Oklahoma County, Oklahoma

Oklahoma County
Oklahoma County
County
	Oklahoma County Courthouse
	Seal
	Location within the U.S. state of Oklahoma
	Oklahoma's location within the U.S.
	Coordinates: 35°29′N 97°32′W / 35.48°N 97.53°W
Country	United States
State	Oklahoma
Founded	1890
Seat	Oklahoma City
Largest city	Oklahoma City
Area
• Total	718 sq mi (1,860 km2)
• Land	708.82 sq mi (1,835.8 km2)
• Water	9.6 sq mi (25 km2) 1.3%
Population (2020)
• Total	796,292
• Density	1,123/sq mi (434/km2)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional districts	3rd, 4th, 5th
Website	oklahomacounty.org

Oklahoma County is a county located in the central part of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2020 census, the population was 796,292,^[1] making it the most populous county in Oklahoma. The county seat is Oklahoma City,^[2] the state capital and largest city. Oklahoma County is at the heart of the Oklahoma City metropolitan statistical area.

Oklahoma County is one of seven counties in the United States to share the same name as the state it is located in (the other six being Arkansas County, Hawaii County, Idaho County, Iowa County, New York County (Manhattan), and Utah County), and the only one of the seven to contain the state capital, and one of two to contain a city of the same name as well.^[3]

History

The area that would someday be called Oklahoma County was originally inhabited by members of the indigenous nations of the Southern Plains, but by the 1830s the land would become part of the territory assigned to the Seminoles and Creeks after their removal from their ancestral lands in the Southeastern USA.^[4]

As a result of the Reconstruction era treaties signed between the US government and the Seminole and Creek nations in 1866, the land was taken from tribal jurisdiction but not assigned to other tribal governments, which in time led it to be called the Unassigned Lands. In 1889, the US federal government held a land run for the Unassigned lands, which led to the rapid settlement of the area.^[5]

By 1890, Oklahoma County was called "County Two" and was one of seven counties established by the Organic Act of 1890.^[4]

County business initially took place in a building at the intersection of California Avenue and Robinson Street until the construction of the first Oklahoma County Courthouse at 520 West Main Street in the 1900s. In 1937, the county government was moved to a building at 321 Park Avenue, which now serves only as the county courthouse.^[6]

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 718 square miles (1,860 km²), of which 709 square miles (1,840 km²) is land and 9.6 square miles (25 km²) (1.3%) is water.^[7]

Transit

Embark
Oklahoma City Streetcar
Flixbus
Greyhound Lines
Amtrak (Heartland Flyer) at Oklahoma City station

Major highways

Adjacent counties

Logan County (north)
Lincoln County (east)
Pottawatomie County (southeast)
Cleveland County (south)
Canadian County (west)
Kingfisher County (northwest)

National protected area

Oklahoma City National Memorial

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1890	11,742		—
1900	25,915		120.7%
1910	85,232		228.9%
1920	116,307		36.5%
1930	221,738		90.6%
1940	244,159		10.1%
1950	325,352		33.3%
1960	439,506		35.1%
1970	526,805		19.9%
1980	568,933		8.0%
1990	599,611		5.4%
2000	660,448		10.1%
2010	718,633		8.8%
2020	796,292		10.8%
2023 (est.)	808,866	^[8]	1.6%
U.S. Decennial Census^[9] 1790-1960^[10] 1900-1990^[11] 1990-2000^[12] 2010^[13]

According to the 2010 U.S. census, there were 718,633 people, 277,615 households, and 172,572 families residing in the county. The population density was 1,013 inhabitants per square mile (391/km²). There were 319,828 housing units at an average density of 416 units per square mile (161 units/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 64.6% White, 15.4% Black or African American, 3.5% Native American, 3% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 8.1% from other races, and 5.3% from two or more races; 15.1% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.^[14] Throughout its population, 12.4% were of German, 12.3% Mexican, 10.1% Irish, 7.9% English, and 7.7% American ancestries according to the 2010 census. 84.4% spoke English and 11.5% Spanish as their first language.^[15]

At the 2020 U.S. census, its population increased to 796,292, with a 2022-estimate at 802,559. Racially, the 2021 American Community Survey estimated 54.5% were non-Hispanic white, 15.8% Black or African American, 4.7% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 5.8% multiracial, and 18.5% Hispanic or Latino of any race. An estimated 10.2% of its population between 2017 and 2021 were foreign-born residents.^[16]

In 2010, there were 277,615 households, out of which 28.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.1% were married couples living together, 15.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.8% were non-families. 31.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.56 and the average family size was 3.26. As of 2021,^[16] there were 313,822 households with an average of 2.48 people per household. The median value of an owner-occupied housing unit was $164,000 from 2017 to 2021, and the median gross rent was $929.

In 2010, the median income for a household in the county was $42,916, and the median income for a family was $54,721. The per capita income for the county was $25,723. About 11.70% of families and 15.30% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.70% of those under age 18 and 8.60% of those age 65 or over.^[17] In 2021, its median household income was $58,239 with a per capita income of $34,129. Approximately 16.3% of the population lived at or below the poverty line.^[16]

Politics

Since the second half of the 20th century, Oklahoma County has been quite conservative for an urban county. It swung from a 20-point victory for Harry Truman in 1948 to a 15-point victory for Dwight Eisenhower in 1952. It has gone Republican in all but one presidential election since then; it narrowly voted for Lyndon Johnson in 1964. This mirrors the growing Republican trend in Oklahoma since the end of World War II. It was one of the few areas in the South where Jimmy Carter didn't do well.

However, the Republican share of votes for president has decreased in every election since the 2004 election (with the exception of 2024). In the 2022 Oklahoma gubernatorial election, Democratic candidate Joy Hofmeister received her largest vote share of any county, with 55.0% of the vote and a modest improvement over the 2018 Democratic candidate, Drew Edmonson.^[18] Incumbent Republican Governor Mary Fallin was the last member of her party to win the county with 51.3% in 2014.^[19] Also, in the 2018 United States House of Representatives elections in Oklahoma, Democrat Kendra Horn received 52.3% of the vote in Oklahoma County, which was the only county in the state to vote for a Democratic House candidate, thereby changing parties.^[20] Horn would carry the county again in her 2022 Senate run, becoming the first Democratic Senatorial candidate to carry the county since David Boren's 1990 landslide.^[21]^[22] In the 2020 United States Presidential election, Republican Donald Trump narrowly carried the county (1% margin), down from 10 points in 2016. It was also the best showing for a Democrat in the county since LBJ. In 2024, Trump won the county, but again by a narrow plurality. However, his margin of victory was slightly larger than in 2020.

County commissioners

District	Name	Party	Took office
1	Joe Blough	Democratic	2024^[23]
2	Brian Maughan	Republican	2009
3	Myles Davidson	Republican	2023

County offices

Office	Name	Party	Took office
Assessor	Larry Stein	Republican	2019
County Clerk	Maressa Treat	Republican	2023
Court Clerk	Rick Warren	Republican	2017
District Attorney	Vicki Behenna	Democratic	2023
Sheriff	Tommie Johnson III	Republican	2021
Treasurer	Forrest Freeman	Republican	1993

Oklahoma House of Representatives

District	Name	Party	Took office
31	Collin Duel	Republican	2022
39	Ryan Martinez	Republican	2016
41	Denise Crosswhite-Hader	Republican	2019
54	Kevin West	Republican	2016
82	Nicole Miller	Republican	2019
83	Eric Roberts	Republican	2020
84	Tammy West	Republican	2016
85	Cyndi Muson	Democratic	2015
87	Collin Walke	Democratic	2016
88	Mauree Turner	Democratic	2020
89	Arturo Alonso Sandoval	Democratic	2022
90	Jon Echols	Republican	2013
92	Forrest Bennett	Democratic	2016
93	Mickey Dollens	Democratic	2016
94	Andy Fugate	Democratic	2019
95	Max Wolfley	Republican	2020
96	Preston Stinson	Republican	2020
97	Jason Lowe	Democratic	2016
99	Ajay Pittman	Democratic	2019
100	Marilyn Stark	Republican	2019
101	Robert Manger	Republican	2019

Oklahoma Senate

District	Name	Party	Took office
15	Rob Standridge	Republican	2012
17	Shane Jett	Republican	2020
22	Kristen Thompson	Republican	2022
30	Julia Kirt	Democratic	2018
40	Carrie Hicks	Democratic	2018
41	Adam Pugh	Republican	2016
42	Brenda Stanley	Republican	2018
44	Michael Brooks	Democratic	2017
45	Paul Rosino	Republican	2017
46	Kay Floyd	Democratic	2014
47	Greg Treat	Republican	2011
48	George Young	Democratic	2018

Congressional

District	Name	Party	Took office
OK-3	Frank Lucas	Republican	1994
OK-4	Tom Cole	Republican	2003
OK-5	Stephanie Bice	Republican	2021

Party registration

Voter registration and party enrollment as of August 31, 2023^[24]
Party		Number of Voters	Percentage
	Republican	183,775	41.74%
	Democratic	155,382	35.29%
	Libertarian	4,526	1.03%
	Unaffiliated	96,577	21.94%
Total		440,260	100%

United States presidential election results for Oklahoma County, Oklahoma^[25]
Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party(ies)
Year	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2024	143,618	49.71%	138,769	48.03%	6,536	2.26%
2020	145,050	49.21%	141,724	48.08%	7,966	2.70%
2016	141,569	51.68%	112,813	41.18%	19,560	7.14%
2012	149,728	58.33%	106,982	41.67%	0	0.00%
2008	163,172	58.41%	116,182	41.59%	0	0.00%
2004	174,741	64.23%	97,298	35.77%	0	0.00%
2000	139,078	62.34%	81,590	36.57%	2,443	1.09%
1996	120,429	54.68%	80,438	36.52%	19,386	8.80%
1992	126,788	48.78%	76,271	29.34%	56,864	21.88%
1988	135,376	63.59%	75,812	35.61%	1,703	0.80%
1984	159,974	71.65%	60,235	26.98%	3,052	1.37%
1980	139,538	66.05%	58,765	27.81%	12,970	6.14%
1976	119,120	56.69%	87,185	41.49%	3,808	1.81%
1972	156,437	75.24%	46,986	22.60%	4,502	2.17%
1968	93,212	49.73%	60,395	32.22%	33,834	18.05%
1964	83,660	48.00%	90,641	52.00%	0	0.00%
1960	102,992	61.44%	64,648	38.56%	0	0.00%
1956	85,395	59.76%	57,512	40.24%	0	0.00%
1952	95,492	57.63%	70,199	42.37%	0	0.00%
1948	40,161	40.11%	59,954	59.89%	0	0.00%
1944	42,464	42.30%	57,812	57.59%	116	0.12%
1940	35,639	39.77%	53,649	59.86%	329	0.37%
1936	24,312	32.15%	50,946	67.36%	373	0.49%
1932	21,238	34.05%	41,130	65.95%	0	0.00%
1928	36,608	69.13%	16,073	30.35%	272	0.51%
1924	17,504	40.63%	21,708	50.38%	3,873	8.99%
1920	15,350	44.68%	17,820	51.86%	1,189	3.46%
1916	5,291	36.33%	7,971	54.73%	1,302	8.94%
1912	5,706	42.02%	6,963	51.28%	910	6.70%
1908	5,401	50.03%	4,876	45.17%	518	4.80%