Bethany, Oklahoma

Area Profile

20,560 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Bethany, in Oklahoma County.

57out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 44% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 16 sources
Opportunity2,972nd of 4,199 cities measured46
SchoolsTop 31% of 4,162 cities measured65
GrowthTop 34% of 4,224 cities measured57
Housing affordabilityTop 47% of 4,218 cities measured68
Climate3,511th of 4,225 cities measured61
Physical resilience2,526th of 4,226 cities measured48
AccessTop 16% of 4,226 cities measured99
Economic stability3,690th of 4,226 cities measured33
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable cities measured: unemployment is 4.4% and the Opportunity signal places Bethany in the bottom 29%. The unemployment rate is published for Oklahoma County, OK, which contains Bethany, rather than for Bethany alone.

In the public schools here, 43% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 16.0 students for every teacher.

Rent takes 33% of renter income here, above the 30% threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, and the median home is 2.3 times what its owners earn.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
20,560
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$56,591
Bottom 34% nationally
Density
3,933/sq mi
5.2 sq mi of land
Median age
31.1
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Oklahoma
Nearest major airport
OKC
8 mi · OKC Will Rogers Intl
Median home value
$171,600
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment across Oklahoma County, OK, which contains Bethany, is 4.4% — higher than in all but 47% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment across Oklahoma County, OK, which contains Bethany, fell 1.4% over the past year, to 406,870 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsOklahoma County, OK’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$56,98621st percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftOklahoma County, OK’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$62,29628th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$5,2532024 ACS 5-Year$56,591Bottom 34%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,4282024 ACS 5-Year$25,614Bottom 22%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year19.7%Bottom 23%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.2 min2024 ACS 5-Year22.5 minTop 28%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year24.1%Top 41%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year76.6%48th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentOklahoma County, OK’s figureJuly 2026406,870Top 21%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)Oklahoma County, OK’s figureJuly 2026+0.7%Top 35%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)Oklahoma County, OK’s figureJuly 2026−1.4%Bottom 35%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceOklahoma County, OK’s figureJuly 2026425,75579th percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year76.9%Bottom 45%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wageOklahoma City, OK Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$60,330Bottom 16%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Median annual wageOklahoma City, OK Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$47,230Bottom 18%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Public transit to work ±0.2%2024 ACS 5-Year0.0%1st percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)Oklahoma County, OK’s figureJuly 2026+1.0%Bottom 3%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateOklahoma County, OK’s figureJuly 20264.4%Bottom 47%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year6.2%43rd percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202457k52k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $56,591 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

Largest occupations — Oklahoma City, OK

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Fast Food and Counter Workers22,970$24,960
Retail Salespersons18,370$30,160
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand18,320$37,010
General and Operations Managers17,710$97,110
Registered Nurses16,530$82,920
Customer Service Representatives15,610$39,330

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes city-level labor data only for places of 25,000 or more. This is the figure for Oklahoma County, OK, which contains this city.

43% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 36% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 16.0 students for every full-time teacher across 9 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
9
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
16.0
across all schools here
Math proficiency
43.1%
Top 16% in Oklahoma
Reading proficiency
36.1%
Top 50% in Oklahoma
All 9 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Earl Harris ESBETHANY76917.966%57%
Western Oaks ESPUTNAM CITY68816.037%23%
Western Oaks MSPUTNAM CITY67715.031%29%
Overholser ESPUTNAM CITY58415.026%24%
Bethany HSBETHANY55816.947%57%
Apollo ESPUTNAM CITY50915.942%22%
Bethany MSBETHANY38115.957%45%
Lake Park ESPUTNAM CITY33514.037%27%
Children's CtrBETHANY5427.0——

68.4% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against Oklahoma’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 9% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 91.4, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the Oklahoma City, OK Metro Area is up 36% over five years, and up 2.4% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $1,647 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.96% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,219, some 14% above the $1,071 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,219 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $48,800 a year, about 86% of the median household income here of $56,591.

The typical renter household here spends 33% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,071 a month.

A median home at $171,600 costs 2.3 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $74,245, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Cost of living
91.4

Prices here run about 9% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Oklahoma City, OK Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
32.7%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.3×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,219
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,071
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$171,600
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Bethany’s median household income of $56,591, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living indexthe Oklahoma City, OK Metro Area’s figure202391.4Top 10%of 3,7002023
Home price change (1 year)the Oklahoma City, OK Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+2.4%37th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Oklahoma City, OK Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+36.4%33rd percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Oklahoma City, OK Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+74.5%20th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year2.3Top 44%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year53.1%12th percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±4902024 ACS 5-Year8,56493rd percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$999Top 23%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,639Top 25%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,219Top 22%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$482024 ACS 5-Year$1,071Bottom 41%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$6,1552024 ACS 5-Year$171,60046th percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$872024 ACS 5-Year$1,64746th percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$5,8752024 ACS 5-Year$74,245Bottom 44%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.06%2024 ACS 5-Year0.96%49th percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year32.7%Bottom 28%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±192024 ACS 5-Year01st percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.0%1st percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year11.2%68th percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±2412024 ACS 5-Year96095th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

57/ 100
Top 34% of 4,224 published city profiles
The most recent move in permitting was upward, in a series running from 2020 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has fallen 2% since 2020, to 20,421 in 2024.

Permitting has turned upward after moving the other way the year before: 15 units authorized in 2025, against 13 the year before.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 41 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show that people moving in from elsewhere in the US and people moving out roughly balanced across Oklahoma County, which contains Bethany, in the most recent year. Households that moved in reported an average income of $56,986, below the $62,296 of households that moved out.

At 2.0 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
41
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.0
Bottom 42% nationally
Year over year
+242%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202421k20k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population. It has been holding roughly steady, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
−0.1%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
46%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$56,986
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$62,296
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Cleveland County, OK 6,277 people · 17% of arrivals
  2. Canadian County, OK 3,868 people · 11% of arrivals
  3. Logan County, OK 1,231 people · 3.4% of arrivals
  4. Tulsa County, OK 1,221 people · 3.4% of arrivals
  5. Pottawatomie County, OK 888 people · 2.4% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Cleveland County, OK 6,645 people · 18% of departures
  2. Canadian County, OK 6,058 people · 16% of departures
  3. Logan County, OK 1,547 people · 4.2% of departures
  4. Tulsa County, OK 1,146 people · 3.1% of departures
  5. Pottawatomie County, OK 1,006 people · 2.7% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. This is the figure for Oklahoma County, OK. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

202020212022202320242025494.0
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2020 (+67%).

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 95°F and January a low of 28°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 30.7 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 52, in the Moderate band, and about 11 days a year pass 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station OKLAHOMA CITY POST AP, 1.9 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND4.8"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year772024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals30.7"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals28°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals95°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year112024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year522024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals45°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
52
Moderate on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
77
90th percentile index
Days above 100
11
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. Air quality is measured by EPA monitors and published by county only where a monitor sits; a county without one shows nothing rather than an estimate, and a county reading is still the county’s. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

48 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, tornado and heat wave, with inland flooding alone responsible for 43% of it. Inland flooding and heat wave are independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large those hazards are.

Ice stormModerate
HailHigh
TornadoHigh
EarthquakeModerate
LightningModerate
DroughtModerate

Low or minimal exposure: heat wave, inland flooding, cold wave, winter weather, wildfire, strong wind, landslide, hurricane, avalanche, coastal flooding, tsunami, volcanic activity.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Violent crime
192
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
1,348
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year

Below these are deaths rather than offenses, published for the county. The two measure different things and are not comparable with each other.

Bethany's police department reported 192 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, near the middle of places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 1,348.

Oklahoma County records 8.9 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, higher than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 17.7 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 24.2 per 100,000 residents in Oklahoma County.

Homicide
8.9
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
17.7
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
24.2
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
17.8
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Offenses are reported to the FBI by Bethany’s own police department and shown only where it reported every month of the year; a partial year is withheld rather than scaled up. Reported crime is what police recorded, which is not the same as what happened. Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe the county around Bethany (Oklahoma County) rather than Bethany itself. Neither is part of the Area Score. How to read crime rates and death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

5 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest OKC Will Rogers Intl at 8 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±7%2024 ACS 5-Year93.4%Top 33%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle8 miTop 20%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle5Top 45%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year4.6%Top 34%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
OKC Will Rogers IntlOKC8 mi9,802 ft
Enid Woodring RgnlWDG61 mi8,613 ft
Lawton-Fort Sill RgnlLAW78 mi8,599 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
57
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—

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Other cities in Oklahoma City, OK

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
Oklahoma CityOklahoma County697,12559Oklahoma City vs Bethany
NormanCleveland County129,67261Norman vs Bethany
EdmondOklahoma County96,82567Edmond vs Bethany
MooreCleveland County63,42061
Midwest CityOklahoma County58,29749
YukonCanadian County25,52963
MustangCanadian County22,19267
Del CityOklahoma County21,49443
El RenoCanadian County18,55756
ChickashaGrady County16,53958
NewcastleMcClain County13,00167
ChoctawOklahoma County12,30366

Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.

Compare

Put Bethany side by side with a similar place.

Bethany vs LincolnBethany vs White Settlement

Moving to Bethany from somewhere else?

You get the difference in prices, rent and weather, and the income that would keep pace.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
SafetyFederal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer
Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency
2025 calendar year
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
HousingU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWS
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar year
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology, or every source with how often each updates.

ZIP codes in Bethany

1 ZIP area

Every ZIP area in Bethany with census figures of its own, largest first. The ones linked below diverge enough from the city as a whole to carry a full profile; the rest track Bethany closely, so their figures are here rather than on a page that would repeat this one. An Area Score is calculated for published profiles only, which is why it is blank on those rows.

ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeMedian home valueArea Score
7300821,472$57,459$173,200—