Oklahoma City Authority

Also known as: Oklahomacity Metro Authority

Oklahoma City is a middle-income mid-sized city of 697,125.

Oklahoma City is one of those places that confounds the assumption, common in certain coastal conversations, that the American interior is somehow uniform. A city of 681,054 people spread across Canadian County, it is the state capital, a significant regional economy, and, by most federal measures, one of the more affordable large cities in the country — a fact that tends to surprise people who have not looked at the numbers recently.

Every figure on this page is drawn from federal public data and is traceable to its source.

Population and Age

According to Census ACS 5-Year 2024 data, Oklahoma City's total population stands at 697,125. The median age is 35.1 years, and children under 18 account for 24.9 percent of residents, a share that places the city firmly in the "family-oriented" character range by demographic convention. The 18-to-34 cohort numbers 174,371 people, suggesting a substantial young-adult presence alongside the family households.

Housing Affordability

The price-to-income ratio for Oklahoma City sits at 3.4, and rent consumes approximately 19.8 percent of median household income, according to calculations derived from Census median income and home value data. Both figures fall within ranges that federal housing analysts generally classify as affordable. The median household income, per Census ACS 5-Year 2023, is $68,656, with a per capita income of $37,109. Total housing units number in the hundreds of thousands, supporting a city that has grown steadily without the acute supply constraints visible in coastal metros.

A poverty count of 102,530 residents, drawn from the same Census source, is a reminder that aggregate affordability figures describe a distribution, not a uniform condition. The unemployment rate stands at 4.6 percent, with 16,686 residents counted as unemployed out of a labor force of 361,194.

Broadband Access

According to FCC Broadband Data Collection figures as of June 2025, 100 percent of housing units in Oklahoma City have access to service meeting the 25/3 Mbps threshold, and the same share — all 340,962 units — have access at 100/20 Mbps and 250/25 Mbps. Access at the 1,000/100 Mbps tier reaches 78.9 percent of units. These figures describe availability as reported by providers to the FCC, not adoption rates.

Air Quality

The EPA's AQI Annual Summary for 2024 recorded 269 days with measurable air quality index data for Oklahoma City. Of those, 204 were classified as good days, 57 as moderate, and 8 as unhealthy for sensitive groups. No days were recorded as unhealthy for the general population, very unhealthy, or hazardous. The maximum AQI recorded during the year was 119, which falls in the moderate range. The monitoring station is Oklahoma City Will Rogers World Airport, located 8.2 miles from the city center, per NOAA ACIS data.

Climate

Oklahoma City's average temperature is 61.4 degrees Fahrenheit annually, with 37.7 inches of precipitation per year, according to NOAA ACIS data drawn from the Will Rogers World Airport station. The climate is continental, with warm summers and variable winters — a pattern familiar to anyone who has watched a spring storm system develop over the southern plains.

Education

Eleven colleges and universities operate within Oklahoma City, per NCES IPEDS 2022 data. Among them, Oklahoma City Community College enrolls 9,758 students, charges in-state tuition of $4,059 and out-of-state tuition of $9,810, and reports a completion rate of 24.1 percent, according to the College Scorecard. The range of institutions spans community colleges, professional schools, and universities, providing a layered postsecondary landscape for a city of this size.

Civic and Cultural Infrastructure

The city is home to 259 arts organizations, per IRS Exempt Organizations data, including Ballet Oklahoma Inc., The Oklahoma Art Guild Inc., and a range of smaller cultural nonprofits. There are 342 churches on record with the IRS Exempt Organizations database, and 23 civic service organizations, among them the Oklahoma Humane Society and a local Boy Scouts of America council.

Six animal shelter organizations operate in the city, including the Oklahoma Humane Society and Safe Haven Animal Rescue Inc. There are 167 licensed childcare centers, ranging from center-based facilities to other care arrangements, per state licensing records.

Banking

Multiple FDIC-insured institutions maintain branches in Oklahoma City, including BMO Bank National Association and Armstrong Bank, among others, per FDIC Institutions and Branches data. The presence of both national and regional banks reflects the city's role as a financial hub for the surrounding region.

Local Government and Zoning

Oklahoma City operates under a municipal code that includes a comprehensive zoning ordinance. The Oklahoma City Municipal Code is publicly accessible via Municode at https://library.municode.com/ok/oklahoma_city. The zoning framework governs land use classifications, district boundaries, and development standards across the city.

Under Oklahoma state law, municipalities retain broad authority over local land use. Okla. Stat. tit. 59, § 1020 makes clear that nothing in the state's Plumbing License Law of 1955 prohibits cities and towns from exercising "full authority to provide full supervision and inspection of plumbing by the enactment of codes and rules in such form as they may determine and prescribe," provided those rules remain consistent with the Oklahoma Uniform Building Code Commission Act and related Construction Industries Board regulations. This provision is a useful illustration of how Oklahoma structures the relationship between state licensing frameworks and local regulatory authority — the state sets a floor, and municipalities build from there.

Nearby Attractions

Forty-five attractions are documented within or near Oklahoma City, per available data. Among the closest are Walcourt, a museum located 0.3 miles from the city center, and Lifehouse Books and Coffee Museum, 0.4 miles out. The William Fremont Harn Homestead appears among nearby cultural sites as well. The density of museums and cultural venues within a short radius of the urban core is, for a city of this size in the region, notable.

Further Reading

• U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates — https://data.census.gov
• Federal Communications Commission, Broadband Data Collection — referenced via FCC BDC Jun 2025 filing
• National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data — https://nces.ed.gov/ccd/
• FEMA, Disaster Declarations — https://www.fema.gov/disaster/declarations
• Oklahoma City Municipal Code, Municode — https://library.municode.com/ok/oklahoma_city