Metro Life Score

Tulsa, OK

Compiled byPlainCompare Editorial, PlainCompare Editorial Team · Updated May 16, 2026

55.1
Life Score / 100: B
Grade (curved): #121
of 387 metros: 69%
of metros outranked

Data updated May 2026

Verify: BEA · BLS · HUD · FBI · NCES · EPA · Census

The verdict

Tulsa ranks #121 of 387 US metros, ahead of 69% - carried by its environment (91/100) and held back most by safety (23/100).

91
strongest: Environment: 79
then: Cost of Living: 23
weakest: Safety: 7
weighted dimensions

Where Tulsa sits among all US metros

Composite Life Score vs the national field

55 69th percentile higher than 69% of 387 US metros

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more US metros. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source PlainCompare composite of BEA, BLS, HUD, FBI, NCES, DOL, EPA data · May 2026

How the score is built

Reading the Tulsa Life Score

Tulsa's composite score of 55.1 out of 100, a grade of B, places the metro at rank #121 of 387, ahead of 69% of US metros. The strongest inputs are Environment (91/100) and Cost of Living (79/100), which pull the composite upward, while Safety (23/100) and Wages (34/100) drag it downward. (How the weighting works.)

BEA RPP 89.2 (rent-RPP 68.2). BLS median salary $61,480, 445,680 jobs (Fast Food and Counter Workers, Retail Salespersons, General and Operations Managers). HUD 2BR FMR $1,217/mo (studio $933).

FBI UCR (OK): 428 violent, 2008 property/100K. NCES: 16.1:1 ratio, 3.5% charter. DOL infant childcare $10,666/yr. EPA: 18 Superfund sites (OK). Ranks #118-#124 below.

Dimension detail

How Tulsa scores, dimension by dimension

Score Breakdown

Dimension Scores

Cost of Living 79/100 (20%)

Wages 34/100 (20%)

Rent 61/100 (15%)

Safety 23/100 (15%)

Schools 62/100 (10%)

Childcare 45/100 (10%)

Environment 91/100 (10%)

Key Data Points

89.2

Cost Index (RPP)

$61,480

Avg Median Salary

$1,217

2BR Fair Market Rent

428

Violent Crime/100K (OK)

16.1:1

Student-Teacher Ratio

$10,666

Infant Childcare/yr (OK)

Superfund Sites (OK)

445,680

Total Employment

Crime, schools, childcare, and environment data shown at state level where metro-specific data is unavailable.

Compare Tulsa With...

Tulsa vs Oklahoma City Compare → Tulsa vs Lawton Compare → Tulsa vs Enid Compare → Tulsa vs Wildwood Compare → Tulsa vs Waterloo Compare → Tulsa vs Paducah Compare →

Ranking Context

Tulsa outranks 69% of U.S. metros.

Rank	Metro	Score	Grade
#118	Traverse City, MI	55.2	B
#119	South Bend-Mishawaka, IN-MI	55.2	B
#120	Manhattan, KS	55.2	B+
#121	Tulsa, OK	55.1	B
#122	Champaign-Urbana, IL	55.1	B
#123	Columbus, GA-AL	55.1	B
#124	Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford, VA	55.0	B

OK Metro Scores

Oklahoma City, OK B 52.5 Lawton, OK B- 52.4 Enid, OK * B- 50.3 Fort Smith, AR-OK C 44.4

Using Tulsa's Life Score

Tulsa is a regional baseline, not a neighborhood reading, use it to shortlist, then dig into the dimensions that matter to you.

Its strongest dimension is environment (91/100) and its weakest is safety (23/100) - weigh those against your own priorities. How the score is built
Put Tulsa head-to-head against another metro before you decide, every dimension, side by side. Compare metros
See where Tulsa lands on the national rankings for cost, safety, pay and more. Browse rankings

Scores summarize federal data at the metro level; crime, schools and cost vary widely within a single metro.

Explore more

Frequently Asked Questions

What are Tulsa's biggest strengths? ▼

Tulsa's strongest dimensions are Environment (91/100), Cost of Living (79/100), Schools (62/100). Environment is top-tier nationally.

What are Tulsa's weakest areas? ▼

Tulsa's lowest-scoring dimensions are Safety (23/100), Wages (34/100), Childcare (45/100). Safety weighs heavily on the composite.

How expensive is Tulsa compared to the national average? ▼

Tulsa's Regional Price Parity is 89.2 (10.8% less than national); rent RPP 68.2.

What is the average salary in Tulsa? ▼

Tulsa median salary: $61,480, 445,680 jobs. Top: Fast Food and Counter Workers, Retail Salespersons, General and Operations Managers.

How is the life score calculated? ▼

Tulsa's 55.1/100 blends 7 federal-data dimensions - see our methodology page for the weighting.

Research Guides

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

Data sourced from official public datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCompare Editorial

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

All federal data sources used on this page

U.S. Census Bureau ACS - multi-dimension demographic + housing + income aggregates for cross-area comparison. census.gov/programs-surveys/acs
BEA Regional Economic Accounts - GDP, personal income, employment by state and metro. bea.gov/data/regional
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) - wage estimates for comparable-area indexing. bls.gov/oes
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) - crime statistics for safety-score component. fbi.gov/ucr
NCES Common Core of Data - public-school quality indicators by area. nces.ed.gov/ccd
EPA AirNow + Air Quality System (AQS) - air-quality measurements by area. epa.gov/outdoor-air-quality-data
HUD Fair Market Rents (FMR) - county and metro housing-cost indicators. huduser.gov/datasets/fmr

Every figure on PlainCompare is loaded directly from BEA, HUD, FBI UCR, BLS OEWS, NCES, DOL, EPA, and the Census Bureau, no number is typed in by an editor. This metro's Life Score is computed directly from the 7 federal sources cited above. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026.