Oklahomaincome tax up to 4.75%, 24th highest property tax, median home $215K

Worth knowing before you move to Oklahoma

Oklahoma has a graduated income tax reaching 4.5%, exempts Social Security, and has some of the lowest home prices and property taxes in the country. Most of the state is in the highest-risk tornado zone in the world, and the Oklahoma City area has also seen frequent earthquakes linked to oil and gas wastewater disposal. Native American tribal nations hold significant jurisdiction across the eastern half of the state.

What Oklahoma taxes, and what it doesn't

Oklahoma levies a graduated income tax that tops out at 4.75%. A household earning $75,000 pays an effective 4.2%, about $3,160 a year; at $150,000 the effective rate is 4.4%. Among the 41 states that tax income, Oklahoma has the 18th lowest effective rate at $100,000 of income.

Property tax runs 0.85% of home value a year, roughly $1,828 on the state's median home of $215K. The national effective rate is about 1.10%, and Oklahoma has the 24th highest rate of the 50 states.

Combined state and local sales tax averages 8.97%, the 6th highest in the country (the state portion is 4.5%).

For retirees: Social Security benefits are not taxed, pension income is partly exempt, and there is no estate or inheritance tax.

Capital gains are taxed as ordinary income.

Housing and the cost of living in Oklahoma

Oklahoma's cost of living index is 87, where 100 is the national average; that is the 7th cheapest of the 50 states.

The median home costs $215K, 29% below the national figure and the 4th lowest among the states. A two-bedroom rents for about $1,000 a month.

Carrying costs matter as much as the price: home insurance averages $5,200 a year, flood coverage adds about $700 where it is needed, car insurance runs $1,850.

Budget $105 a month for electricity and gas, $420 a month in groceries for two, $900 a month for full-time infant care.

Safety, health and schools

Violent crime is 449 incidents per 100,000 residents in the FBI's 2023 Crime Data Explorer figures, above the median state (387); Oklahoma is the 15th most violent of the 50 by that measure. Property crime is 2,840 per 100,000.

Life expectancy is 73.6 years (County Health Rankings 2024). 14.3% of residents have no health insurance, and the state has expanded Medicaid. The Commonwealth Fund's 2023 scorecard ranks Oklahoma's health system 50th of 50.

Education Week's 2023 Quality Counts report ranks K-12 schools 43rd in the country, and the state runs a school-choice voucher program.

Politics, guns and social policy

Politically, Oklahoma is a solidly Republican state that went to Trump by 33 points in 2024.

On guns, no permit is required to carry a concealed handgun, and Giffords grades the state's gun laws F.

Abortion is banned with narrow exceptions. Marijuana is medical only. Oklahoma is a right-to-work state, and the minimum wage is $7.25 an hour.

Climate, risk and getting around

Natural disaster risk is very high. The main hazards are tornado, drought, ice-storm. Annual average air quality index is 38 (under 50 is good).

Oklahoma has no top-25 hub airport, with about 55 nonstop destinations from its busiest airport.