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2024 Census data: Oklahoma ranks as 8th poorest state

By: Dave Hamby
September 11, 2025 // Updated: September 12, 2025
Data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2024 American Community Survey, released Sept. 11, show that Oklahoma’s poverty rate was 14.9 percent, which means that more than 1 in 7 state residents live in poverty. While the state’s overall poverty rate… Read more More...

Recent Posts

It’s time to revisit State Question 640 (Guest Post: Rep. Marcus McEntire)

By: Guest
September 5, 2017 // Updated: May 2, 2019
Marcus McEntire is a freshman Republican legislator representing HD 50 (Duncan). A small business owner, he attended and graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a degree in communication studies, earned a Master of Divinity degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological… Read more [More...]

The Weekly Wonk: Lawmakers have multiple options to fill the budget hole, Special session necessary to avoid even bigger budget problems

By: Courtney Cullison
September 3, 2017 // Updated: September 1, 2017
What’s up this week at Oklahoma Policy Institute? The Weekly Wonk shares our most recent publications and other resources to help you stay informed about Oklahoma. Numbers of the Day and Policy Notes are from our daily news briefing, In… Read more [More...]

What it will take for Oklahoma to avoid becoming a third world state (Capitol Update)

By: Steve Lewis
September 1, 2017 // Updated: May 2, 2019
Steve Lewis served as Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives from 1989-1991. He currently practices law in Tulsa and represents clients at the Capitol. Twenty-eight years ago, amidst a crisis in the Oklahoma economy, parents, teachers, business leaders and others told… Read more [More...]

In The Know: Court upholds motor vehicle sales tax, OK prison population reaches all-time high

By: Courtney Cullison
// Updated: September 1, 2017
In The Know is your daily briefing on Oklahoma policy-related news. Inclusion of a story does not necessarily mean endorsement by the Oklahoma Policy Institute. Click here to subscribe to In The Know and see past editions. In The Know… Read more [More...]

Statement: Court ruling confirms that Oklahoma lawmakers have good options to fix budget in special session

By: Gene Perry
August 31, 2017 // Updated: May 1, 2019
Oklahoma Policy Institute released the following statement on today’s Oklahoma Supreme Court ruling upholding a law that partially ends the state sales tax exemption for auto sales: ​The court’s ruling confirms that lawmakers have numerous options to fill the budget… Read more [More...]

If lawmakers wait until regular session to fix the budget, it will already be too late

By: Gene Perry
August 29, 2017 // Updated: May 2, 2019
Now that the Oklahoma Supreme Court has thrown out a key part of the budget passed by lawmakers earlier this year, it’s clear the lawmakers must return to the Capitol for a special legislative session to fix the problem. Oklahoma… Read more [More...]

The Weekly Wonk: Budget cuts are putting higher ed out of reach for many Oklahoma students

By: Courtney Cullison
August 27, 2017 // Updated: August 27, 2017
What’s up this week at Oklahoma Policy Institute? The Weekly Wonk shares our most recent publications and other resources to help you stay informed about Oklahoma. Numbers of the Day and Policy Notes are from our daily news briefing, In… Read more [More...]

Multiple options for how special session might play out (Capitol Update)

By: Steve Lewis
August 25, 2017 // Updated: August 23, 2017
Steve Lewis served as Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives from 1989-1991. He currently practices law in Tulsa and represents clients at the Capitol. It’s a reasonable and prudent thing for legislative leaders and the governor to be attempting to develop… Read more [More...]

Higher education funding cuts continue to drive up tuition and threaten college access

By: David Blatt
August 24, 2017 // Updated: May 2, 2019
Another national report is calling attention to Oklahoma’s drastic cuts to funding for colleges and universities in recent years. At a time when a college education has never been more critical for individual prosperity and state economic development, funding decisions… Read more [More...]

Millions of dollars in court debt hang over residents of Oklahoma’s poorest neighborhoods

By: Ryan Gentzler
August 23, 2017 // Updated: May 2, 2019
Earlier this year, we released a report detailing the growth of fees attached to criminal court cases in Oklahoma. We found that as legislators attempt to prop up falling state revenues, fees have risen for every type of crime. When… Read more [More...]

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