Town · Carter County, Oklahoma

Dickson, Oklahoma

Dickson is a town in Carter County, Oklahoma, part of the Ardmore, OK metro area. It has 1,231 residents. Dickson, Oklahoma has a quality-of-life score of 24 out of 100 (low), ranking #11,906 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Oklahoma it ranks #64 of 237 cities and towns. It ranks best on time spent in the emergency room (low), pharmacies (high) and median Air Quality Index (low). It ranks worst on job growth (low), suicide rate (high) and violent crime rate (high).

24Low

Quality-of-life score: #11,906 of 15,651 cities and towns
Oklahoma: #64 of 237 in OK
Population: 1,231 (2020-2024)
Land area: 14 mi²
Density: 88.1 /mi²
FIPS code: 4020700

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 75 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety6#14,649/15,637
Economy39#9,590/15,631
Housing98#293/14,977
Health9#14,217/15,609
Healthcare31#10,814/15,650
Environment42#8,902/15,453
Education24#11,823/15,649
Infrastructure34#10,254/15,650
Community24#11,854/15,651
Leisure & amenities42#9,108/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Dickson, Oklahoma ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Carter County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Time spent in the emergency room · low102 min
95/100Oklahoma 122 minUnited States 170 minOct 2024–Sep 2025Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesCarter County value
Pharmacies · high2.7 /10k
92/100Oklahoma 1.9 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsCarter County value
Median Air Quality Index · low32
92/1002025U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyCarter County value
Distance to an Amtrak station · low6 mi
91/100Oklahoma 61 miUnited States 43 mi2026Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauCarter County value
Unemployment rate · low1.2%
91/100Oklahoma 3.4%United States 4.3%2020-2024U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Census table B23025High uncertainty
Effective property tax rate · low0.51%
87/100Oklahoma 0.79%United States 0.94%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25090

Weaknesses

Job growth · low-5.4%
1/100Oklahoma 0.0%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataCarter County value
Suicide rate · high35.0 /100k
2/100Oklahoma 19.4 /100kUnited States 14.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataCarter County value
Violent crime rate · high580 /100k
6/100Oklahoma 408 /100kUnited States 328 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationCarter County value
Life expectancy · low71.7 yrs
6/100Oklahoma 74.0 yrsUnited States 77.6 yrs2021-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteCarter County value
Firearm deaths · high24.7 /100k
7/100Oklahoma 17.6 /100kUnited States 12.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataCarter County value
Access to exercise opportunities · low47.4%
9/100Oklahoma 70.7%United States 84.5%2022 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteCarter County value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

PopulationFalling
1,451 (2015-2019) → 1,231 (2020-2024)
−15%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
66.4% (2015-2019) → 86.4% (2020-2024)
+20 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
39.5% (2015-2019) → 27.5% (2020-2024)
−12 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Child poverty rateWorsening
12.5% (2015-2019) → 21.1% (2020-2024)
+8.6 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Median household incomeImproving
$64,028 (2015-2019) → $81,250 (2020-2024)
+27%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Unemployment rateImproving
6.5% (2015-2019) → 1.2% (2020-2024)
−5.3 pts5 yearsCensus table B23025US 3.7% → 4.0%

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Dickson, Oklahoma improved on 1 of 13 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 11 moved within the margin of error and 1 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved1

Broadband+20 points66.4% → 86.4%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 13 measures

Change of every measure of Dickson, Oklahoma between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	24.3 min2015-2019	20.6 min2020-2024	−3.7 min	Within the margin of error	84%
Bachelor's degree or higher	24.6%2015-2019	25.0%2020-2024	+0.5 points	Within the margin of error	30%
Broadband subscriptions	66.4%2015-2019	86.4%2020-2024	+20 points	Improved	90%
Child poverty rate	12.5%2015-2019	21.1%2020-2024	+8.6 points	Within the margin of error	14%
Effective property tax rate	0.85%2015-2019	0.51%2020-2024	−0.3 points	Little change	78%
High school diploma or higher	89.5%2015-2019	90.0%2020-2024	+0.5 points	Within the margin of error	39%
Home price to income ratio	2.4×2015-2019	2.5×2020-2024	+0.1×	Within the margin of error	75%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4062015-2019	0.4222020-2024	+0.016	Within the margin of error	37%
Median household income	$64,0282015-2019	$81,2502020-2024	+27%	Within the margin of error	48%
Poverty rate	12.7%2015-2019	11.1%2020-2024	−1.6 points	Within the margin of error	59%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	21.5%2015-2019	25.7%2020-2024	+4.2 points	Within the margin of error	26%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	13.4%2015-2019	16.3%2020-2024	+2.9 points	Within the margin of error	19%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Dickson, Oklahoma five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Dickson, Oklahoma in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Dickson, Oklahoma itself moved +2.8 points in standing on average over the same 9 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

1,231 residents (±233)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

492 households (±85)

Dickson, Oklahoma
Oklahoma share

Under $25k13%†62
$25k–50k13%†63
$50k–75k22%

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

492 households (±85)

Dickson, Oklahoma
Oklahoma share

Own81%397
Rent19%†95

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

585 workers (±117)

Dickson, Oklahoma
Oklahoma share

Drive alone84%492
Carpool11%†63
Public transit0.0%0

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the Ardmore, OK

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Carter County, the county holding most of Dickson's residents.

Carter County has 1,575 employer establishments, 322 for every 10,000 residents (1.30× the US rate of 248; 1.36× Oklahoma's), with 21,435 paid employees at an average annual pay of $52,604. The Census Bureau also counts 3,927 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 1,575; 3,927 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 322; US 248 · Oklahoma 237
Paid employees: 21,435
Average annual pay: $52,604; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Carter County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Ambulatory health care services	160	32.7	1.57×More than typical	1,305	$63,545	120
Restaurants and other eating places	95	19.4	1.06×About typical	2,595	$19,063	22
Specialty trade contractors	77	15.7	1.02×About typical	559	$51,694	377
Truck transportation	51	10.4	2.06×More than typical	730	$76,389	100
Religious organizations	50	10.2	1.84×More than typical	291	$21,000	—
Offices of physicians	49	10	1.55×More than typical	299	$101,324	28
Offices of other health practitioners	48	9.8	1.62×More than typical	326	$40,252	55
Building equipment contractors	45	9.2	1.53×More than typical	419	$55,735	55
Full-service restaurants	45	9.2	1.20×About typical	1,534	$20,323	5
Limited-service restaurants	44	9	1.12×About typical	955	$17,213	10
Gasoline stations	40	8.2	2.52×More than typical	319	$26,313	—
Automotive repair and maintenance	38	7.8	1.54×More than typical	225	$47,320	61

Rank places for an industry Open Carter County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 48,897 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $776.6K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Dickson, Oklahoma: $631 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $776.6K; +374% vs FY2025
Per resident: $631; US $1,994
Sole-source: 0.0%; US 30%
Single offer: 6.0%; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Federal Aviation Administration$662.5K85%
Bureau of Land Management$43.2K5.6%
U.S. Coast Guard$42.1K5.4%
Defense Logistics Agency$26.2K3.4%
Department of Veterans Affairs$2,0400.3%
Federal Acquisition Service$5460.1%

Top recipients

KING AEROSPACE, INC.$662.5K85%
RAFTER G LIVESTOCK INC$43.2K5.6%
KING AEROSPACE COMMERCIAL CORPORATION, INC.$42.1K5.4%
ECRC INC$26.2K3.4%
JACKSON MECHANICAL SERVICE INC$2,0400.3%

Spending by fiscal year

128.8KFY2017
125.9KFY2018
49KFY2019
46.1KFY2020
130.3KFY2021
112.8KFY2022
88.4KFY2023
57.4K

Top industries (NAICS)

Support activities for air transportation · 4881$704.6K91%
Support activities for animal production · 1152$43.2K5.6%
Other electrical equipment and component manufacturing · 3359$26.2K3.4%
Building equipment contractors · 2382$2,0400.3%
Office furniture (including fixtures) manufacturing · 3372$5460.1%

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Dickson, Oklahoma, so they do not add up across cities.

Dickson, Oklahoma's figures are part of those of Carter County, OK ($19.2M in FY2026), never added to them: 4.1% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Dickson is mostly in Carter County.

See federal money in Carter County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Dickson, Oklahoma is represented in the 119th Congress by these members.

House

Tom ColeR-OK-4 · 100% of residentsWith party 96%Missed 1.2%

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Carter County25100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Ardmore, OK17

Other cities and towns in Carter County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/4020700

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends