Elk City, Oklahoma

Area Profile

11,361 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Elk City, in Beckham County.

40out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 3% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
Opportunity4,074th of 4,199 cities measured24
Schools2,907th of 4,162 cities measured34
Growth4,183rd of 4,224 cities measured11
Housing affordabilityTop 35% of 4,218 cities measured72
Climate3,491st of 4,225 cities measured61
Physical resilience3,041st of 4,226 cities measured35
Access2,119th of 4,226 cities measured92
Economic stability4,046th of 4,226 cities measured23
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable cities measured: unemployment is 4.4% and the Opportunity signal places Elk City in the bottom 3%. The unemployment rate is published for Beckham County, OK, which contains Elk City, rather than for Elk City alone.

In the public schools here, 31% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 16.8 students for every teacher.

Residential permitting has slowed: 1 units authorized over the past twelve months, against 3 the year before.

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
11,361
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$51,272
Bottom 25% nationally
Density
708/sq mi
16.1 sq mi of land
Median age
36.4
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Oklahoma
Micro area
Nearest major airport
CSM
13 mi · Infinity One Oklahoma Spaceport
Median home value
$150,400
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

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

Employment across Beckham County, OK, which contains Elk City, fell 6.6% over the past year, to 8,356 employed residents.

Median household income of $51,272 is lower than in 75% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsBeckham County, OK’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$47,3434th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftBeckham County, OK’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$54,08813th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$4,5172024 ACS 5-Year$51,272Bottom 25%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,6572024 ACS 5-Year$26,917Bottom 26%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±6%2024 ACS 5-Year21.9%Bottom 19%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±2.6 min2024 ACS 5-Year15.1 minTop 6%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year14.5%Bottom 33%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±6%2024 ACS 5-Year79.3%57th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentBeckham County, OK’s figureJuly 20268,356Bottom 1%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)Beckham County, OK’s figureJuly 2026−6.0%Bottom 2%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)Beckham County, OK’s figureJuly 2026−6.6%Bottom 1%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceBeckham County, OK’s figureJuly 20268,7401st percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±6%2024 ACS 5-Year73.9%Bottom 36%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.5%2024 ACS 5-Year0.4%78th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)Beckham County, OK’s figureJuly 2026+1.2%Bottom 2%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateBeckham County, OK’s figureJuly 20264.4%Bottom 47%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year1.7%21st percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202451k44k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $51,272 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.

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

31% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 35% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 16.8 students for every full-time teacher across 6 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
6
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
16.8
across all schools here
Math proficiency
31.0%
Bottom 30% in Oklahoma
Reading proficiency
34.7%
Bottom 39% in Oklahoma
All 6 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Elk City ESELK CITY72916.642%37%
Elk City HSELK CITY62718.417%27%
Merritt ESMERRITT62118.344%44%
Elk City IesELK CITY46917.430%29%
Elk City MSELK CITY29714.812%29%
Merritt HSMERRITT16511.825%45%

58.1% 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 $1,357 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.90% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,048, some 11% above the $943 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,048 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $41,900 a year, about 82% of the median household income here of $51,272.

The typical renter household here spends 31% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $943 a month.

A median home at $150,400 costs 2.5 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $60,907, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
30.5%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.5×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,048
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$943
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$150,400
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Elk City’s median household income of $51,272, 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%30th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Oklahoma’s figure2026 Q2+38.9%37th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Oklahoma’s figure2026 Q2+72.0%17th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.52024 ACS 5-Year2.5Top 50%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year64.3%27th percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±2492024 ACS 5-Year6,26991st percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$799Top 8%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,257Top 5%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,048Top 11%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$492024 ACS 5-Year$943Top 47%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$16,7612024 ACS 5-Year$150,40037th percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1352024 ACS 5-Year$1,35737th percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$10,7522024 ACS 5-Year$60,907Bottom 24%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.13%2024 ACS 5-Year0.90%45th percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year30.5%Bottom 39%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±172024 ACS 5-Year963rd percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.1%52nd percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year20.5%88th percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±2752024 ACS 5-Year1,29396th 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.

Development Momentum

11/ 100
Ranks 4,183 of 4,224 published city profiles
The most recent move in permitting was broadly flat, 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 1% since 2020, to 11,383 in 2024.

Population is still rising but the pace is easing: 11,383 residents in 2024, up 0.4% over the year, a smaller gain than the year before. That recent rise has not yet made up the 1% decline since 2020.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 1 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 Beckham County, which contains Elk City, in the most recent year. Households that moved in reported an average income of $47,343, below the $54,088 of households that moved out.

At 0.1 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
1
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
0.1
Bottom 6% nationally
Year over year
−67%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202412k11k
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 rising for the last 2 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
0.0%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
41%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$47,343
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$54,088
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Washita County, OK 115 people · 11% of arrivals
  2. Custer County, OK 105 people · 10% of arrivals
  3. Roger Mills County, OK 77 people · 7.5% of arrivals
  4. Oklahoma County, OK 44 people · 4.3% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Oklahoma County, OK 110 people · 11% of departures
  2. Washita County, OK 107 people · 10% of departures
  3. Custer County, OK 92 people · 9.0% of departures
  4. Canadian County, OK 75 people · 7.3% of departures
  5. Roger Mills County, OK 64 people · 6.2% 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 Beckham County, OK. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

2020202120222023202420255.02.0
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2020 (−40%).

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 94°F and January a low of 28°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 23.9 inches.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station CLINTON SHERMAN AP, 21.4 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND3.5"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals23.9"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals28°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals94°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals45°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

35 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are tornado, inland flooding and drought, with tornado alone responsible for 27% of it. Inland flooding is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

Ice stormHigh
DroughtElevated
WildfireElevated
Winter weatherModerate
TornadoModerate
HailElevated
Strong windHigh
Cold waveModerate

Low or minimal exposure: heat wave, landslide, earthquake, lightning, inland flooding, hurricane, avalanche, tsunami, volcanic activity, coastal flooding.

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
150
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
978
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.

Elk City's police department reported 150 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, near the middle of places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 978.

Beckham County records 0.0 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, lower than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at about 16.5 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 18.6 per 100,000 residents in Beckham County.

Homicide
0.0
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
16.5
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
18.6
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Suicide
20.1
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured

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 Elk City’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 Elk City (Beckham County) rather than Elk City 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.

Cost of living
Price parities are published for metropolitan areas, and this place lies outside one.
Air quality
The EPA publishes an air-quality index only where a monitor sits. There is none in this county, and a modeled value would be a different kind of number from the measured ones everywhere else on this 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. 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

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year87.2%Bottom 39%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle13 miTop 37%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle2Bottom 8%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year10.6%Bottom 35%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Infinity One Oklahoma SpaceportCSM13 mi13,503 ft
Lawton-Fort Sill RgnlLAW81 mi8,599 ft
OKC Will Rogers IntlOKC103 mi9,802 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
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
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
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
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
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 Elk City

1 ZIP area

Every ZIP area in Elk City 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 Elk City 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
7364414,043$53,180$155,100—