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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

In The Know: Early in-person voting begins today in Oklahoma

By: Gene Perry
October 30, 2014 // Updated: October 30, 2014
In The Know is a daily synopsis of Oklahoma policy-related news and blogs. Inclusion of a story does not necessarily mean endorsement by the Oklahoma Policy Institute. You can sign up here to receive In The Know by e-mail. Want… Read more [More...]

Multi-member districts: More choices, more voices (Guest Blog Post: Ryan Kiesel)

By: Guest
October 29, 2014 // Updated: May 2, 2019
Ryan Kiesel is Executive Director of the ACLU of Oklahoma, as well as a former member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives, alt-music aficionado and fierce truth-to-power speaker. Ryan‘s comments do not necessarily reflect the views of the ACLU of… Read more [More...]

Oklahoma’s broken democracy hurts millennials (Guest Post: Nikki Hager)

By: Nikki Hager
October 28, 2014 // Updated: May 2, 2019
Nikki Hager, a senior Political Science and Economics major at the University of Tulsa,  is the Co-founder and President of the TU chapter of Common Sense Action. This is one of a series of responses to OK Policy’s blog posts… Read more [More...]

In The Know: Superintendent candidates square off in debate

By: Kate Richey
// Updated: October 28, 2014
In The Know is a daily synopsis of Oklahoma policy-related news and blogs. Inclusion of a story does not necessarily mean endorsement by the Oklahoma Policy Institute. You can sign up here to receive In The Know by e-mail. Today… Read more [More...]

Ideas for improving representative democracy in Oklahoma (Guest Blog: Dr. Randal Burris)

By: Guest
October 27, 2014 // Updated: May 2, 2019
Dr. Randal Burris is a life-long Oklahoman, a graduate of Oklahoma State University, and a practicing veterinarian from Broken Arrow. This is one of a series of responses to OK Policy’s blog posts on Oklahoma’s “broken democracy”. Thank you for… Read more [More...]

The Weekly Wonk October 26, 2014

By: Carly Putnam
October 26, 2014 // Updated: July 25, 2015
The Weekly Wonk is a summary of Oklahoma Policy Institute’s events, publications, blog posts, and coverage. Numbers of the Day and Policy Notes are from our daily news briefing, In The Know. Click here to subscribe to In The Know.… Read more [More...]

OK PolicyCast: Episode 12

By: Gene Perry
October 24, 2014 // Updated: October 24, 2014
You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, or RSS. The podcast theme music is by Zébre. Each week the OK PolicyCast brings you the most important news affecting Oklahoma and what it means. This week, we’ll discuss a… Read more [More...]

Discouraging signs for child welfare reform (Steve Lewis Capitol Updates)

By: Steve Lewis
// Updated: October 27, 2014
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. You can sign up on his website to receive the Capitol Updates newsletter by email.… Read more [More...]

In The Know: state Department of Corrections needs additional $84 million

By: Carly Putnam
// Updated: October 24, 2014
In The Know is a daily synopsis of Oklahoma policy-related news and blogs. Inclusion of a story does not necessarily mean endorsement by the Oklahoma Policy Institute. You can sign up here to receive In The Know by e-mail. Want… Read more [More...]

Exonerating the wrongly-convicted should be a shared priority (Guest Post: Lawrence Hellman)

By: Guest
October 23, 2014 // Updated: May 2, 2019
Lawrence K. Hellman is Dean Emeritus and Professor of Law at Oklahoma City University School of Law. He serves as executive director of The Oklahoma Innocence Project. It is no longer contestable: innocent people sometimes get convicted of serious crimes.… Read more [More...]

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