census Reporter ACS 2024 1-year).
Why that matters
- Population growth in a broad metro tends to show up unevenly across neighborhoods, suburbs, and satellite communities.
- A lower density can mean more room for housing supply, but also more dependence on driving.
- Public services, retail, healthcare access, and commuting all have to work across a wide footprint.
One simple way to read these Oklahoma City metro statistics is this: the region is large enough to sustain deep labor markets and consumer demand, but spread out enough that physical geography still shapes daily life.
Demographics and household structure
The metro?s demographic profile suggests a region that is relatively young to middle-aged, household-oriented, and rooted in family-scale living arrangements.
The median age is 36.4 years (Census Reporter ACS 2024 1-year). That is not an especially old profile, which helps explain why the metro can support a broad base of working-age residents, school-age households, and labor-market participation.
The household side of the picture is just as useful:
- 588,886 households in the metro area (Census Reporter ACS 2024 1-year)
- 2.5 average persons per household (Census Reporter ACS 2024 1-year)
- 634,802 housing units in the metro area (Census Reporter ACS 2024 1-year)
- 14.9% moved since the previous year (Census Reporter ACS 2024 1-year)
- 5.8% of women ages 15-50 gave birth during the past year (Census Reporter ACS 2024 1-year)
That mix points to a metro that is constantly refreshing its housing and neighborhood patterns. The gap between housing units and households also matters: 634,802 housing units versus 588,886 households suggests there is a measurable supply of homes beyond current occupied households, though the data provided here does not by itself explain vacancy or affordability (Census Reporter ACS 2024 1-year).
Education profile
Education is one of the cleanest indicators in the dataset, and the metro shows a solid but not elite attainment profile.
- 90.8% of residents age 25+ were high school graduates or higher (Census Reporter ACS 2024 1-year)
- 35.3% of residents age 25+ held a bachelor?s degree or higher (Census Reporter ACS 2024 1-year)
Those two numbers are important together. High school completion is broad, while bachelor?s attainment is more selective. The metro therefore appears to have a large base of residents prepared for a wide range of jobs, with a significant share positioned for professional, managerial, technical, and administrative work.
Language, nativity, and veteran status
A few other demographics help round out the social picture:
- 15.4% spoke a language other than English at home (Census Reporter ACS 2024 1-year)
- 8.5% were foreign-born (Census Reporter ACS 2024 1-year)
- 7.7% had veteran status (Census Reporter ACS 2024 1-year)
- 87,339 total veterans lived in the metro (Census Reporter ACS 2024 1-year)
- 76,513 male veterans and 10,826 female veterans were counted (Census Reporter ACS 2024 1-year)
These figures show a metro that is diverse in household experience, language background, and service history. The veteran count is especially notable because it is both a percentage and a large absolute number, which matters for healthcare, benefits, workforce transitions, and community support.
Income, poverty, and affordability signals
Oklahoma City metro statistics on income and poverty tell a straightforward but nuanced story: the metro is not low-income overall, but it still has a meaningful share of residents under economic pressure.
The metro?s per capita income was $39,751 and median household income was $72,930 (Census Reporter ACS 2024 1-year). Those two values are different measures of wellbeing. Per capita income gives an average across all people, while median household income gives the middle household and is often a better guide to typical living conditions.
The poverty measures add the counterbalance:
- 13.6% of metro residents were below the poverty line (Census Reporter ACS 2024 1-year)
- 199,048 people were in poverty (Census Reporter ACS 2024 1-year)
That means the metro?s economic picture is neither uniformly prosperous nor uniformly strained. It is a large regional economy with enough scale to generate solid median income, but also enough population depth that poverty remains substantial in absolute terms.
Home values and housing context
Housing value is another important part of the affordability story.
- Median value of owner-occupied housing units was $253,200 (Census Reporter ACS 2024 1-year)
- 58.6% owner-occupied housing unit rate in 2020-2024 (U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts)
Taken together, these numbers suggest a metro where ownership is still the dominant housing tenure, but not so dominant that renting is marginal. The home value figure also helps frame how income translates into housing options. A median value around the quarter-million-dollar range is manageable for some households and stretched for others, which is why income distribution matters as much as the median itself.
Compact comparison: income and poverty
| Measure | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Per capita income | $39,751 | Census Reporter ACS 2024 1-year |
| Median household income | $72,930 | Census Reporter ACS 2024 1-year |
| Poverty rate | 13.6% | Census Reporter ACS 2024 1-year |
| Poverty count | 199,048 people | Census Reporter ACS 2024 1-year |
| Owner-occupied home value | $253,200 | Census Reporter ACS 2024 1-year |
Work, commuting, and labor force indicators
The Oklahoma City metro has a labor market that is large, diversified, and still heavily tied to government, trade, services, and healthcare.
In January 2026, the Oklahoma City area had 702.0 thousand total nonfarm jobs (BLS Oklahoma City Area Economic Summary). That number alone shows the scale of the labor market. The employment base is broad enough to absorb changes across multiple sectors at once.
Sector snapshot from January 2026
| Sector | Jobs | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Trade, transportation, and utilities | 127.3 thousand | BLS Oklahoma City Area Economic Summary |
| Government | 127.3 thousand | BLS Oklahoma City Area Economic Summary |
| Education and health services | 124.9 thousand | BLS Oklahoma City Area Economic Summary |
| Professional and business services | 91.4 thousand | BLS Oklahoma City Area Economic Summary |
| Leisure and hospitality | 75.6 thousand | BLS Oklahoma City Area Economic Summary |
| Financial activities | 37.9 thousand | BLS Oklahoma City Area Economic Summary |
| Construction | 35.0 thousand | BLS Oklahoma City Area Economic Summary |
| Manufacturing | 35.0 thousand | BLS Oklahoma City Area Economic Summary |
| Other services | 31.3 thousand | BLS Oklahoma City Area Economic Summary |
| Mining and logging | 9.9 thousand | BLS Oklahoma City Area Economic Summary |
| Information | 6.4 thousand | BLS Oklahoma City Area Economic Summary |
The most striking feature is the tie at the top: trade, transportation, and utilities and government were both at 127.3 thousand jobs in January 2026 (BLS Oklahoma City Area Economic Summary). Right behind them, education and health services reached 124.9 thousand, which tells you the labor market is anchored by public-sector and service-sector demand rather than by a single dominant private industry.
Recent employment shifts
The January 2025 to January 2026 changes show where the market softened and where it expanded:
- Total nonfarm employment changed by -3.8 thousand and -0.5% (BLS Oklahoma City Area Economic Summary)
- Construction employment changed by 2.0% (BLS Oklahoma City Area Economic Summary)
- Education and health services employment changed by 3.4% (BLS Oklahoma City Area Economic Summary)
- Financial activities employment changed by 1.3% (BLS Oklahoma City Area Economic Summary)
- Other services employment changed by 3.0% (BLS Oklahoma City Area Economic Summary)
- Government employment changed by -3.6% (BLS Oklahoma City Area Economic Summary)
- Leisure and hospitality employment changed by -3.2% (BLS Oklahoma City Area Economic Summary)
- Professional and business services employment changed by -1.8% (BLS Oklahoma City Area Economic Summary)
- Manufacturing employment changed by -2.0% (BLS Oklahoma City Area Economic Summary)
- Mining and logging employment changed by -2.0% (BLS Oklahoma City Area Economic Summary)
This is a mixed labor-market picture, not a collapse or a boom. The metro?s healthcare and education base grew, construction edged higher, and several cyclical sectors pulled back. That sort of spread matters because it shows how one region can experience growth in some essential services while still seeing a net decline in overall payrolls.
Labor force and unemployment
The later monthly snapshot gives another useful angle:
- 786.2 thousand people were in the civilian labor force in October 2025 (BLS Oklahoma City, OK Economy at a Glance)
- 756.6 thousand were employed (BLS Oklahoma City, OK Economy at a Glance)
- 29.6 thousand were unemployed (BLS Oklahoma City, OK Economy at a Glance)
- Unemployment rate: 3.8% (BLS Oklahoma City, OK Economy at a Glance)
- 711.7 thousand total nonfarm payroll jobs (BLS Oklahoma City, OK Economy at a Glance)
- Payroll jobs changed by -0.9% over 12 months (BLS Oklahoma City, OK Economy at a Glance)
- Government payroll jobs were 132.4 thousand and changed by -3.1% over 12 months (BLS Oklahoma City, OK Economy at a Glance)
The unemployment rate of 3.8% is consistent with a labor market that is functioning, even if payroll growth had softened over the prior year (BLS Oklahoma City, OK Economy at a Glance). The gap between labor force size and payroll jobs is normal because labor force counts people looking for work while payroll counts jobs, not unique workers.
Income growth and regional economic scale
The metro?s personal income numbers help connect household-level measures to broader regional output.
- $85,814 million in real personal income in 2023 (BEA Personal Income by County and Metropolitan Area, 2023)
- $87,093 million in real personal income in 2024 (BEA real personal income 2024 release)
- 1.5% growth from 2023 to 2024 (BEA real personal income 2024 release)
That growth rate is modest, but it matters because it shows continued expansion in the metro?s underlying income base. In a region as large as Oklahoma City, even a moderate percentage gain represents a meaningful dollar increase across households, businesses, and local institutions.
How to interpret the income figures
- Personal income captures the broader regional earnings picture, not just wages.
- Growth from $85,814 million to $87,093 million shows positive momentum, even if not rapid.
- The metro?s scale makes small percentage changes economically important in absolute terms.
Oklahoma City city versus metro: why the distinction matters
A lot of readers search for Oklahoma City metro statistics and then discover that city-level metrics tell a different story from metro-level metrics.
The city itself had 719,849 estimated residents on July 1, 2025, up from 712,919 on July 1, 2024 (U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts). The 2020 Census count was 681,054, and the city?s population grew 5.7% from April 1, 2020 to July 1, 2025 (U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts).
City-scale data adds useful detail:
- Land area: 606.20 square miles (U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts)
- Population density: 1,123.5 people per square mile (U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts)
- Median household income: $68,656 in 2020-2024 dollars (U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts)
- Per capita income: $38,370 in 2020-2024 dollars (U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts)
- Poverty rate: 15.1% (U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts)
- Mean travel time to work: 22.2 minutes (U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts)
Key city-level indicators
| Measure | Oklahoma City city | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Population estimate, July 1, 2025 | 719,849 | U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts |
| Population estimate, July 1, 2024 | 712,919 | U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts |
| 2020 Census population | 681,054 | U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts |
| Land area | 606.20 square miles | U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts |
| Population density | 1,123.5 people per square mile | U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts |
| Median household income | $68,656 | U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts |
| Poverty rate | 15.1% | U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts |
| Mean travel time to work | 22.2 minutes | U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts |
The city is much denser than the metro, as expected, and it also has a slightly different income and poverty profile. That makes the city useful for neighborhood and municipal analysis, while the metro is better for regional labor markets, commuting, and broad consumer trends.
Market scale, retail, and service activity
A few business indicators from Oklahoma City city help show how the local economy translates into transaction volume.
In 2022, Oklahoma City city reported:
- $2,451,641 thousand in accommodation and food services sales (U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts)
- $11,421,562 thousand in health care and social assistance receipts (U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts)
- $6,233,534 thousand in transportation and warehousing receipts (U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts)
- $19,578,248 thousand in total retail sales (U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts)
- $28,163 retail sales per capita (U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts)
These are useful because they connect population size with commercial activity. Retail sales per capita is especially helpful as a quick lens into consumer spending intensity, while transportation, healthcare, and food services show the breadth of daily economic life.
What stands out in the business data
- Health care and social assistance receipts were the largest of the listed category totals.
- Retail sales were substantial at nearly $19.6 billion in 2022 (U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts).
- Transportation and warehousing also had a meaningful footprint, which fits a metro that is geographically broad and logistically active.
Oklahoma City metro ranking and scale in national context
The metro was the 42nd-most populous metro area in the United States (USAFacts Oklahoma City metro page).
That ranking is a useful reminder that Oklahoma City is not just a state capital or a mid-sized city. It sits in the upper tier of U.S. metros by population, with enough scale to support a broad economy, a large housing stock, and a labor market that extends far beyond the city core.
Useful takeaways from the ranking
- Nationally, the metro is large enough to matter in comparisons of jobs, income, and housing.
- Regionally, it acts as a major hub for government, healthcare, transportation, and commerce.
- Population size and broad land area together create a metro that is both substantial and distributed.
Reading the numbers together
The strongest way to use Oklahoma City metro statistics is not to isolate one measure, but to connect the main clusters.
- Population and land area show a large, spread-out region.
- Income and poverty show a metro with solid median earnings and persistent economic need.
- Education and household data show a stable, working-age population with a strong housing base.
- Employment data show a diversified labor market centered on government, trade, healthcare, and services.
- City-level figures give a denser, more local view for planning and comparison.
If you are using these Oklahoma City metro statistics for research, content, or local analysis, the key is to keep the level of geography clear. The metro and the city are related, but they are not interchangeable, and the difference shows up in nearly every major metric provided here.