There is nothing like Oklahoma.
Songs, movies and pop culture in general have talked about Oklahoma forever now. It’s got a lot of history, beauty, culture and some of the friendliest sports fanatics in the country. If you grew up there, you’ll most likely never leave.
But is it all good in the Sooner State? Of course not. Just like every other state, Oklahoma has its least desirable spots. The purpose of this post is to use science and data to determine which cities are the worst you could possibly live in if you make Oklahoma your home .
After analyzing 70 of the state’s most populous cities (over 2,5,000 people), we came up with this list as the 10 worst places to live in Oklahoma:
- Poteau (Photos)
- Wagoner (Photos)
- Purcell (Photos)
- Anadarko (Photos)
- Sallisaw (Photos)
- Idabel (Photos)
- Henryetta (Photos)
- Seminole (Photos)
- Okmulgee (Photos)
- Shawnee (Photos)
What? Where are these places you wonder? And before you get all riled up and say we’re picking on small town America, that’s not the case.
We understand there’s a lot of good in every place.
However, according to data (which doesn’t measure things like beauty and ‘friendly people’), there are far better options in the state for making a place home. And the worst place to live in Oklahoma? That would be Poteau.
Read on below to see how we crunched the numbers and see how your city fared in 2019.
If you’re looking for something more national, check out the worst cities in America or the worst states in America.
For more Oklahoma reading, check out:
- 10 Best Places To Live In Oklahoma
- 10 Cheapest Places To Live In Oklahoma
- 10 Most Dangerous Cities In Oklahoma
How we determined the worst places to live in Oklahoma for 2019
To figure out how bad a place is to live in, we only needed to know what kinds of things people like and then decide what cities have the least amount of those things.
We don’t think it’s a stretch to assume that people like the following things:
- Good education
- Lots of jobs
- Low crime
- Low poverty
- Nice homes
- High incomes
- High population density (Lots of things to do)
- Short work commutes
- Health insurance
The data comes from the Census’s most recent American Community Survey and from the FBI Uniform Crime Report.
We broke crime down into violent crime and property crime to give violent crime a larger weight — if you did a simple calculation of all crimes per capita, property crimes are normally 7x more common and really bias that ranking.
Furthermore, only cities with at least 5,000 people were considered — leaving 70 cities.
We then ranked each city from 1 to 70 for all the criteria with a #1 ranking being the worst for the particular criteria.
Next, we averaged the rankings into one “Worst Place To Live Score”.
Finally, we ranked every city on the “Worst Place To Live Score” with the lowest score being the worst city in Oklahoma — Poteau. Read on for a detailed look at the 10 worst cities in Oklahoma.
This list is a scientific analysis based on real data and is completely unbiased.
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Way out near the Arkansas state line is Poteau, where there simply isn’t much to do, entertainment wise. You have a long way to drive to get to any decent sized city.
But that’s not all. The unemployment rate is at 5.7%, which is the 36th highest in the state. And the income levels are far below the state average. So, even if residents here had a ‘big city’ to venture into every now and then, many couldn’t afford to make the trip.
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Wagoner, where there’s absolutely nothing to do unless you enjoy bowling, ranks as the 2nd worst city in Oklahoma.
Besides the lack of pure amenities, Wagoner has some real economic problems to contend with. The unemployment rate hovers near 12.4%, and families earn around $33,839 a year. It’s also the 20th highest in Oklahoma for crime, where 1 in 28.8 people gets robbed every year.
Does living in a place where people who come to visit are robbed sound like fun?
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When you’re looking at the worst places you could live in Oklahoma, Purcell ranks 3rd worst. Let’s see why.
Here in Purcell, crime is the 10th highest in the state, and 1 out of 20.7 residents was robbed here according to the latest FBI numbers.
That’s not the first place you think of making home, is it?
Additionally, you have a 1 in 254 chance of being the victim of a violent crime, which includes rapes, attacks or murders. That’s really high.
When you look at adult education in Oklahoma, the folks in Purcell have the 6th highest drop out rate. And other factors that make Purcell undesirable are the low median incomes and home prices.
The unemployment rate is the 10th highest in Oklahoma, at 9.1%. That’s actually on par with the national average, which means Oklahoma has some hard workers.
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When you’re looking at the worst places you could live in Oklahoma, Anadarko came in 4th. Let’s see why.
When you’re comparing the unemployment rate to the rest of the nation, Oklahoma residents are very hard workers. But when comparing the unemployment rate among cities in Oklahoma, you can see some really big differences. In Anadarko, the number of people out of work is 12.8%
In Oklahoma, that’s the 3rd highest in the state.
The residents in Anadarko have the 6th lowest incomes in the state. Folks in Anadarko average $30,820 a year. Which isn’t too shabby in comparison to the other ‘lowest’ income cities in most other states.
Additionally, the homes are valued at $65,000 on average. That’s the 6th lowest in the state.
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Tthe small town of Sallisaw has the 5th lowest income levels in the entire state. At $30,000, many of the people are having trouble making ends meet, and the unemployment rate is 6.9%. Additionally, 28.7% of the population lives below the poverty line.
The cost of a home here is bottom barrell at $97,000.
At least the crime is very minimal here.
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Speaking of a long drive for some indoor entertainment, people in Idabel would have to drive all the way down to Texarkana to find a decent-sized town. If they could afford it. The average family in Idabel lives right at the poverty line, and 5.3% of them are unemployed, which is the 42nd highest in the state.
Crime is certainly above the state average here.
But on the bright side, the education, measured in terms of money spent per student and teacher-student ratio, is towards the top.
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Henryetta, part of Okmulgee County, is the 7th worst place to live in Oklahoma for 2017.
. Residents here earn almost the lowest salaries per year relative to any other residents in the state at $32,822, and crime 29th worst in Oklahoma.
Additionally, the poverty level is 24.1% in Henryetta.
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When you’re looking at science and data, Seminole is the 8th worst place you can live in Oklahoma. Let’s see why.
The unemployment rate in Seminole is 11.3%. In terms of comparing Oklahoma cities to one another, that’s the 6th highest in the state.
And while a lot of folks in Seminole are out of work, the ones who have jobs earn $36,114 a year, which doesn’t leave a lot of wiggle room. And the crime in Seminole is the 44th highest in the state, where 1 in 48.9 people have a chance of being the victim of a property crime, according to the latest FBI numbers. That’s really high.
Plus, it’s one of the least densely populated places in the state, where you have to drive an hour to Oklahoma City to find anything beyond the norm for fun. Sure, Oklahomans enjoy their ‘outdoor’ fun, but when you want to mix in a fancy night out or hit the malls, that’s a long drive.
Seminole folks could use a big hug right about now.
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If you drive a half hour south of Tulsa on Route 75, you’ll come to Okmulgee, which has the 4th highest unemployment rate in the state of Oklahoma. At 12.4%, a lot of folks are having a hard time finding jobs here, and those that do earn some of the lowest salaries in the state.
The crime rate is the 14th highest in the state, where people have to lock their doors at night, considering that 1 in 24.3 was statistically vulnerable to a property crime in 2017.
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Now we can get to some actual cities that might have some normal numbers. In this case, Shawnee ranks high mainly due to the low economic numbers. Homes are the 22nd cheapest in the state here at $98,600. Say what you want about low cost of living. What the data says is that cheaper homes means less demand. And there isn’t a lot of demand to live in Shawnee.
The median income levels here are the 19th lowest in the state of Oklahoma, at $38,471. Crime is above average, but not horrible like some of the cities we’ll talk about in a minute. And almost 7.4% of people in Shawnee were without jobs according to the latest numbers.
Wrapping Up The Worst In Oklahoma
If you’re looking at areas in Oklahoma with the worst economic situations, where there’s higher than average crime, and not a lot to do, this is an accurate list.
And in the end, Poteau ranks as the worst city to live in Oklahoma for 2019.
If you’re curious enough, here are the best cities to live in Oklahoma:
- Jenks (Pop. 20,836)
- Edmond (Pop. 89,769)
- Alva (Pop. 5,167)
For more Oklahoma reading, check out:
- These Are The 10 Best Places To Retire In Oklahoma
- These Are The 10 Richest Cities In Oklahoma
- 10 Safest Places In Oklahoma
- 10 Best Cities For Singles In Oklahoma
Detailed List Of The Worst Places To Live In Oklahoma
| Rank | City | Population |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Poteau | 8,729 |
| 2 | Wagoner | 8,688 |
| 3 | Purcell | 6,352 |
| 4 | Anadarko | 6,710 |
| 5 | Sallisaw | 8,574 |
| 6 | Idabel | 6,954 |
| 7 | Henryetta | 5,726 |
| 8 | Seminole | 7,384 |
| 9 | Okmulgee | 12,123 |
| 10 | Shawnee | 30,974 |
| 11 | Pauls Valley | 6,116 |
| 12 | Muskogee | 38,139 |
| 13 | Durant | 17,198 |
| 14 | Ardmore | 24,927 |
| 15 | Cushing | 7,793 |
| 16 | Catoosa | 7,524 |
| 17 | Hugo | 5,215 |
| 18 | Guthrie | 10,984 |
| 19 | Tahlequah | 16,481 |
| 20 | Warr Acres | 10,385 |
| 21 | Mcalester | 18,198 |
| 22 | Tecumseh | 6,571 |
| 23 | Tulsa | 401,352 |
| 24 | Holdenville | 5,653 |
| 25 | Chickasha | 16,256 |
| 26 | El Reno | 18,378 |
| 27 | Pryor Creek | 9,387 |
| 28 | Duncan | 22,998 |
| 29 | Blackwell | 6,845 |
| 30 | Sulphur | 5,014 |
| 31 | Vinita | 5,512 |
| 32 | Ada | 17,262 |
| 33 | Lawton | 95,168 |
| 34 | Grove | 6,791 |
| 35 | Miami | 13,428 |
| 36 | Skiatook | 8,026 |
| 37 | Noble | 6,668 |
| 38 | Enid | 50,809 |
| 39 | Coweta | 9,549 |
| 40 | Lone Grove | 5,013 |
| 41 | Altus | 19,181 |
| 42 | Harrah | 5,934 |
| 43 | Sapulpa | 20,477 |
| 44 | Norman | 119,820 |
| 45 | Clinton | 9,344 |
| 46 | Claremore | 18,777 |
| 47 | Bethany | 19,508 |
| 48 | Tuttle | 6,773 |
| 49 | Woodward | 12,687 |
| 50 | Perry | 5,006 |
| 51 | Sand Springs | 19,727 |
| 52 | Collinsville | 6,536 |
| 53 | Stillwater | 48,685 |
| 54 | Glenpool | 12,929 |
| 55 | Newcastle | 9,327 |
| 56 | Choctaw | 12,228 |
| 57 | Guymon | 11,859 |
| 58 | Bartlesville | 36,398 |
| 59 | Weatherford | 11,894 |
| 60 | Blanchard | 8,403 |
| 61 | Moore | 59,992 |
| 62 | Piedmont | 7,079 |
| 63 | Yukon | 25,729 |
| 64 | Owasso | 34,634 |
| 65 | Mustang | 20,125 |
| 66 | Broken Arrow | 106,264 |
| 67 | Bixby | 24,939 |
| 68 | Jenks | 20,836 |
| 69 | Edmond | 89,769 |
| 70 | Alva | 5,167 |
So you’ve never heard of fort smith which is only a 30 minute drive from poteau , I don’t believe that’s a long way to drive .
Miami is Horrible?
Your choice of pictures is! This is my hometown. I haven’t lived there in 25 years. I have been living in Godforesaken Texas. But I would give my right arm to move back. The history, memories and the beautiful things you won’t mention makes this town my forever home!
I’m from seminole plenty of work here I’ve never had a problem crime wise and if you don’t mind fishing and lakes plenty to do plus casinos everywhere
Never had an issue with crime in Seminole? Hard to believe. Its become a mecca for juvenile delinquents and druggies.
Loyal and Kingfisher should be on the list. Living there were the worst years of my life.
Idabel’s crime stats have fallen dramatically over the last 30 yrs, I went to work for them in 1975. We were always in the top 3 crime per capita city in the state until the late 80’s when they started to drop from a lot of hard work from some extrodnary cops. It may be lower now because Idabel is like a lot of small Oklahoma towns that are slowly dying away. Still a pretty good place to live.
Here’s a fact… 1.5 million tourist visited Broken Bow in 2014. Projected more in 2015. List is crap… who visits armpits by the hoards?
They don’t visit broken bow, they visit hochatown, beavers bend state park, and the lake. Rarely do you see any tourist in BB… they all stay in the camp grounds or cabins in hochatown. Get your facts straight.
If the tourist don’t visit Broken Bow. Why are our resturants, motels highways, grocery store and Walmart packed from Feb. Thru Oct., driving in Broken Bow on the weekend is as bad as driving in OKC. If you don’t believe, come to our little hidden paradise and see for yourself.
We did some quick fact checking and found that quite a bit of information on your datasheet is either outdated, inaccurate, or wrongly compared.
What we found with Poteau:
From 2000 to 2013, we’ve seen a 206.82 percent growth factor. That’s one of the strongest growth factors in the state.
Crime rating is at an 88.3, which is 11.97% lower than the rest of the national average. Violent crime rates at 18.94, which is 81.06% lower than the national average. Both of these are extreme positives. The only negative here is with our property crime score. Our property crime score is a 249.24, which is 149% higher than the national average. Still we’re doing very well with the rest of the state and nation on how we handle crime.
Our quality of life index measures at 120. This is quite a bit above the national average. On almost every aspect, we measure on par with the state average. The only areas we fall in the national average is in culture (which is still far above the state average) and in the amusement average. However, this was measured in 2010. Since then, we’ve added the Reynolds Center, the skatepark, adding two new restaurants, and downtown is coming alive again.
Our median income is slightly lower, but so is our cost of living. Average that out and we’re about on par with the rest of Oklahoma. Oklahoma, on average, is slightly lower than the national average, but that’s to be expected.
Our unemployment rate is 6.60%, which is high, however, with employers such as Chili’s, Montana Mike’s, and others moving in to Poteau, we expect this number to drop. This number was closest to the mark with yours, however, it was still off.
Just looking at the actual facts, and being non-biased, I don’t think this list is accurate at all. In fact, just a few months ago, Poteau was rated among the top ten.
With spending just a few minutes checking this out and finding this many errors, I can only imagine what exists on other towns. Part of my business is traveling across Oklahoma and with many of the towns you mentioned as being the worst, I haven’t found that to be true by any means.
I’m not sure where you got your numbers, but if you don’t mind, I would like to see the sources. What you said was from the Census wasn’t found on the Census . gov website.
How about mountain view Oklahoma and CANUTE Oklahoma ,on places to live only
I lived in skiatook my whole life and have never have herd board or poles stolen and I would rather live in skiatook than anywhere else in owasso there has been a bunch of shootings! But skiatook in my opinion is the best town to live in!
Have yall never heard if Muldrow or Roland? Right next to Fort Smith, AR. They’re both horrible.
I was raised all around the muskogee area and decent work is very hard to find. Would love to move back it is home
Hobart,ok sucks pertty bad.nothing to do bunch of drug problems there.just to get to a bigger town u have to go to Lawton about a hour away. Not such a bright town it self.i grew up in lawton its gotten bad in its most recent years.
I’m a native Lawtonian and I love Lawton, Oklahoma. I loved my family and friends and so did the rest, of the people. They stand up, for the way they believe in and they believe, in mutual respect. They bond. with people.
We have pride, in who we are and where we’re from. Lawton was our foundation, to our life and there is nothing you can do or say, to change our mind.
Pryor Creek is #43 on best list, #45 on worst list. How much sense does that make?
Have you actually driven in either Broken Arrow or Owasso? The traffic is the main reason I would never live in either place. I couldn’t afford a house in any of those top 10 places anyway.
one of those should have been clayton an heavner
Anyplace is what you make of it. We spent a year in Sidi Slamine Morocco in 1959/60/ You have to go to hell and turn left to get to Sidi Slamine, we made the most of it and it was a good assignment. It is an attitude.
I think scoring a high population density as a good thing is WAY too much on the opinion side.
As a result this whole article is bullshit.
You couldn’t pay me to live somewhere with high population density.
And Broken Bow is fantastic. Someday I will get my family out of Durant and back to BBow.
I would rather live in one of these small towns than any big city in the world. People don’t know what they are missing. As we always say this is GOD’S country!!!!!!!!!!!
I lived in both Poteau and Heavener during the 15 years that I lived in Oklahoma. All that I can say is that Heavener is where you would stick the plug if you were going to give the planet an enema. And Poteau is pretty much (geographically) right next to it. You can figure it out from there. The people are not friendly and there is ZERO to do in either town.
I lived in some of the worst, and some of the best. as long as it isn’t a hate ridden town, its ok by me. I loved living I Seminole, as I was born and raised down the road in Wewoka (which doesn’t make any list) these small towns are my best memories, and also my worst. except for the unavailability of some goods, and the need to travel to get most things…it was a great time
Any of those places are better than Cartwright, the drug capital of Oklahoma.
I’ve been stuck in Miami for a while now. It’s quite the culture shock moving from a thriving city to this place. No opportunity here, if Walmart doesn’t have what you need you have to drive to Joplin, and people aren’t very welcoming here. You are only accepted in this community if you were born here.
oklahoma sucks cuz all they want to do is lock up good people and slap chomos on the hand its a perverted state probably ran by a chomo money starving demons
Yeah the state is kind of corrupt, but I lived in virginia and now new York and I can’t wait to go back to OK. The laws up here are ridiculous. However, Oklahoma is a very narrow minded state. Welcome to the Bible belt. However, it’s fairly peaceful in the country towns. I lived in towns in Leflore County and haskell county. The towns I refuse to live in are keota, bokoshe, mccurtain, Panama, porum and Spiro. Mostly because of bums and drugs. Panama was practically a meth capital at one time. The police department was supposedly involved in the problem as well. Spiro is also pretty bad. The towns I would purchase a home in would be stigler, Quinton, maybe heavener or kinta if it was out in the country. I really don’t like poteau. It has good neighborhoods but it has some drug issues and the cops are kinda lousy. Heavener and stigler also have some really poor neighborhoods with problems.
You forgot Shawnee A.K.A Satan’s Asshole.
There are reasons why there is a Facebook group called “Losers of Lawton”.
And HENNESSEY. When a town shares a name with cheap liquor…..just saying.
I was born and raised in snyder would love to go back just to see it but would never live there I need trees and greenery which is not there. I left when I was 17 yeasts old have spent most of that time in Alabama one in Washington Stand would not live anywhere else.
If you do not live in this state, or any of the cities or towns listed, then keep your opinions to yourself. You are not going by the proper information, and have no real knowledge of any place in this state. Please keep your opinions in your own states where you have direct knowledge.
Credibility of your story takes a big plunge when you have the wrong pictures of the city which you are bashing.
I’ve been living in Ardmore, OK for 32 years. It is a horrible place to live.
I grew up in Hugo and was back recently. It has not gotten better so the others must have fared even worse. Your assessment actually seems fair in that it does not in personal opinion. I remember when Hugo was bustling thriving community. Time has not been kind to them.
I have lived in Sallisaw sense 1997. This town’s crime rate is not the best and housing is too high if your trying too buy a home. I will be the first too tell you that everybody is up in everyone else’s business and everybody is sleeping with everybody else’s wife. The good thing,s about Sallisaw is the Farmers market and Cruse night, diamond days and the ppl are both friendly and jerk’s. The casino is good for fun and there are places you can work such as slpt, avagen and celphom plus fast food restaurant,s . The view is beautiful and lake Tenkiller is not too far away neither is ft Smith Ark and there are lots off places too work. Every place has its own attitude and too know it you must first become part off it so good luck and may God Bless you on your journey where ever you decide too go.
I’m surprised McAlester and Lawton aren’t a the top of this list. Both have high unemployment and crime. And yes, I’ve live in McAlester.
Y’all rank Edmond Oklahoma has one of the best places to live in Oklahoma, this is simply not true. The crime rate that was posted by your site isn’t at all like the facts. THERE IS RAMPANT DRUG MANUFACTURING AND DRUG USE ! If you plan to go out on Friday or Saturday night THERE IS VERY LITTLE TO DO AS FAR AS ENTERTAINMENT UNLESS YOU CONSIDER GOING OUT TO A BAR ENTERTAINMENT SO YOU HAVE TO GO TO OTHER TOWNS OR CITIES ! While it’s true that crimes like assault and battery, theft had been on the decrease it is NOW on the increase ! I would avoid Edmond Ok. as a place to live !
You rank Norman worse than Clinton? That is a goddam joke. And you have the same picture for both Henryetta and Olkmulgee. Get your shit together. Additionally, your metric of high population density being good is border line retarded. it’s good if you want to spend two hours a day in gridlock traffic. Fuck this list and fuck you.