The local economy of Oklahoma and its counties, metro areas and cities, from official US government data.
Unemployment rate
4.3%
August 2026, 3.4% a year ago
Average weekly pay
$1,235
Q1 2026, 1,700,570 jobs
New homes permitted
14,702
Last 12 months to August 2026
Net people moving in
+12,516
2022 to 2023
Newest data: -. Not seasonally adjusted: compare with the same month a year earlier. Click a row for its history.
The newest unemployment rate, pay, new home permits, moves and gas price for Oklahoma, updated as new official numbers come out.
Unemployment for Oklahoma is seasonally adjusted; for its counties, metro areas and cities it is not, so compare a month with the same month a year earlier. Pay covers all jobs that pay into unemployment insurance. Building permits count homes approved to be built, not homes sold. Moves count households by where they filed their tax returns in two years in a row.
The unemployment rate in Oklahoma was 4.3% in August 2026 (seasonally adjusted, preliminary), compared with 3.4% a year earlier. 1,912,849 people were employed out of a labor force of 1,998,019. Among its counties, Dewey County had the lowest rate (2.1%) and Hughes County the highest (6.4%, not seasonally adjusted).
Average weekly pay in Oklahoma was $1,235 in Q1 2026, up 3.6% from a year earlier, across 1,700,570 jobs at 130,200 business locations.
Building permits were issued for 1,372 new homes in Oklahoma in August 2026 (1,003 single-family and 247 in buildings with 5 or more units). From January to August the total was 10,005, down 5.5% from the same months last year, and 14,702 in the last 12 months. The most homes were permitted in Oklahoma County (6,319), Tulsa County (3,219), Cleveland County (856) over the last 12 months.
Yes. From 2022 to 2023, 86,935 people moved to Oklahoma and 74,419 moved away, a net gain of 12,516 (+4.3 per 1,000 residents). Most newcomers came from Texas, California, Arkansas, and most people who left went to Texas, Arkansas, Kansas.
The weekly survey does not publish a separate price for Oklahoma. In its region, Midwest, regular gasoline averaged $4.29 per gallon in the week of September 28, 2026.