Economic Profile

The Tulsa MSA comprises seven counties: Creek, Okmulgee, Osage, Pawnee, Rogers, Tulsa and Wagoner, whose aggregate population is estimated to be 995,747 or 25.3% of the population of the state of Oklahoma. The gross product or value of all goods and services produced in the seven-county MSA is estimated to be $58.7 billion (2009 dollars), or 33.4% of the Oklahoma economy.

Economic Summary 

In 2018 Tulsa-area employment rose by 11,360 jobs, or 2.5 percent, as oil prices steadily rose most of the year and manufacturing grew nearly twice as fast as overall employment, at 4.7 percent. In 2018, Tulsa-area employment grew 39 percent faster than the state and 47 percent faster than U.S. employment.

Tulsa real gross product grew 6.9 percent, while Oklahoma and the U.S. grew at 4.4 percent and 2.9 percent, respectively. The Tulsa Regional Chamber was able to announce 5,089 jobs in new and expanding industries in 2018, growing 3.9 percent over 2017 and surpassing growth of 2.5 percent in non-farm employment in the Tulsa MSA.

Because Tulsa’s cost of doing business is 11 percent under the U.S. average due to low rent, energy costs and taxes, Tulsa in 2019 will remain a prime location for industry prospects looking to relocate or expand at a steady pace. In 2019, Tulsa’s gross product of goods and services should grow 7.0 percent to $62.8 billion. After growing 2.5 percent in 2018, employment in 2019 will grow more slowly at 1.9 percent as trade-policy issues dominate the news.

Read the full 2019 Economic Profile.