Ottawa County, OK

County Profile

30,341 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Ottawa County, OK.

Several figures AreaProfile publishes are measured by county and nowhere finer — death rates by intent among them. On this page those describe the geography they are printed on, which is not true of the city and ZIP pages that inherit them.

39out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 2% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
Opportunity1,433rd of 1,463 counties measured18
Schools1,222nd of 1,377 counties measured18
Growth866th of 1,453 counties measured45
Housing affordabilityTop 36% of 1,462 counties measured77
ClimateTop 39% of 1,463 counties measured71
Physical resilience1,358th of 1,463 counties measured19
Access957th of 1,463 counties measured73
Economic stability1,336th of 1,463 counties measured23
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable counties measured: unemployment is 4.9% and the Opportunity signal places Ottawa County in the bottom 2%.

In the public schools here, 28% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 16.1 students for every teacher.

Rent takes 28% of renter income here, below the 30% threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, and the median home is 2.1 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
30,341
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$49,947
Bottom 14% nationally
Density
64/sq mi
470.8 sq mi of land
Median age
37.2
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Ottawa County
Oklahoma
Micro area
Nearest major airport
XNA
47 mi · Northwest Arkansas Ntl
Median home value
$123,300
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.9% — higher than in all but 24% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment fell 3.3% over the past year, to 13,180 employed residents.

Median household income of $49,947 is lower than in 86% of measured US counties.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$44,1377th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$43,4766th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$1,5572024 ACS 5-Year$49,947Bottom 14%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$7292024 ACS 5-Year$25,611Bottom 9%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$47,784Bottom 16%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year20.1%Bottom 15%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.6 min2024 ACS 5-Year22.0 minTop 25%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±0.9%2024 ACS 5-Year15.0%Bottom 13%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year81.7%79th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202613,180Bottom 17%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026−1.5%Bottom 31%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−3.3%Bottom 7%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202613,86017th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year69.8%Bottom 25%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.1%2024 ACS 5-Year0.1%41st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026+1.0%Bottom 4%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20264.9%Bottom 24%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±0.7%2024 ACS 5-Year4.9%16th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/074.92.4
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.9% in July 2026. It has been holding roughly steady, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202450k42k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $49,947 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.

28% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 31% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 16.1 students for every full-time teacher across 21 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
21
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
16.1
across all schools here
Math proficiency
27.9%
Bottom 13% in Oklahoma
Reading proficiency
30.5%
Bottom 19% in Oklahoma
The 12 largest of 21 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Miami HSMIAMI45915.317%32%
Nichols Upper ESMIAMI45419.735%44%
Alexander ESCOMMERCE44717.227%28%
Wyandotte ESWYANDOTTE40719.437%37%
Miami JR HSMIAMI39622.0——
Quapaw ESQUAPAW29116.242%37%
Afton ESAFTON26811.726%27%
Wyandotte HSWYANDOTTE26412.615%15%
Fairland ESFAIRLAND25214.047%47%
Wilson ESMIAMI25022.735%15%
Washington ESMIAMI23117.815%15%
Commerce HSCOMMERCE21714.55%25%

74.0% 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.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the non-metropolitan parts of Oklahoma is up 39% over five years, and up 1.5% 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 $763 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.62% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $937, some 19% above the $788 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $937 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $37,500 a year, about 75% of the median household income here of $49,947.

The typical renter household here spends 28% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $788 a month.

A median home at $123,300 costs 2.1 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $60,005, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
28.2%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.1×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$937
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$788
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$123,300
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Ottawa County’s median household income of $49,947, 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
Home price change (1 year)the non-metropolitan parts of Oklahoma’s figure2026 Q2+1.5%17th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Oklahoma’s figure2026 Q2+38.9%24th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Oklahoma’s figure2026 Q2+72.0%17th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.12024 ACS 5-Year2.1Top 25%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±0.9%2024 ACS 5-Year67.5%21st percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±1242024 ACS 5-Year13,70153rd percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$714Top 8%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,183Top 10%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$937Top 12%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$172024 ACS 5-Year$788Top 32%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$4,5012024 ACS 5-Year$123,30019th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$292024 ACS 5-Year$76314th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$2,5272024 ACS 5-Year$60,005Bottom 16%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.03%2024 ACS 5-Year0.62%31st percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year28.2%Bottom 46%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±372024 ACS 5-Year17532nd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year1.3%31st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year11.7%67th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±972024 ACS 5-Year1,78050th percentileof 3,2222024 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.

Development Momentum

45/ 100
Ranks 866 of 1,453 published county profiles
The most recent move in permitting was upward, in a series running from 2022 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 grown 1% since 2020, reaching 30,404 in 2024.

Permitting has turned upward after moving the other way the year before: 15 units authorized in 2025, against 3 the year before.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 14 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Ottawa County gained about 0.2% of its residents through moves within the US in the most recent year, counting those who arrived against those who left. Households that moved in reported an average income of $44,137, close to the $43,476 of households that moved out.

At 0.5 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
14
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
0.5
Bottom 8% nationally
Year over year
+40%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202430k30k
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
+0.2%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
57%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$44,137
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$43,476
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Delaware County, OK 257 people · 17% of arrivals
  2. Jasper County, MO 168 people · 11% of arrivals
  3. Cherokee County, KS 103 people · 7.0% of arrivals
  4. Newton County, MO 86 people · 5.8% of arrivals
  5. Craig County, OK 80 people · 5.4% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Delaware County, OK 233 people · 16% of departures
  2. Jasper County, MO 149 people · 10% of departures
  3. Cherokee County, KS 134 people · 9.4% of departures
  4. Craig County, OK 103 people · 7.2% of departures
  5. Newton County, MO 92 people · 6.5% 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. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

2022202320242025153.0
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2022 (+400%).

Weather & climate

7 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 90°F and January a low of 25°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 45.6 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 51, in the Moderate band, and one day a year passes 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station JOPLIN REGIONAL AIRPORT, 27.1 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND6.6"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year702024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals45.6"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals25°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals90°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals71991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year12024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year512024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals45°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
51
Moderate on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
70
90th percentile index
Days above 100
1
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

19 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, drought and ice storm, with inland flooding alone responsible for 51% of it.

Ice stormHigh
DroughtElevated
Heat waveModerate
Inland floodingHigh
TornadoModerate
Winter weatherModerate
Cold waveElevated
EarthquakeModerate

Low or minimal exposure: strong wind, landslide, wildfire, hail, lightning, hurricane, avalanche, coastal flooding, tsunami, volcanic activity.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). These are FEMA’s own figures for this county rather than a value derived from surrounding geographies. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Ottawa County has a modeled homicide rate of about 3.9 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 33.0 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at about 11.8 per 100,000 residents in Ottawa County.

Homicide
3.9
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
33.0
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
11.8
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Suicide
39.6
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.

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 Ottawa County as a whole. They are shown and not scored. How to read 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.

Reported crime
Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. City profiles inside this area carry their own figure where their department reported a full year. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Cost of living
Price parities are published for metropolitan areas, and this place lies outside one.
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. Cost of living is published where the Bureau of Economic Analysis measures it, though not for this place. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

3 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Northwest Arkansas Ntl at 47 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year82.6%Bottom 22%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle47 miBottom 34%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle3Bottom 35%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year15.5%Bottom 17%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Northwest Arkansas NtlXNA47 mi8,801 ft
Tulsa IntlTUL75 mi10,000 ft
Springfield-Branson NtlSGF83 mi8,000 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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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
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
IncomeU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
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.

Cities in Ottawa County, OK

ZIP areas

Only ZIP areas whose income or home value differ from their city’s by at least ten percent get a profile of their own, so this is a selection rather than every ZIP code in the county.