City · McCurtain County, Oklahoma

Idabel, Oklahoma

Idabel is a city in McCurtain County, Oklahoma. It has 6,987 residents. Idabel, Oklahoma has a quality-of-life score of 8 out of 100 (very low), ranking #14,343 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Oklahoma it ranks #184 of 237 cities and towns. It ranks best on time spent in the emergency room (low), effective property tax rate (low) and average commute time (low). It ranks worst on life expectancy (low), dental care shortage (high) and premature death (high).

8Very low

Quality-of-life score: #14,343 of 15,651 cities and towns
Oklahoma: #184 of 237 in OK
Population: 6,987 (2020-2024)
Land area: 17 mi²
Density: 419.7 /mi²
FIPS code: 4036750

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 74 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.

Safety4#15,052/15,637
Economy3#15,101/15,631
Housing75#3,687/14,977
Health2#15,367/15,609
Healthcare6#14,723/15,650
Environment12#13,658/15,453
Education33#10,548/15,649
Infrastructure6#14,735/15,650
Community19#12,730/15,651
Leisure & amenities88#1,866/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Idabel, Oklahoma ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “McCurtain 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 · low84 min
99/100Oklahoma 122 minUnited States 170 minOct 2024–Sep 2025Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesMcCurtain County value
Effective property tax rate · low0.44%
92/100Oklahoma 0.79%United States 0.94%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25090
Average commute time · low19.6 min
87/100Oklahoma 22.4 minUnited States 26.4 min2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08013
Restaurants and bars · high11.7 /10k
87/100Oklahoma 8.3 /10kUnited States 9.0 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsMcCurtain County value
Arts, entertainment and recreation · high6.5 /10k
85/100Oklahoma 3.7 /10kUnited States 5.5 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsMcCurtain County value
Hospital quality rating · high4.0
80/100Oklahoma 3.3United States 3.2Jul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesMcCurtain County value

Weaknesses

Life expectancy · low68.1 yrs
1/100Oklahoma 74.0 yrsUnited States 77.6 yrs2021-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMcCurtain County value
Dental care shortage · high20.0
1/100Oklahoma 7.8United States 5.7Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationMcCurtain County value
Premature death · high17,840 /100k
2/100Oklahoma 10,827 /100kUnited States 8,123 /100k2021-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMcCurtain County value
Traffic deaths · high48.6 /100k
2/100Oklahoma 17.3 /100kUnited States 12.3 /100k2020-2024National Highway Traffic Safety AdministrationProvisional dataMcCurtain County value
Preventable hospital stays · high4,669 /100k
3/100Oklahoma 3,055 /100kUnited States 2,769 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMcCurtain County value
Food environment index · low5.9
3/100Oklahoma 5.3United States 7.62019 & 2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMcCurtain County value

Trends

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

Broadband subscriptionsImproving
57.4% (2015-2019) → 81.3% (2020-2024)
+24 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
New homes permittedWorsening
5.6 /1k (2021) → 0.0 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−100%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Average commute timeWorsening
12.2 min (2015-2019) → 19.6 min (2020-2024)
+61%5 yearsCensus table B08013US 26.9 min → 26.4 min
Uninsured residents (under 65)Improving
24.9% (2015-2019) → 15.7% (2020-2024)
−9.2 pts5 yearsCensus table B27010US 10.8% → 9.8%
Child poverty rateImproving
37.8% (2015-2019) → 30.6% (2020-2024)
−7.1 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Median household incomeImproving
$32,083 (2015-2019) → $43,295 (2020-2024)
+35%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604

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, Idabel, Oklahoma improved on 3 of 14 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 9 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.

Improved3

Uninsured−9.2 points24.9% → 15.7%
Broadband+24 points57.4% → 81.3%
Household income+35%$32,083 → $43,295

Declined1

Commute+7.4 min12.2 min → 19.6 min

All 14 measures

Change of every measure of Idabel, Oklahoma between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	12.2 min2015-2019	19.6 min2020-2024	+7.4 min	Declined	5%
Bachelor's degree or higher	14.4%2015-2019	16.7%2020-2024	+2.3 points	Within the margin of error	45%
Broadband subscriptions	57.4%2015-2019	81.3%2020-2024	+24 points	Improved	94%
Child poverty rate	37.8%2015-2019	30.6%2020-2024	−7.1 points	Within the margin of error	75%
Effective property tax rate	0.62%2015-2019	0.44%2020-2024	−0.2 points	Little change	54%
High school diploma or higher	83.1%2015-2019	84.1%2020-2024	+0.9 points	Within the margin of error	45%
Home price to income ratio	2.4×2015-2019	3.1×2020-2024	+0.8×	Within the margin of error	33%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4662015-2019	0.4552020-2024	−0.010	Within the margin of error	60%
Median household income	$32,0832015-2019	$43,2952020-2024	+35%	Improved	65%
Poverty rate	28.2%2015-2019	25.1%2020-2024	−3 points	Within the margin of error	70%
Rent as share of income	27.4%2015-2019	28.7%2020-2024	+1.3 points	Within the margin of error	45%
Rent-burdened households	45.6%2015-2019	45.4%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	57%
Unemployment rate	7.5%2015-2019	5.4%2020-2024	−2 points	Within the margin of error	82%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	24.9%2015-2019	15.7%2020-2024	−9.2 points	Improved	95%

“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 Idabel, Oklahoma five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Idabel, 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, Idabel, Oklahoma itself moved −1.4 points in standing on average over the same 10 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

6,987 residents (±74)

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

2,437 households (±160)

Idabel, Oklahoma
Oklahoma share

Under $25k31%760
$25k–50k26%644
$50k–75k14%349

Homes

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

Owners and renters

2,437 households (±160)

Idabel, Oklahoma
Oklahoma share

Own55%1,336
Rent45%1,101

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

Table view

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

2,528 workers (±215)

Idabel, Oklahoma
Oklahoma share

Drive alone80%2,011
Carpool11%†287
Public transit0.0%0

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 McCurtain County, the county holding most of Idabel's residents.

McCurtain County has 677 employer establishments, 219 for every 10,000 residents (0.88× the US rate of 248; 0.92× Oklahoma's), with 8,656 paid employees at an average annual pay of $43,702. The Census Bureau also counts 2,979 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 677; 2,979 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 219; US 248 · Oklahoma 237
Paid employees: 8,656
Average annual pay: $43,702; US $68,342

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

Ambulatory health care services	57	18.4	0.88×About typical	432	$43,699	90
Restaurants and other eating places	51	16.5	0.90×About typical	726	$19,464	38
Specialty trade contractors	42	13.6	0.88×About typical	270	$42,422	389
Religious organizations	35	11.3	2.04×More than typical	96	$21,344	—
Traveler accommodation	27	8.7	4.83×More than typical	183	$28,612	57
Full-service restaurants	26	8.4	1.09×About typical	361	$23,299	8
Truck transportation	25	8.1	1.60×More than typical	235	$55,174	44
Lessors of real estate	23	7.4	0.60×Fewer than typical	96	$37,781	198
Building equipment contractors	19	6.1	1.02×About typical	156	$31,750	57
Gasoline stations	18	5.8	1.79×More than typical	182	$20,951	7
Limited-service restaurants	17	5.5	0.68×Fewer than typical	336	$15,223	13
Construction of buildings	16	5.2	0.68×Fewer than typical	68	$40,338	107

Rank places for an industry Open McCurtain County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 30,946 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 $68.9K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Idabel, Oklahoma: $9.87 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $68.9K; −48% vs FY2025
Per resident: $9.87; US $1,994
Sole-source: 100%; US 30%
Single offer: 0.0%; 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

Department of Veterans Affairs$68.9K100%

Top recipients

STG INTERNATIONAL, INC.$68.9K100%

Spending by fiscal year

96.8KFY2017
180.7KFY2018
677.5FY2019
111.3KFY2020
-9.5KFY2021
-48.9KFY2022
131.2KFY2024
133.2KFY2025

Top industries (NAICS)

Outpatient care centers · 6214$68.9K100%

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 Idabel, Oklahoma, so they do not add up across cities.

Idabel, Oklahoma's figures are part of those of McCurtain County, OK ($14.7M in FY2026), never added to them: 0.5% of that total.

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

See federal money in McCurtain 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.

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

House

Josh BrecheenR-OK-2 · 100% of residentsWith party 97%Missed 4.7%

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.

McCurtain County10100% of residents

Other cities and towns in McCurtain 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
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
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/4036750

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends