Metro comparison

Tulsa vs Wildwood

Tulsa, OK and Wildwood-The Villages, FL side by side, cost of living, rent, wages, crime, schools, childcare and environment, all from the same federal datasets so every number is directly comparable.

55.1
Tulsa Life Score
B
Tulsa grade
71.6
Wildwood Life Score
A+
Wildwood grade

Head-to-head verdict

Across the seven dimensions, Tulsa scores higher on 1 (rent) and Wildwood on 6 (cost of living, wages, safety, schools, childcare, environment). The radar shows the full shape; the tables below break out every figure.

Tulsa vs Wildwood across all seven dimensions (each scored 0–100 as a national percentile, bigger area = stronger overall)

Tulsa vs Wildwood across all seven dimensions (each scored 0–100 as a national percentile, bigger area = stronger overall) 7-axis radar comparing 2 series across Cost, Wages, Rent, Safety, Schools, Childcare, Environ.. CostWagesRentSafetySchoolsChildcareEnviron. TulsaWildwood
Tulsa vs Wildwood across all seven dimensions (each scored 0–100 as a national percentile, bigger area = stronger overall)

Source: BEA, HUD, BLS, FBI, NCES, DOL, EPA As of December 2024

Dimension scorecard

Where each metro wins, and by how much

Every dimension is a national percentile (0–100). Each bar leans toward the stronger metro, a long lean is a decisive edge, a near-even split is a toss-up. The radar shows the overall shape; this shows the per-dimension margins.

◖ Tulsa Wildwood ◗
cost of living
79
98
wages
34
47
rent
61
48
safety
23
83
schools
62
88
childcare
45
46
environment
91
97

Tulsa and Wildwood differ across eleven dimensions of livability. Tulsa has a cost-of-living index of 89.2 vs Wildwood's 85.4 (national average = 100). Median salaries are $61,480 in Tulsa and $63,776 in Wildwood. A 2-bedroom averages $1,217/mo vs $1,328/mo.

How to read this matchup

Reading the Tulsa vs Wildwood Comparison

Tulsa (OK) and Wildwood (FL) are assembled here from the same federal data pipeline, BEA Regional Price Parities, HUD Fair Market Rents, BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, FBI Uniform Crime Reports, NCES public-school counts, and EPA environmental indicators, so every number on this page is directly comparable. The overall cost index reads 89.2 for Tulsa against 85.4 for Wildwood, a 3.8-point gap on a scale where 100 equals the U.S. average. HUD's 2-bedroom Fair Market Rent, the figure used to set housing-choice voucher payment standards, is $1,217/mo in Tulsa and $1,328/mo in Wildwood, a $111/mo difference that compounds to $1,332 over a year.

On wages, BLS OES reports a median salary of $61,480 across 445,680 jobs in Tulsa against $63,776 across 34,870 jobs in Wildwood. Adjusted through the BEA cost-of-living lens, $100,000 earned in Tulsa carries the same local purchasing power as $95,752 in Wildwood - the most honest way to read the salary headline, because nominal wages and rents move together in tight metros. State-level violent crime, the most reliable geographic tier FBI UCR publishes, is 427.9 per 100,000 residents in OK vs 210.3 in FL, with property-crime rates of 2008.3 and 1030.0 respectively.

Schools are reported at the state tier by NCES: OK lists 1,778 public schools at a 16.1:1 student-teacher ratio, while FL lists 4,029 schools at 17.8:1, a signal of class-size staffing, though individual district and school-level variation within each state is substantial. Department of Labor center-based infant care runs $10,666/yr in the Tulsa area versus $10,505/yr in Wildwood - a line item that shifts the real cost-of-living picture for households with children under five far more than headline RPP does. When these pieces are read together rather than in isolation, Tulsa and Wildwood are not simply "cheaper" or "more expensive" - they trade across dimensions, and which metro wins depends on whether your household optimizes for rent, wages, schools, childcare, safety, or environment. Treat the tables below as inputs to that trade-off, not as a single ranking.

Tulsa composite

55.1 /100

Grade B · weighted across 7 dims

Wildwood composite

71.6 /100

Grade A+ · weighted across 7 dims

Cost-of-living gap

3.8 pts

Tulsa vs Wildwood BEA RPP

2-bed rent delta

$111 /mo

Wildwood priced higher

Composite life score on the national 0–100 scale

Tulsa

Tulsa composite (Grade B)

Wildwood

Wildwood composite (Grade A+)

Composite is a weighted roll-up of seven dimensions: cost (20%), wages (20%), rent (15%), safety (15%), schools (10%), childcare (10%), environment (10%). Each input normalized to a 0–100 percentile across all metros.

💰 Cost of Living BEA →

Category Tulsa Wildwood
Overall RPP 89.2 85.4
Goods 93.8 96.2
Services 73.9 89.0
Rents 68.2 51.7

Salary Equivalent Calculator

What salary in Wildwood gives the same purchasing power as your salary in Tulsa?

$
Equivalent in Wildwood: $95,752

Based on BEA Regional Price Parities (Tulsa: 89.2, Wildwood: 85.4, national avg = 100).

🏠 Rent (Fair Market Rent) HUD →

Bedrooms Tulsa Wildwood
Studio $933/mo $1,076/mo
1 Bedroom $987/mo $1,139/mo
2 Bedroom $1,217/mo $1,328/mo
3 Bedroom $1,602/mo $1,655/mo
4 Bedroom $1,858/mo $1,937/mo

💼 Wages & Employment BLS →

Metric Tulsa Wildwood
Avg Median Salary $61,480 $63,776
Total Employment 445,680 34,870

🛡️ Crime Rates (state-level) FBI →

Crime Type (per 100K) Tulsa (OK) Wildwood (FL)
Violent Crime 427.9 210.3
Property Crime 2008.3 1030.0

🎓 Schools (state-level) NCES →

Metric OK FL
Total Schools 1,778 4,029
Student-Teacher Ratio 16.1:1 17.8:1
Charter Schools 3.5% 17.9%

👶 Childcare Costs (Annual Avg) (state-level) DOL →

Age Group OK FL
Infant (Center) $10,666/yr $10,505/yr
Toddler (Center) $9,220/yr $8,611/yr
Preschool (Center) $9,220/yr $7,983/yr

🌿 Environment (state-level) EPA →

Metric OK FL
EPA Facilities 485 864
Water Systems 883 1,516
Superfund Sites 18 81
Water Violations 28,341 2,676
Government-verified data - Air quality (EPA AQS), water safety (EPA SDWIS), healthcare access (HRSA), and disaster risk (FEMA NRI) are sourced directly from U.S. federal agencies. No crowdsourced estimates.

💨 Air Quality (EPA AQS) EPA AQS →

Metric Tulsa Wildwood
Median AQI 51.0 41.0
Good Air Days 46.2% 76.6%
Unhealthy Air Days 13 days N/A

Wildwood air quality shown at state level. Tulsa has metro-level data.

💧 Water Safety (EPA SDWIS, state-level) EPA SDWIS →

Metric OK FL
Water Safety Score 2/100 9/100
Total Violations 336,706 184,355
Health-Based Violations 113,804 24,266
Systems with Violations 98.2% 93.2%

🏥 Healthcare Access (HRSA, state-level) HRSA →

Metric OK FL
Healthcare Access Score 0/100 0/100
Population in Shortage Area 100.0% 100.0%
HPSA Designations 460 612

HPSA = Health Professional Shortage Area, designated by HRSA. Higher access score = better healthcare availability.

⚠️ Natural Disaster Risk (FEMA NRI, state-level) FEMA NRI →

Metric OK FL
Disaster Safety Score 56/100 29/100
NRI Risk Score (avg county) 55.5 75.7
Expected Annual Loss Score 50.0 72.9

FEMA National Risk Index (NRI) scores are county-level percentiles (0–100). Higher disaster safety score = lower relative risk. State-level values are county averages.

Crime, schools, childcare, and environment data shown at state level. Metro-specific data for these dimensions is not available.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Tulsa more expensive than Wildwood?
Tulsa has a cost of living index of 89.2 compared to Wildwood's 85.4 (national average = 100). Tulsa is 3.8 points above Wildwood on the BEA Regional Price Parity scale.
What is the rent difference between Tulsa and Wildwood?
A 2-bedroom apartment averages $1,217/mo in Tulsa vs $1,328/mo in Wildwood, based on HUD Fair Market Rent data. Studios range from $933/mo to $1,076/mo.
How do salaries compare between Tulsa and Wildwood?
The average median salary across all occupations is $61,480 in Tulsa and $63,776 in Wildwood, according to BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. After adjusting for cost of living, $100,000 in Tulsa has the same purchasing power as $95,752 in Wildwood.
Is Tulsa or Wildwood safer?
At the state level, OK has a violent crime rate of 427.9 per 100,000 residents compared to FL's 210.3 per 100,000. Property crime rates are 2008.3 vs 1030.0 per 100,000 respectively, based on FBI Uniform Crime Report data.
How do schools compare between Tulsa and Wildwood?
OK has 1,778 public schools with an average student-teacher ratio of 16.1:1, while FL has 4,029 schools at 17.8:1. Charter schools make up 3.5% of OK schools vs 17.9% in FL. Data from the National Center for Education Statistics.
Where does the comparison data come from?
All data comes from official U.S. government sources: Bureau of Economic Analysis (cost of living), HUD (fair market rents), BLS (wages), FBI UCR (crime), NCES (schools), Department of Labor (childcare), EPA (environment, air quality, water safety), HRSA (healthcare access), and FEMA NRI (disaster risk). No crowdsourced estimates or proprietary ratings are used.

Research Guides

Data from BEA, HUD, FBI UCR, BLS OES, NCES, DOL, EPA AQS, EPA SDWIS, HRSA, and FEMA NRI. Not affiliated with the U.S. Government.

Disclaimer: This comparison is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or relocation advice. Consult a qualified professional before making decisions based on this data.

Data sourced from official public datasets, current as of 2026. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCompare Editorial