City · Sequoyah County, Oklahoma

Sallisaw, Oklahoma

Sallisaw is a city in Sequoyah County, Oklahoma, part of the Fort Smith, AR-OK metro area. It has 8,605 residents. Sallisaw, Oklahoma has a quality-of-life score of 4 out of 100 (very low), ranking #14,959 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Oklahoma it ranks #208 of 237 cities and towns. It ranks best on average commute time (low), time spent in the emergency room (low) and rent-burdened households (low). It ranks worst on average weekly wage (low), adult obesity (high) and dental care shortage (high).

4Very low

Quality-of-life score: #14,959 of 15,651 cities and towns
Oklahoma: #208 of 237 in OK
Population: 8,605 (2020-2024)
Land area: 14 mi²
Density: 620.7 /mi²
FIPS code: 4065000

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.

Safety8#14,460/15,637
Economy3#15,122/15,631
Housing89#1,602/14,977
Health1#15,463/15,609
Healthcare7#14,529/15,650
Environment18#12,670/15,453
Education32#10,669/15,649
Infrastructure15#13,353/15,650
Community3#15,153/15,651
Leisure & amenities12#13,742/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Average commute time · low19.0 min
90/100Oklahoma 22.4 minUnited States 26.4 min2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08013
Time spent in the emergency room · low124 min
85/100Oklahoma 122 minUnited States 170 minOct 2024–Sep 2025Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesSequoyah County value
Rent-burdened households · low44.8%
80/100Oklahoma 46.3%United States 51.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25070
Rent as share of income · low28.0%
79/100Oklahoma 28.4%United States 30.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25071
Effective property tax rate · low0.63%
77/100Oklahoma 0.79%United States 0.94%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25090
Public transit commuters · high0.7%
70/100Oklahoma 0.3%United States 3.2%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08301High uncertainty

Weaknesses

Average weekly wage · low$776
0/100Oklahoma $1,173United States $1,5142025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsSequoyah County value
Adult obesity · high49.1%
1/100Oklahoma 40.4%United States 38.2%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
Dental care shortage · high20.0
1/100Oklahoma 7.8United States 5.7Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationSequoyah County value
Adult smoking · high26.3%
1/100Oklahoma 18.6%United States 16.1%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
Child poverty rate · high39.5%
2/100Oklahoma 18.7%United States 15.5%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B17001
Poverty rate · high29.5%
2/100Oklahoma 14.8%United States 12.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B17001

Trends

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

New homes permittedWorsening
4.1 /1k (2021) → 2.1 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−49%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Median household incomeImproving
$33,145 (2015-2019) → $48,036 (2020-2024)
+45%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
75.3% (2015-2019) → 83.3% (2020-2024)
+8 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Uninsured residents (under 65)Improving
27.2% (2015-2019) → 19.7% (2020-2024)
−7.6 pts5 yearsCensus table B27010US 10.8% → 9.8%
High school diploma or higherImproving
79.6% (2015-2019) → 83.4% (2020-2024)
+3.8 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 88.0% → 89.6%
Unemployment rateImproving
7.7% (2015-2019) → 4.8% (2020-2024)
−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, Sallisaw, Oklahoma improved on 3 of 14 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 11 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

Uninsured−7.6 points27.2% → 19.7%
Household income+45%$33,145 → $48,036
Broadband+8 points75.3% → 83.3%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 14 measures

Change of every measure of Sallisaw, Oklahoma between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	19.9 min2015-2019	19.0 min2020-2024	−0.9 min	Within the margin of error	59%
Bachelor's degree or higher	16.5%2015-2019	14.4%2020-2024	−2.1 points	Within the margin of error	16%
Broadband subscriptions	75.3%2015-2019	83.3%2020-2024	+8 points	Improved	49%
Child poverty rate	40.1%2015-2019	39.5%2020-2024	−0.6 points	Within the margin of error	49%
Effective property tax rate	0.65%2015-2019	0.63%2020-2024	−0 points	Within the margin of error	20%
High school diploma or higher	79.6%2015-2019	83.4%2020-2024	+3.8 points	Within the margin of error	74%
Home price to income ratio	3.2×2015-2019	2.8×2020-2024	−0.4×	Within the margin of error	91%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4692015-2019	0.4512020-2024	−0.018	Within the margin of error	66%
Median household income	$33,1452015-2019	$48,0362020-2024	+45%	Improved	80%
Poverty rate	29.6%2015-2019	29.5%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	45%
Rent as share of income	27.9%2015-2019	28.0%2020-2024	+0.1 points	Within the margin of error	54%
Rent-burdened households	45.8%2015-2019	44.8%2020-2024	−1 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Unemployment rate	7.7%2015-2019	4.8%2020-2024	−3 points	Within the margin of error	89%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	27.2%2015-2019	19.7%2020-2024	−7.6 points	Improved	93%

“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 Sallisaw, Oklahoma five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Sallisaw, 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, Sallisaw, Oklahoma itself moved +2.9 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

8,605 residents (±39)

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

3,427 households (±160)

Sallisaw, Oklahoma
Oklahoma share

Under $25k30%1,017
$25k–50k23%779
$50k–75k19%644

Homes

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

Owners and renters

3,427 households (±160)

Sallisaw, Oklahoma
Oklahoma share

Own54%1,848
Rent46%1,579

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

3,242 workers (±234)

Sallisaw, Oklahoma
Oklahoma share

Drive alone78%2,535
Carpool9.4%†305
Public transit0.7%†24

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 Fort Smith, AR-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 Sequoyah County, the county holding most of Sallisaw's residents.

Sequoyah County has 595 employer establishments, 148 for every 10,000 residents (0.60× the US rate of 248; 0.62× Oklahoma's), with 6,984 paid employees at an average annual pay of $33,408. The Census Bureau also counts 3,377 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 595; 3,377 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 148; US 248 · Oklahoma 237
Paid employees: 6,984
Average annual pay: $33,408; US $68,342

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

Restaurants and other eating places	52	13	0.71×Fewer than typical	789	$17,127	13
Ambulatory health care services	48	12	0.57×Fewer than typical	566	$47,901	128
Specialty trade contractors	39	9.7	0.63×Fewer than typical	159	$43,352	522
Gasoline stations	27	6.7	2.08×More than typical	274	$22,423	—
Limited-service restaurants	26	6.5	0.81×About typical	562	$16,961	6
Full-service restaurants	25	6.2	0.81×About typical	227	$17,520	5
Religious organizations	25	6.2	1.12×About typical	75	$22,413	—
Building equipment contractors	23	5.7	0.95×About typical	102	$48,000	75
Lessors of real estate	20	5	0.40×Fewer than typical	45	$32,711	226
General merchandise stores	17	4.2	2.40×More than typical	383	$28,501	22
Plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors	17	4.2	1.28×More than typical	84	$46,833	39
Offices of other health practitioners	14	3.5	0.57×Fewer than typical	50	$42,420	59

Rank places for an industry Open Sequoyah County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 40,126 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 $72.6K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Sallisaw, Oklahoma: $8.44 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $72.6K; −31% vs FY2025
Per resident: $8.44; US $1,994
Sole-source: 17%; US 30%
Single offer: 0.8%; 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$70.7K97%
U.S. Coast Guard$1,9572.7%

Top recipients

Spending by fiscal year

10.4KFY2017
656.8KFY2018
513.8KFY2019
308.5KFY2020
6.5MFY2021
640.5KFY2022
1.3MFY2023
168.1KFY2024

Top industries (NAICS)

Other heavy and civil engineering construction · 2379$42.4K58%
Electronic and precision equipment repair and maintenance · 8112$8,50512%
Services to buildings and dwellings · 5617$8,06211%
Commercial and industrial machinery and equipment repair and maintenance · 8113$3,8965.4%
Ship and boat building · 3366$1,9572.7%

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

Sallisaw, Oklahoma's figures are part of those of Sequoyah County, OK ($1.4M in FY2026), never added to them: 5.1% of that total.

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

See federal money in Sequoyah 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.

Sallisaw, 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.

Sequoyah County4100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Fort Smith, AR-OK16

Other cities and towns in Sequoyah 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/4065000

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends