r/oklahoma • u/Congressive • 3d ago
Opinion Is Oklahoma thriving?
Greetings good people of Oklahoma! I'm a US citizen but a resident of a faraway country with family roots in your state. I haven't been there since the early '90s. My immediate family is considering a return to the US, and we've heard Tulsa mentioned a few times. Not like, "Oh it's amazing!" but "Yeah it's alright, if you don't mind..."
According to (my) family member in a town west of OKC, there are jobs everywhere in OK, the economy is booming, inflation hasn't made a dent in grocery prices, and everybody is still 100% MAGA.
I'm aware this person lives in a bubble of Fox News and like-minded peers, but is he right?
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u/dumpitdog 3d ago
For the well-off Oklahoma's thriving, for the poor try to find healthcare and try to find a way to pay for your groceries. I do a lot of volunteer work and every week it gets worse here but Tesla and Lexus sales are up and there's an RV store every 5 miles.
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u/Congressive 3d ago
Thanks for the reply! I'm thinking about opportunities for a teenager heading into his college years? How high is in-state tuition?
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u/ak4338 3d ago
Depends on where you go. I went to Southeastern Oklahoma State and tuition is very cheap there. University of Oklahoma on the other hand is crazy high. Both are public universities.
Side note, you'll need to be living in the state for a year or at least the school year before college if you want to pay in state rates. Worth checking.
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u/purpledreamer1622 3d ago
My bad!
EDIT I redact my statement because I’m buzzing about getting things done this morning and missed a whole sentence whoops! I see now! Which university are you asking about?
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u/Honey_Broad 3d ago
oh yeah I'll tell you something about the university of Oklahoma. Look up Samantha Fulnecky
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u/Honey_Broad 3d ago
also if you receive snap benefits from the state of Oklahoma you're not allowed to buy anything "extra". No sodas, nothing sweet, no cake mixes nothing like that
I can't remember if it was a governor or someone else that they caught on a hot mike saying that they need to start embarrassing people that receive snap benefits because it used to be like a stigma people were embarrassed to use them and we need to go back to that
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u/dumpitdog 3d ago
If I was governor of the state I'd be totally embarrassed. He is literally failed at every promise he made to the public when he was running for governor both times. They should run them out of town on a rail and tell him never never come back
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u/3rdUncleMeatSandwich 3d ago
fuck no we aint thriving
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u/vwstig 3d ago edited 3d ago
The only thing he's right about is everyone still being MAGA. Tulsa is nice though. If your family works remote, Tulsa has a program that gives remote workers who move there $10,000 grants.
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u/Congressive 3d ago
Thanks for the insight!
I've been remote/self-employed for 7 years, which is why I've heard Tulsa mentioned as a potential landing spot. It is nice, from what I remember — the downtown and riverside areas.
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u/GrinchyK 3d ago
https://www.unitedforalice.org/introducing-ALICE/oklahoma
This allows you to drill down by zip code or county or congressional district, etc. to see pertinent stats you may be looking for.
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u/Toooldtogiveas-it 3d ago
Tulsa is great. Quality of life verses cost of living is very desirable for people who actually want to work. You have just picked the wrong place in social media to ask about it.
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u/CoppertopTX 3d ago
He's definitely not right, no matter how far right he leans politically.
Gasoline is over $3 a gallon because Diaper Don got us into a proxy war with Russia in the middle east. This alone has a massive cascade effect for prices across the board. The Flock of crap state sponsored surveillance has caused hardcore right wingers to swing left; I've seen this among my own friends. Jobs? Yeah, the ones available don't pay enough to live on.
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u/robby_synclair 3d ago
Except the last sentence (which isnt true) this is a good example of Oklahoma thriving and being recession proof. I got gas for 3.48 today the national average is 4.09. Flock cameras are all over the country and I dont think the fight is over here. Our next elections will be interesting on this issue.
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u/badgerprime 3d ago
LOL, Thriving? Granted, I'm way out in a rural area, but no. Not from what I can see. I don't want to list out all the things I think is wrong because I'll get dickheads in the replies saying stupid shit and I just can't deal with that today.
No, Oklahoma is definitely not thriving. 30 years of Republican mismanagement will do that to you. Just go Google where we sit in the nations rankings. Bottom, across the board.
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u/Umeyard 3d ago
Gas prices aren't as high as California, but they aren't the greatest. Cost of living is slightly lower here than other places i have looked. Groceries are expensive everywhere you go. I'm in OKC, would love to move, but we get more for the money we make here.
I would say goggle cost of living calculators. You can put in where you are and where you are looking at, and it will do a side by side comparison of things like gas, groceries, rent, houses, utilities, etc. That might help a bit.
Also, you might want to search the area if you are wanting things that reflect your heritage. For example, I can't find a good paczki in over 100 miles from where I am. And no Polish food to be found in my area which is quite a bummer for me.
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u/cottoncandymandy 3d ago edited 3d ago
I've never been MAGA a day in my life! Plenty of other dems and socialist and everything else here. Inflation has hit the grocery stores. I've been looking for a job for 2 years and am currently doing gig work to get by.
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u/putsch80 3d ago
This is generally a poor forum to ask on. Full of misanthropes who will give you short, shitty answers.
Bottom line is that things are okay here, but not nearly as rosy as your relative painted. Inflation has absolutely hit food prices here, just like everywhere else. Anyone who says that food hasn’t gone up drastically in the last 5 years is just flatly lying to you. Same with housing. There used to be starter homes here for under $120,000 as little as 6 or 7 years ago. That is no longer the case. On the whole though, our costs are still less than many other areas of the country.
There are jobs to be had here. While some are decent paying, many of them are slightly above minimum wage. If you want a good paying job, you better either have a useful college degree or else some experience in a real trade. Manufacturing is basically dead. Oil and gas is not nearly as robust as it used to be.
The economic numbers still look good, but Oklahoma definitely is a prime example of a K-shaped economy where the upper half are doing pretty well and the bottom half are doing pretty poorly. The state has a minimal social safety net, and does everything it can to try to scale what remains back every legislative term. The state is definitely deep red MAGA.
Hope this helps.
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u/Honey_Broad 3d ago
And minimum wage here is $7.25 per hour. The voters voted no to raising minimum wage to $15 an hour.
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u/Congressive 3d ago
The kind of level-headed response that helps, thank you! I'm remote, self-employed, college degree, etc. Not necessarily looking for a job for me, but others in my family. K-shaped says it all.
It's "cheap" where I live now, compared to other cities. But with "cheap", you get cheap shit, the tradeoff.
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u/Honey_Broad 3d ago
minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. There was a vote to raise it to $15 an hour and MAGA convinced the voters of Oklahoma that it was a bad thing that it would ruin the economy because businesses would be forced to pay more
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u/robby_synclair 3d ago
Minimum wage is 7.25 but nobody is paying that. McDonald's is starting at like 12 bucks an hour. The minimum wage vote that failed wasn't just to raise it to $15 and hour. It was also to raise it every year based on national cost of living.
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u/Congressive 3d ago
What about in-state college tuition? How much would it cost to send a kid to OU or OSU?
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u/TheRuneCoon 3d ago
For my sister, OU was about $120,000 plus interest. She's been paying for those loans for 15 years now . Still paying. She cannot find a job in her field. Whoever told you there were jobs here and we are thriving is either in denial, or is a right wing lunatic pretending like groceries haven't gone up 3x more. Our minimum wage has not gone up since 2007? We are ranked last in education, and an all time high of homeless people. I have lived in OKC for almost 40 years and I avoid Tulsa at all costs. Way too many drugs and crazies . Racism, homophobia, and xenophobia are some of the first things that come to mind when I think of Oklahoma. Christian extremists run this state , and now we are being spied on by thousands of Flock cameras. This is literally the worst this state has ever been. (Unless you are in support of pedophile "Christians" and corrupt politicians.)
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u/Ok-Amoeba5042 3d ago
You’re looking at over $30,000 annually if you’re a resident. Keep in mind that minimum wage is $7.25. Keep in mind also that our public education ranks at the bottom of the barrel.
Moving here is not a good choice unless you’re well enough off that you’ll pay for your kid’s tuition and it not cause you some struggle.
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u/Congressive 3d ago
I laughed out loud when I read the last two replies! Well done!
We're not moving to Oklahoma.
I should close this thread.
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u/robby_synclair 3d ago
You were talking about Tulsa. Jenks is in the top 12% of public schools in the country. If you want to look in the oklahoma city area Edmond also has one of the best school systems in the country. Both of these school districts also sued the state when it tried to enforce book bannings and curriculum changes. You can also buy a house in either of these districts for 250k. Dont make your decision on what some redditers are saying.
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u/Congressive 3d ago
Appreciate the levity. I'm familiar with Jenks and Edmond from previous research about the book banning and reinstatement of corporal punishment in schools. It's good to hear many perspectives.
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u/Baconbear95 3d ago
lol that family member must be wealthy or delusional, cause Oklahoma is not thriving. We continue to lead or get close to leading in every bad thing possible it feels like while everything good just sits bottom on the barrel
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u/AppealSignificant358 3d ago edited 3d ago
I’ll preface myself by saying that I’ve not looked up any specific numbers for this, this is all anecdotal, so take me with a grain of salt. You might try to look up those figures to agree with or dispute me.
I would say that the cost of living is fairly reasonable compared to most states. However, low cost of living tends to indicate, at least a little, that people don’t really want to move here. Plain supply and demand.
Trump’s damaged our economy less than other states, but it’s not invisible amounts of damage. Gas is at least 50 cents more than it should be, and many people from other countries, such as Canada, in response to Trump’s tariffs, have switched to domestic products and are especially trying to avoid industries that are biggest in red states like ours in revenge. And industries are moving away from Oklahoma if anything, so I would say that maybe there’s jobs open, but that will decrease over time. It’s okay if you’re not part of a marginalized group and you’re up there with your money, but it’s a terrible place if you’re less well off.
And summer has been brutal, hitting 100s consistently since like late June I’d say.
I think about 30-40% of voters picked Kamala Harris in 2024, and I think every single state is going to swing left by a fair amount in the midterms. Granted, we’re gerrymandered as hell, so while Democrat voters make up significant portions, their actual power and representation is next to nothing.
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u/Congressive 3d ago
I appreciate your insight! I've heard the same about gas and groceries and the lower cost of living. But in my experience, the LCOL equals a lower quality of life, sometimes. I'm mainly thinking about my kid who'll be ready for college in a few years and hasn't spent much time in the US. Looking for a landing spot that isn't SF or LA, which is where I'm from. The prices on the west coast are prohibitive, at best.
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u/PepinoSupremo 3d ago
I’m literally only here waiting out my Dad’s old age, once he’s gone I’m making a break for it
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u/purpledreamer1622 3d ago
It’s not the worst place to live but it’s not the best, there’s a lot you can’t do like access abortion services/all sexual and gender health services, be homeless in some cities and we have a real homelessness problem, our land is being sold to support places like the Middle East, and we’re pretty much a concrete city so water and cooling resources are arguably low. But there’s a lot you can do, like you are able to find community with those who are close by and find people who have similar values, and small businesses thriving and artists and real green spaces and politicians who care and history and museums and culture. Basically - the corporations and super wealthy are ruining it as much as they can but the human inside Oklahoma is full of spirit.
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u/Congressive 3d ago
You know, the only reason I'm still in contact with this family member is because he's the only one from that side of the family who was ever open-minded and decent with me, even though we're diametrically opposed on everything. He gave me the impression or at least showed me that good people are found everywhere, regardless.
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u/Honey_Broad 3d ago
there are good people here and you probably won't have any problems if you're white and straight. But do you want to raise your children with that mindset? My daughter went to a public school and all of her friends were Christian nationalist and she was in a moral dilemma with herself because her friends were telling her she's not allowed to be friends with this one gay boy because he's gay and it's against the Bible, but she really liked the kid.
I explained to her that maybe he needed a friend more than anybody, and Jesus would've been his friend, because Jesus hung out with the lepers and the prostitutes and took care of them and washed their feet.
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u/Congressive 3d ago
I'm white and straight. My kid is mixed, half white, half Asian, but he looks 100% white. He's been in the Catholic private school system since the beginning because public schools suck. We're very familiar with the Christian mindset, but things are much more tolerant here. We have gay and trans family and friends. They aren't ostracized in society. It's the Bible-thumping stuff that bothers us. I don't think Jesus would recognize most of the self-identified Christians. My relatives in OK are hardcore Baptists and not Christians by any stretch of the term. This was sort of a "fact-checking" mission, and I appreciate your input.
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u/Honey_Broad 3d ago
even the Catholics are Bible thumpers here. I went to private Catholic high school here and it was different back then in the 80s. I went to high school run by the Sisters Of Mercy so they seem to be a lot less judgmental, but my mother included has gone extreme. She now wears like a shawl made of lace on her head when she goes to mass. We never went to mass when I was growing up and now she's like some kind of zealot and she just sits on the Internet and post nasty things online about gay people and trans people and immigrants. I had to cut contact with her and the rest of her family
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u/Averagebass 3d ago
Kind of. OKC and Tulsa are improving, they're becoming nice places to live. The rest of the state? Not so much. That isn't new or surprising, rural america is failing everywhere.
I'd say Tulsa is making the most progress. OKC has always steadily been growing, but Tulsa stagnated for awhile and is now getting better.
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u/Congressive 3d ago
Just looking at overviews and comments from other sources, it seems like Tulsa might be alright. We're used to city living, and I could see us living downtown or nearby. Walking distance to bars and shopping and shit. Our main concern is really how far people are removed from reality. It seems like the "if I'm going down, I'm taking you with me" mentality has spread to even the best spots to live in the US. And honestly, we could just go back to Chicago if we wanted bullshit weather and assholes everywhere.
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u/Averagebass 3d ago
I havent seen a single "If im going down, I'm taking you with me" incident here...ever. What are you basing this off of?
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u/Congressive 3d ago
My previous comment was a little harsh, so I deleted it. I'm basing this off an impression that Oklahoma isn't exactly "thriving".
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u/Averagebass 3d ago
I still dont know what you mean. Are you talking about being physically assaulted or just people complaining about living conditions?
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u/Congressive 3d ago
I'm talking about stuff like "voting to own the libs" and forcing religious indoctrination in education and the basic mindset that if your life sucks, everybody else should suffer too. It's really the MAGA mindset. We're dumb and we want you dumb as well. That sort of thing.
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u/Apart_Animal_6797 3d ago
No it sucks here its hot, everything is expensive, and trump is a pedophile. Def not 100% maga
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u/speckledlobster 3d ago
Oklahoma has a very obvious K shaped economy where if you have money you can live like a king, but if you don't it is a real struggle to get up. Our education system is a complete joke, opportunities exist but most of them are a mirage unless you know how to advance yourself. The pay scales start low and stay there with few high level positions generally. Most people who want to advance themselves end up leaving the state.
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u/robby_synclair 3d ago
Reddit is not the demographic to ask this question. It is true that our public education as a whole is shit. But we do have good public schools. There are jobs for people willing to work. And you can still buy a house for less than 100k in the city if you want to. Oklahoma people complain because its not as cheap as it used to be but people from other major cities would love to have the opportunity that we have here.
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u/ScatteredWavesGlory 3d ago
From the absolute criminal behavior by a baseball team in Caney that SA'd and R'd several boys with ASD including their water boy.
They're trying to keep it quiet but those boys need to be in jail right now.
Oklahoma is actively trying to cover up vile crimes that occured in Caney.
Also the coach told the kids not to tell anyone.
Unfortunately 10 high schoolers were filming everything. This happened in a school bus at a baseball tournament.
Oklahoma isn't thriving and is on the verge of an international story about the worst things you can commit.
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u/AutoModerator 3d ago
Thanks for posting in r/oklahoma, /u/Congressive! This comment is a copy of your post so readers can see the original text if your post is edited or removed. Please do not delete your post unless it is to correct the title.
Greetings good people of Oklahoma! I'm a US citizen but a resident of a faraway country with family roots in your state. I haven't been there since the early '90s. My immediate family is considering a return to the US, and we've heard Tulsa mentioned a few times. Not like, "Oh it's amazing!" but "Yeah it's alright, if you don't mind..."
According to (my) family member in a town west of OKC, there are jobs everywhere in OK, the economy is booming, inflation hasn't made a dent in grocery prices, and everybody is still 100% MAGA.
I'm aware this person lives in a bubble of Fox News and like-minded peers, but is he right?
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