City · Pittsburg County, Oklahoma

McAlester, Oklahoma

McAlester is a city in Pittsburg County, Oklahoma, part of the McAlester, OK metro area. It has 18,111 residents. McAlester, Oklahoma has a quality-of-life score of 7 out of 100 (very low), ranking #14,617 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Oklahoma it ranks #190 of 237 cities and towns. It ranks best on mental health providers (high), average commute time (low) and public EV charging ports (high). It ranks worst on food environment index (low), mental health care shortage (high) and life expectancy (low).

7Very low

Quality-of-life score: #14,617 of 15,651 cities and towns
Oklahoma: #190 of 237 in OK
Population: 18,111 (2020-2024)
Land area: 18 mi²
Density: 1,017.4 /mi²
FIPS code: 4044800

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 76 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.

Safety10#14,081/15,637
Economy3#15,184/15,631
Housing71#4,338/14,977
Health5#14,844/15,609
Healthcare19#12,599/15,650
Environment11#13,793/15,453
Education31#10,771/15,649
Infrastructure37#9,911/15,650
Community15#13,281/15,651
Leisure & amenities9#14,281/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where McAlester, Oklahoma ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Pittsburg 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

Mental health providers · high850 /100k
98/100Oklahoma 439 /100kUnited States 348 /100k2025University of Wisconsin Population Health InstitutePittsburg County value
Average commute time · low16.3 min
96/100Oklahoma 22.4 minUnited States 26.4 min2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08013
Public EV charging ports · high8.3 /10k
75/100Oklahoma 3.8 /10kUnited States 7.6 /10kOct 2026U.S. Department of EnergyPittsburg County value
Public libraries · high0.9 /10k
74/100Oklahoma 0.5 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesPittsburg County value
Effective property tax rate · low0.69%
70/100Oklahoma 0.79%United States 0.94%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25090
Rent-burdened households · low48.4%
69/100Oklahoma 46.3%United States 51.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25070

Weaknesses

Food environment index · low5.9
3/100Oklahoma 5.3United States 7.62019 & 2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstitutePittsburg County value
Mental health care shortage · high19.0
4/100Oklahoma 15.8United States 9.9Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationPittsburg County value
Life expectancy · low70.8 yrs
4/100Oklahoma 74.0 yrsUnited States 77.6 yrs2021-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstitutePittsburg County value
Premature death · high14,400 /100k
5/100Oklahoma 10,827 /100kUnited States 8,123 /100k2021-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstitutePittsburg County value
Homicide rate · high11.2 /100k
6/100Oklahoma 6.4 /100kUnited States 4.8 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimateProvisional dataPittsburg County value
Voter turnout · low52.8%
7/100Oklahoma 53.8%United States 65.2%2024U.S. Election Assistance CommissionPittsburg County value

Trends

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

New homes permittedWorsening
3.5 /1k (2021) → 0.5 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−86%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
76.8% (2015-2019) → 88.7% (2020-2024)
+12 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Home price to income ratioWorsening
2.3× (2015-2019) → 2.9× (2020-2024)
+26%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
16.9% (2015-2019) → 21.0% (2020-2024)
+4.1 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%
Median household incomeImproving
$43,879 (2015-2019) → $51,930 (2020-2024)
+18%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Child poverty rateWorsening
22.7% (2015-2019) → 25.9% (2020-2024)
+3.1 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%

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, McAlester, Oklahoma improved on 3 of 14 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 10 moved within the margin of error and 0 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

Broadband+12 points76.8% → 88.7%
Bachelor's++4.1 points16.9% → 21.0%
Household income+18%$43,879 → $51,930

Declined1

Price / income+0.6×2.3× → 2.9×

All 14 measures

Change of every measure of McAlester, Oklahoma between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	17.4 min2015-2019	16.3 min2020-2024	−1.1 min	Within the margin of error	61%
Bachelor's degree or higher	16.9%2015-2019	21.0%2020-2024	+4.1 points	Improved	61%
Broadband subscriptions	76.8%2015-2019	88.7%2020-2024	+12 points	Improved	68%
Child poverty rate	22.7%2015-2019	25.9%2020-2024	+3.1 points	Within the margin of error	26%
Effective property tax rate	0.62%2015-2019	0.69%2020-2024	+0.1 points	Within the margin of error	8%
High school diploma or higher	85.3%2015-2019	84.9%2020-2024	−0.4 points	Within the margin of error	28%
Home price to income ratio	2.3×2015-2019	2.9×2020-2024	+0.6×	Declined	41%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4942015-2019	0.4622020-2024	−0.032	Within the margin of error	75%
Median household income	$43,8792015-2019	$51,9302020-2024	+18%	Improved	30%
Poverty rate	19.5%2015-2019	19.7%2020-2024	+0.2 points	Within the margin of error	41%
Rent as share of income	29.0%2015-2019	29.5%2020-2024	+0.5 points	Within the margin of error	51%
Rent-burdened households	47.7%2015-2019	48.4%2020-2024	+0.7 points	Within the margin of error	53%
Unemployment rate	6.9%2015-2019	6.9%2020-2024	+0 points	Within the margin of error	48%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	21.1%2015-2019	18.2%2020-2024	−2.9 points	Within the margin of error	76%

“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 McAlester, Oklahoma five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of McAlester, 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, McAlester, Oklahoma itself moved −0.9 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

18,111 residents (±31)

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

7,200 households (±195)

McAlester, Oklahoma
Oklahoma share

Under $25k23%1,662
$25k–50k25%1,816
$50k–75k19%1,341

Homes

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

Owners and renters

7,200 households (±195)

McAlester, Oklahoma
Oklahoma share

Own59%4,213
Rent41%2,987

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

6,944 workers (±297)

McAlester, Oklahoma
Oklahoma share

Drive alone82%5,715
Carpool9.3%†645
Public transit0.2%†16

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 McAlester, 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 Pittsburg County, the county holding most of McAlester's residents.

Pittsburg County has 933 employer establishments, 215 for every 10,000 residents (0.86× the US rate of 248; 0.90× Oklahoma's), with 10,409 paid employees at an average annual pay of $44,741. The Census Bureau also counts 3,022 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 933; 3,022 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 215; US 248 · Oklahoma 237
Paid employees: 10,409
Average annual pay: $44,741; US $68,342

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

Ambulatory health care services	82	18.9	0.91×About typical	822	$58,945	104
Restaurants and other eating places	74	17	0.93×About typical	1,202	$18,468	23
Religious organizations	37	8.5	1.53×More than typical	160	$20,381	—
Specialty trade contractors	37	8.5	0.55×Fewer than typical	277	$50,599	272
Full-service restaurants	36	8.3	1.08×About typical	453	$19,576	10
Lessors of real estate	34	7.8	0.64×Fewer than typical	64	$33,969	215
Limited-service restaurants	31	7.1	0.89×About typical	691	$16,324	9
Legal services	29	6.7	1.24×About typical	88	$50,034	21
Gasoline stations	25	5.8	1.77×More than typical	259	$23,355	—
Truck transportation	24	5.5	1.09×About typical	222	$81,797	99
Building equipment contractors	23	5.3	0.88×About typical	125	$48,032	45
Offices of other health practitioners	23	5.3	0.87×About typical	145	$51,372	51

Rank places for an industry Open Pittsburg County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 43,465 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 $1.9M of federal contract obligations were for work performed in McAlester, Oklahoma: $105 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $1.9M; −60% vs FY2025
Per resident: $105; US $1,994
Sole-source: 59%; US 30%
Single offer: 4.6%; 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 the Army$1.8M97%
Defense Logistics Agency$52.6K2.8%
Department of the Air Force$8,0520.4%
Defense Information Systems Agency$8400.0%
Federal Acquisition Service$3610.0%
Drug Enforcement Administration$1310.0%
Bureau of Indian Affairs and Bureau of Indian Education$19.500.0%

Top recipients

KRE JV, LLC$1M53%
SPECIALIZED MATERIALS AND CHEMICALS, LLC$183.1K9.6%
EZEKIEL BAHAR$73.9K3.9%
TOYAL AMERICA INC$67.7K3.6%
JJ'S CONCRETE CONSTRUCTION LLC$67.1K3.5%

Spending by fiscal year

1.8MFY2017
1MFY2018
940.7KFY2019
528.2KFY2020
1.1MFY2021
777.4KFY2022
997.9KFY2023
1.5M

Top industries (NAICS)

Nonresidential building construction · 2362$1M53%
Basic chemical manufacturing · 3251$257K14%
Cement and concrete product manufacturing · 3273$68.4K3.6%
Alumina and aluminum production and processing · 3313$67.7K3.6%
Petroleum and coal products manufacturing · 3241$65.9K3.5%
Paint, coating, and adhesive manufacturing · 3255$58.8K

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

McAlester, Oklahoma's figures are part of those of Pittsburg County, OK ($58.7M in FY2026), never added to them: 3.2% of that total.

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

See federal money in Pittsburg 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.

McAlester, 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.

Pittsburg County11100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

McAlester, OK4

Other cities and towns in Pittsburg 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/4044800

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends