Some of you might be asking yourself, at this very moment, is Oklahoma a good place?
The answer is unequivocally yes… if you know where to locate the best counties to live in Oklahoma.
Lucky for you, we’re here to help you identify the best counties to live in the Sooner State based on the most recently available data from the Census. And this isn’t our first rodeo — we’ve been using Saturday Night Science to rank places for years.
The question becomes if you wanted to relocate to the best part of Oklahoma, where would you go? To answer that, we looked at crime, cost of living, and demographic data for all 77 counties in the state.
Canadian County is the county to be when it comes to living the good life in Oklahoma. And you should avoid Harmon County if you can — at least according to the data.
$87,751 median income · 4.5% unemployment
$81,207 median income · 4.2% unemployment
$83,899 median income · 3.6% unemployment
$80,067 median income · 4.7% unemployment
$84,552 median income · 4.7% unemployment
$71,266 median income · 2.6% unemployment
$71,975 median income · 2.1% unemployment
$77,068 median income · 4.8% unemployment
$66,094 median income · 3.2% unemployment
$66,365 median income · 2.6% unemployment
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Oklahoma’s statewide median.
Oklahoma statewide median: $65,039
Oklahoma statewide median: $220,468
Oklahoma statewide median: 5.0%
On the map
Where Oklahoma’s best counties are
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How do you determine which Oklahoma county is the best?
To give you the best county in Oklahoma, we have to look at a handful of metrics that signal the quality of a place. To do that, we made assumptions about what’s in a “best county” and what isn’t. For reference, we are trying to make the kind of argument you’d make at a bar using facts, Saturday Night Science.
With that in mind, we went to two of the best data sources on the internet. Namely, the American Community Survey data and FBI Crime data for the most recent period.
We paid particular attention to:
- Violent Crime Rates
- Property Crime Rates
- Median Home Values
- Median Income
- Unemployment Rates
- Adult Education Levels
- Health Insurance Coverage
- Poverty Rates
We then ranked each county in Oklahoma across each of the criteria from one to 77, with one being the best.
Taking the average rank across all criteria, we created a quality of life score with the county posting the lowest overall score being the “Best County To Live In Oklahoma.”
The result is some of the safest, quietest, and best counties to raise a family in the Sooner State.
We updated this article for 2026. This report is our eleventh time ranking the best counties to live in Oklahoma.
Read on to see why Canadian County is the best county, while Harmon County is probably in contention for being the worst county in Oklahoma.
The full plate
Detailed List Of The Best Counties In Oklahoma
Click any column to sort. Search by county name.
| Rank | County | Population | Median Income | Median Home Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Canadian County | 168,985 | $87,751 | $271,852 |
| 2 | Wagoner County | 86,609 | $81,207 | $279,886 |
| 3 | Logan County | 51,938 | $83,899 | $310,210 |
| 4 | Rogers County | 98,610 | $80,067 | $278,996 |
| 5 | McClain County | 45,273 | $84,552 | $283,498 |
| 6 | Major County | 7,628 | $71,266 | $163,825 |
| 7 | Kingfisher County | 15,430 | $71,975 | $228,626 |
| 8 | Cleveland County | 300,047 | $77,068 | $254,109 |
| 9 | Roger Mills County | 3,359 | $66,094 | $190,525 |
| 10 | Noble County | 10,897 | $66,365 | $153,668 |
| 11 | Creek County | 72,830 | $62,338 | $213,540 |
| 12 | Grady County | 56,606 | $75,419 | $243,873 |
| 13 | Washington County | 53,326 | $60,162 | $181,475 |
| 14 | Osage County | 45,997 | $62,847 | $212,533 |
| 15 | Pontotoc County | 38,235 | $63,017 | $186,279 |
| 16 | Murray County | 13,753 | $66,322 | $167,636 |
| 17 | Tulsa County | 680,794 | $69,009 | $250,970 |
| 18 | Oklahoma County | 806,199 | $66,679 | $223,511 |
| 19 | Dewey County | 4,360 | $62,569 | $131,202 |
| 20 | Lincoln County | 34,219 | $62,216 | $190,937 |
| 21 | Grant County | 4,131 | $60,758 | $111,617 |
| 22 | Custer County | 28,259 | $59,738 | $177,101 |
| 23 | Beaver County | 5,028 | $64,276 | $141,508 |
| 24 | Garfield County | 62,146 | $66,182 | $141,163 |
| 25 | Pottawatomie County | 73,463 | $61,398 | $193,286 |
| 26 | Carter County | 48,555 | $60,723 | $175,046 |
| 27 | Harper County | 3,203 | $64,053 | $78,875 |
| 28 | Ellis County | 3,683 | $61,016 | $101,242 |
| 29 | Cotton County | 5,485 | $58,425 | $106,640 |
| 30 | Love County | 10,261 | $66,580 | $196,531 |
| 31 | Nowata County | 9,435 | $54,333 | $174,334 |
| 32 | Alfalfa County | 5,696 | $64,615 | $82,286 |
| 33 | Texas County | 20,774 | $60,069 | $164,949 |
| 34 | Woods County | 8,596 | $53,275 | $113,744 |
| 35 | Bryan County | 48,253 | $57,225 | $226,172 |
| 36 | Payne County | 82,972 | $49,809 | $240,041 |
| 37 | Cimarron County | 2,218 | $62,188 | $74,096 |
| 38 | Pawnee County | 15,795 | $58,738 | $177,258 |
| 39 | Washita County | 10,815 | $63,501 | $104,799 |
| 40 | Delaware County | 41,279 | $56,676 | $283,423 |
| 41 | Stephens County | 43,551 | $61,620 | $140,531 |
| 42 | Mayes County | 39,604 | $60,305 | $214,224 |
| 43 | Garvin County | 25,860 | $58,556 | $149,321 |
| 44 | Kay County | 43,625 | $58,423 | $112,217 |
| 45 | Comanche County | 121,825 | $60,761 | $153,467 |
| 46 | Cherokee County | 47,942 | $53,218 | $206,367 |
| 47 | Marshall County | 15,792 | $57,245 | $204,181 |
| 47 | Woodward County | 20,158 | $61,417 | $136,509 |
| 49 | Jackson County | 24,678 | $62,799 | $111,153 |
| 50 | Atoka County | 14,379 | $54,785 | $216,055 |
| 51 | Johnston County | 10,278 | $52,688 | $156,360 |
| 52 | Muskogee County | 66,444 | $53,619 | $154,982 |
| 53 | McCurtain County | 30,863 | $51,929 | $203,314 |
| 55 | Craig County | 14,302 | $51,922 | $196,076 |
| 55 | Ottawa County | 30,341 | $49,947 | $137,118 |
| 55 | Sequoyah County | 39,860 | $51,093 | $187,929 |
| 57 | Blaine County | 8,570 | $61,642 | $107,345 |
| 58 | Greer County | 5,489 | $59,406 | $71,503 |
| 59 | Kiowa County | 8,383 | $44,962 | $74,050 |
| 60 | Okmulgee County | 36,899 | $54,029 | $131,438 |
| 61 | Le Flore County | 49,053 | $51,565 | $168,963 |
| 62 | Pittsburg County | 43,561 | $55,310 | $147,672 |
| 63 | Okfuskee County | 11,278 | $48,363 | $148,012 |
| 64 | Pushmataha County | 10,790 | $47,940 | $154,925 |
| 65 | Beckham County | 22,148 | $53,328 | $150,789 |
| 66 | Caddo County | 26,447 | $55,353 | $97,171 |
| 67 | Hughes County | 13,389 | $51,581 | $116,880 |
| 68 | McIntosh County | 19,400 | $46,281 | $188,314 |
| 69 | Tillman County | 6,910 | $48,939 | $57,725 |
| 70 | Choctaw County | 14,297 | $44,081 | $137,081 |
| 71 | Haskell County | 11,683 | $49,806 | $152,477 |
| 72 | Jefferson County | 5,380 | $48,668 | $95,198 |
| 73 | Latimer County | 9,518 | $41,405 | $141,926 |
| 74 | Seminole County | 23,494 | $48,062 | $120,902 |
| 75 | Adair County | 19,575 | $48,041 | $171,380 |
| 76 | Coal County | 5,320 | $50,423 | $131,718 |
| 77 | Harmon County | 2,406 | $43,333 | $65,631 |
Source: U.S. Census ACS + FBI crime data via Saturday Night Science. All 77 Oklahoma counties.
Summary
Summary: The Best Counties In Oklahoma To Call Home For 2026
Living in Oklahoma can vary from one part of the state to the next — who woulda thought?
The best counties in Oklahoma are Canadian County, Wagoner County, Logan County, Rogers County, McClain County, Major County, Kingfisher County, Cleveland County, Roger Mills County, and Noble County.
But now you know the outstanding parts and the parts to avoid, and that’s why you came here to learn at the end of the day.
You are welcome.
