Number of the Day

Monday, May 21

Number of counties in Oklahoma where 50 percent or more of the children under 5 years of age are minorities, 2010

Friday, May 18

36.8 percent

Percentage of the population of Oklahoma that lives in a rural area, more than twice the national average of 16.9 percent.

Source: Family Caregivers Alliance

Thursday, May 17

Number of counties in Oklahoma where the percentage of the population that is employed is lower now than it was in 2006, including the state’s most populated counties - Tulsa and Oklahoma.

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

Wednesday, May 16

$4.5 million

The total annual cost to the taxpayers of maintaining Oklahoma’s prison system, housing an average of 24,549 inmates a day, FY 2010

Source: Pew Center on the States

Tuesday, May 15

91 percent

Percentage of Oklahoma’s construction firms that employ fewer than twenty employees, 2009

Source: Associated General Contractors

Monday, May 14

1 in 4

Proportion of Oklahoma families that claim the Earned Income Tax Credit on their state returns, 2009

Source: Oklahoma Policy Institute

Friday, May 11

37.2

The median age in the state of Oklahoma, 2010

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Thursday, May 10

70 percent

Percentage of Oklahomans who said an “educated and well trained workforce” is the best way to attract businesses to locate and invest in Oklahoma, compared to just 21 percent who said “low personal income tax rates”

Source: Global Strategy Group

Wednesday, May 9

34.6 percent

Percentage of employees in Oklahoma who say their workplace is hiring new people and expanding the size of their workforce, 3^rd highest in the U.S.

Source: GALLUP

Tuesday, May 8

43^rd

Oklahoma’s national rank for per capita state spending on mental health; we spent less than half the national average in FY 2009

Source: National Alliance on Mental Illness

Monday, May 7

56 percent

Percentage of college students in Oklahoma who graduate with outstanding student loan debt, 2010

Source: Institute for College Access and Success

Friday, May 4

2^nd

Oklahoma’s rank nationally for the percentage of its residents who report engaging in no leisure-time physical activity at all, 31 percent of adults in 2010

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Thursday, May 3

480

Number of violent crimes committed in Oklahoma per 100,000 people in 2010, down from 550 violent crimes in 1990.

Source: FBI’s Uniform Crime Report via DisasterCenter.com

Wednesday, May 2

5.4 percent

Oklahoma’s unemployment rate, 8^th lowest in the U.S. in March 2012, compared to 8.2 percent nationally.

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

Tuesday, May 1

$1.27

Amount per hour less Oklahomans earn in median wages compared to the national median wage.

Source: Economic Policy Institute via Oklahoma Policy Institute

Monday, April 30

72 percent

Percentage of Oklahomans who adhere to a Protestant religion, compared to 51 percent nationally in 2007.

Source: The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life

Friday, April 27

19,561

Number of kids in Oklahoma living in homes with grandparent householders where grandparents are responsible for them and neither parent is present, about 2 percent of the state’s children in 2009.

Source: AARP

Thursday, April 26

1^st

Oklahoma’s rank nationally for the rate at which newly hired state employees lose or leave their jobs, 2008

Source: Pew Center on the States

Wednesday, April 25

$100 million

Annual costs to the state to implement and maintain court-mandated improvements to Oklahoma’s child welfare system.

Source: NewsOK via Oklahoma Policy Institute

Tuesday, April 24

Number of operational crude oil refineries in Oklahoma, 7^th highest refining capacity in the nation in 2010.

Source: Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association

Monday, April 23

4,000

Number of government jobs, both state and local, lost in Oklahoma during 2011, more job losses than any other sector of employment.

Source: Oklahoma Employment Security Commission

Friday, April 20

14 percent

Percentage of Oklahoma libraries reporting that they always have sufficient computers available to meet demand, compared to 23.8 percent of libraries nationally, 2008.

Source: American Library Association

Thursday, April 19

$5.8 billion

The total annual market value of agricultural products (animals and crops) sold in Oklahoma, 2007

Source: U.S. Census of Agriculture

Wednesday, April 18

4,973 feet

Number of feet above sea level of the highest point in Oklahoma, the Black Mesa, located in the panhandle in northwestern Cimarron County.

Source: Oklahoma Tourism & Recreation Department

Tuesday, April 17

7.4 percent

Percentage of Oklahomans aged 25 and older with an advanced degree (beyond a bachelor’s degree), 44^th fewest in the nation.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey

Monday, April 16

1^st

Oklahoma’s rank nationally for the share of female residents reporting that they have been raped, physically abused, or stalked by an intimate partner in their lifetime; 697,000 women in 2010.

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Friday, April 13

9.9 percent

Percentage of income paid in state and local taxes by the bottom 20 percent of earners in Oklahoma, compared to 4.8 percent for the top 1 percent of earners.

Source: ITEP via Oklahoma Policy Institute

Thursday, April 12

277,000

Number of Oklahoma residents lifted out of poverty by Social Security income, including 13,000 children.

Source: National Women’s Law Center

Wednesday, April 11

$113,804

Amount of income foregone over a lifetime by a high school dropout in Oklahoma in 2011

Source: Alliance for Excellent Education

Tuesday, April 10

$14.26

The median hourly wage for all occupations in Oklahoma, 2011

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

Monday, April 9

4,924

Number of people in Oklahoma currently living with HIV/AIDS, 2009

Source: AIDS United

Friday, April 6

36,000,000

Tons of animal waste produced annually in Oklahoma, 7^th in the nation in 2007

Source: U.S. Census of Agriculture via The Pollution Information Site

Thursday, April 5

32.3%

Percentage of jobs in Oklahoma that are ‘low-wage jobs (median annual pay below $21,954), 6^th highest in the nation in 2010

Source: Corporation for Enterprise Development

Wednesday, April 4

$297 million

Amount the state owes to oil and gas companies for horizontal and deep well drilling tax credits accrued in 2010 and 2011.

Source: Oklahoma Policy Institute

Tuesday, April 3

48^th

Oklahoma’s national rank for the first year retention rate of our colleges and universities; 28 percent of the state’s students do not enroll in a second consecutive year of higher education.

Source: CollegeMeasures.org

Monday, April 2

14.7%

Voter turnout in the 2012 primary elections in Oklahoma, 7^th highest of the 35 states that have already held their primary contests

Source: United States Election Project

Friday, March 30

7,054

Number of farms in Oklahoma principally operated by Native Americans, 2^nd most in the nation, 2007

Source: U.S. Census of Agriculture

Thursday, March 29

75 percent

Percentage of the state’s gross domestic product (GDP) accounted for by economic activity in the three largest metropolitan areas - Oklahoma City, Tulsa, and Lawton.

Source: Oklahoma Employment Security Commission

Wednesday, March 28

50th

Oklahoma’s rank nationally in the percentage of at-risk adults (aged 50 and over with a chronic disease) who have visited a doctor for a checkup in the past two years

Source: Commonwealth Fund

Tuesday, March 27

$7,100

Average annual cost of care for an infant at a daycare center in Oklahoma in 2011, 37 percent of the median income for the state’s single mothers

Source: National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies

Monday, March 26

21 percent

Percentage above the national average paid in property taxes by residents of no income tax states

Source: Oklahoma Policy Institute

Friday, March 23

26.3 percent

Percentage of marriages in Oklahoma between people of a different race or ethnicity, 2^nd most in the nation, 2008-2010

Source: Oklahoma Department of Commerce

Thursday, March 22

1,714,900

Number of nonelderly Oklahoma adults who are covered under employer sponsored health insurance, a little more than half (55 percent) of nonelderly adults in the state

Source: Kaiser Family Foundation

Wednesday, March 21

70 percent

Percentage increase in multi-family residential building permits issued in Oklahoma in 2011, compared to 2010

Source: Oklahoma Employment Security Commission

Tuesday, March 20

2,500

Number of homeless children in Oklahoma who are under age 6

Source: National Center for Infants, Toddlers and Families

Monday, March 19th

1 in 42

Number of Oklahoma adults under correctional control, 7^th most in the nation in 2007

Source: Pew Center on the States

Friday, March 16th

$582

Average per capita property tax collections in Oklahoma, compared to $1,507 in states with no income tax, 2008

Source: Oklahoma Policy Institute

Thursday, March 15th

71.6 percent

Percentage of jobs lost during the Great Recession that Oklahoma had recovered by 2011, 7^th best among the states

Source: Oklahoma Department of Commerce

Wednesday, March 14th

8,626

Number of international students attending college in Oklahoma in 2011, a third of those come from China, India, and Saudi Arabia

Source: Institute of International Education

Tuesday, March 13th

1,197,000

Number of Oklahomans who no longer have a lifetime limit in their health insurance plans because of the Affordable Care Act

Source: Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services

Monday, March 12th

Number of families out of every 100 living in poverty in Oklahoma that received TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) or ‘welfare’ benefits, 2009

Source: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

Friday, March 9th

46,000

Number of Oklahoma College Savings Plan accounts that have been opened since the program’s inception in April 2000

Source: Oklahoma Economic Report

Thursday, March 8th

$2.412 billion

Amount the state collected from the personal income tax in 2011

Source: Oklahoma Policy Institute

Wednesday, March 7th

65.4 percent

Percentage of banks in Oklahoma reporting earnings gains for 2011, compared to 41.7 percent for 2009