Oklahoma brings to mind images of Oklahoma City, beautiful landscapes, and some of the best people you’ll find in the good ole US of A.
However, like all states, Oklahoma has certain places that are going on hard times. These Oklahoma places have an above average percent of people that are living in poverty, out of work, or not making as much as they should be.
With all the talk about income inequality going on around the country, we thought it prudent to take a look at the places in each state that are struggling to make it even as the economy continues to improve. So we set our sites on bringing attention to the poorest places in Oklahoma.
To do so, we analyzed the newest Census data from the American Community Survey for the 73 places in Oklahoma with more than 5,000 people.
Again, this isn’t a commentary on the people that live there or the vibrant culture and traditions of these places. Instead, it’s just a look at the facts.
What’s the poorst city in Oklahoma? According to the facts, Hugo is the poorest place in Oklahoma for 2023.
Rich people more your cup of tea? Feel free to check out the best places in Oklahoma or the most dangerous.
For more on how we calculated the top ten, and for more information about these places, read on.
If you’re looking for something more national, check out the poorest states in America or the poorest cities in America.
For more Oklahoma reading, check out:
- Best Places To Live In Oklahoma
- Cheapest Places To Live In Oklahoma
- Most Dangerous Cities In Oklahoma
Article Table Of Contents
The 10 Poorest Cities In Oklahoma For 2023
1. Hugo
Hugo, unfortunately, ranks as the poorest place in Oklahoma thanks to combination of low pay and and a lack of jobs.
The city of 5,146 people averages the lowest median household income in Oklahoma and the highest poverty rate. At the very least, the cost of living ranks in the bottom 15% of place in the state, so things like housing are relatively affordable.
/10
2. Seminole
The second poorest city in Oklahoma is Seminole.
The city ranks as having the 7th highest incidence of poverty and 3rd lowest median household income. However, the unemployment rate ‘only’ ranks as the 7th highest in the Sooner State.
/10
3. Idabel
Placing as the third poorest city, Idabel’s median income ranks as the 2nd lowest.
And that’s a sign that there’s a relatively substantial jump in the quality of the economy from second to third place on our list. The poverty rate is 27.963571215288148% and ranks near the bottom of places in the state.
But what makes up for the relatively low incomes of the city is its low cost of living. The income you do make here goes further than in most parts of the Sooner State.
/10
4. Anadarko
Anadarko ranks as the fourth poorest place in Oklahoma.
The town ranks as having the 18th lowest median household income and the 4th highest incidence of poverty in the state.
That being said, there’s still a ton of cultural diversity in the city as it hosts many events throughout the year.
/10
5. Vinita
The fifth poorest city in Oklahoma is Vinita.
The city ranks as having the 7th lowest median income in the state. However, an extremely low cost of living prevents a good number of folks from living in poverty as the poverty rate only ranks as the 8th highest in Oklahoma.
Still not the best news for Vinita.
/10
6. Okmulgee
Okmulgee ranks as the sixth poorest place in the Sooner State.
It ranks as having the 15th highest incidence of poverty and the 9th highest unemployment rate.
/10
7. Henryetta
Henryetta places as the seventh poorest city in Oklahoma.
The city of over 5,667 ranks as having the 17th highest incidence of poverty in the state. However, it has a very low cost of living which helps to pay the bills each month.
/10
8. Muskogee
Muskogee ranks as the eighth poorest city in Oklahoma.
The big issue for the town is the unemployment rate which ranks as the 14th highest in the state.
/10
9. Pryor Creek
Pryor Creek couldn’t stay out of the top ten poorest places in Oklahoma; it ranks number 9.
While the median income is the 14th lowest, there are a substantial number of people that live below the poverty line. Overall, Pryor Creek ranks as having the 23rd most people living in poverty of all the places we analyzed in Oklahoma.
/10
10. Mcalester
And rounding out the top ten poorest cities in Oklahoma is McAlester.
The city of 18,225 people ranks in the bottom 20% for both median income and poverty rate in the Sooner State.
/10
Methodology: How We Determined The Poorest Places In Oklahoma for 2023
The first thing that comes to most people’s minds when they think about determining the poorest places is to simply the poverty rate. That is, the number of people living below a federally established level of income for a household of a certain size.
However, we don’t think that one statistic wholly encompasses what it means to be one of the “poorest places”. So we looked at this set of criteria from the newly released 2017-2021 American Community Survey:
- Poverty Level
- Median Household Income adjusted for the cost of living
- Unemployment Rate
The “median household income adjusted for the cost of living” attempts to gauge how expensive it is to live in a place and how that impacts the quality of life. For example, a town might have fewer people living below the official poverty line, but the cost of living is so high they’d still feel poor.
The unemployment rate tries to capture the prospects for improvement in the city or town. If more people are employed, the brighter the future looks and vice versa.
After we collected the data for all 73 places with more than 5,000 people in Oklahoma, we ranked each place from 1 to 73 for each of the criteria, with 1 being the poorest.
We then averaged all the rankings for a place into a “Poor Score” with the place having the lowest overall Poor Score, Hugo, crowned the “Poorest Place In Oklahoma For 2023”.
Summary: The Poorest Places In Oklahoma For 2023
Like we said earlier, when we set out to identify the poorest places in Oklahoma, we weren’t sure what we’d encounter, but it ended up being some of the best places to live in Oklahoma.
When you look at the data, the cities and places mentioned above meet the criteria for being at the very bottom of the income ladder for everyone that lives there.
If you’re curious enough, here are the richest cities in Oklahoma, according to data:
-
Richest: Piedmont
2nd Richest: Newcastle
3rd Richest: Choctaw
For more Oklahoma reading, check out:
- Richest Cities In Oklahoma
- Safest Places In Oklahoma
- Worst Places To Live In Oklahoma
- Most Expensive Places To Live In Oklahoma
Detailed List Of The Poorest Places To Live In Oklahoma
Rank | City | Population |
---|---|---|
1 | Hugo | 5,146 |
2 | Seminole | 7,131 |
3 | Idabel | 6,945 |
4 | Anadarko | 6,182 |
5 | Vinita | 5,250 |
6 | Okmulgee | 11,330 |
7 | Henryetta | 5,667 |
8 | Muskogee | 37,214 |
9 | Pryor Creek | 9,439 |
10 | Mcalester | 18,225 |
11 | Elk City | 11,743 |
12 | Durant | 18,358 |
13 | Pauls Valley | 6,030 |
14 | Poteau | 8,741 |
15 | Stillwater | 48,055 |
16 | Tahlequah | 16,213 |
17 | Blackwell | 6,192 |
18 | Wagoner | 7,694 |
19 | Sallisaw | 8,503 |
20 | Del City | 21,778 |
21 | Lawton | 91,247 |
22 | Cushing | 8,201 |
23 | El Reno | 17,164 |
24 | Holdenville | 5,753 |
25 | Ponca City | 24,499 |
26 | Miami | 12,997 |
27 | Shawnee | 31,237 |
28 | Weatherford | 12,034 |
29 | Ardmore | 24,829 |
30 | Woodward | 12,246 |
31 | Tulsa | 410,652 |
32 | Tecumseh | 6,356 |
33 | Ada | 16,804 |
34 | Midwest City | 58,146 |
35 | Guthrie | 10,767 |
36 | Guymon | 12,804 |
37 | Alva | 5,056 |
38 | Chickasha | 15,655 |
39 | Collinsville | 7,765 |
40 | Bethany | 20,542 |
41 | Claremore | 19,173 |
42 | Altus | 18,825 |
43 | Norman | 125,745 |
44 | Catoosa | 7,821 |
45 | Duncan | 22,664 |
46 | Grove | 6,900 |
47 | Bartlesville | 37,074 |
48 | Purcell | 6,506 |
49 | Coweta | 9,696 |
50 | Warr Acres | 10,443 |
51 | Oklahoma City | 673,183 |
52 | Sand Springs | 19,935 |
53 | Enid | 51,129 |
54 | Harrah | 6,155 |
55 | Owasso | 37,559 |
56 | Sapulpa | 21,853 |
57 | Blanchard | 8,511 |
58 | Moore | 62,633 |
59 | Broken Arrow | 112,751 |
60 | Yukon | 23,697 |
61 | The Village | 9,510 |
62 | Clinton | 8,612 |
63 | Verdigris | 5,189 |
64 | Glenpool | 13,446 |
65 | Edmond | 93,522 |
66 | Noble | 7,078 |
67 | Jenks | 25,210 |
68 | Mustang | 19,847 |
69 | Bixby | 28,091 |
70 | Tuttle | 7,412 |
71 | Choctaw | 12,130 |
72 | Newcastle | 10,970 |
73 | Piedmont | 7,306 |