Honestly, if you haven’t checked the data lately, Oklahoma’s map probably looks a lot different than you remember from high school geography. Most people still think of the Sooner State as a collection of dusty outposts and small towns. That’s just not the case anymore.
Oklahoma is hitting a massive growth spurt.
The latest 2024 and 2025 estimates show a state that is rapidly urbanizing, with people flocking to the metropolitan centers while some of the older industrial or military hubs are actually losing steam. It’s a lopsided shift.
The Big Two: Oklahoma City and Tulsa
Oklahoma City is the undisputed heavyweight. As of early 2025, the city proper is pushing toward 720,000 residents. If you factor in the entire metro area, you’re looking at over a million people. It’s officially the 20th largest city in the United States, having recently hopped over places like Nashville and El Paso in the rankings.
Mayor David Holt talks about the "renaissance" of OKC constantly. He’s not just blowing smoke. Between 2023 and 2024 alone, the city added over 8,000 people. People are moving there for the aerospace jobs and a cost of living that, while rising, still beats the socks off the East or West coasts.
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Then there’s Tulsa.
Tulsa is the "Second City," but it’s finally seeing a bit of a comeback after a rough patch during the pandemic. For a minute there, Tulsa was actually losing people. But by 2024, it gained back over 1,000 residents, bringing its total population to roughly 415,000. It’s got a different vibe—greener, more Art Deco, and lately, very focused on remote workers through programs like Tulsa Remote.
Oklahoma Cities by Population: The Top 10 Breakdown
If you’re looking for the hard numbers, the rankings have settled into a pretty clear hierarchy. Keep in mind that "population" here refers to the city limits, which can be tricky because some of these cities are basically fused together.
- Oklahoma City: ~720,000
- Tulsa: ~415,000
- Norman: ~131,000
- Broken Arrow: ~123,000
- Edmond: ~99,000
- Lawton: ~90,000
- Moore: ~63,000
- Midwest City: ~58,000
- Stillwater: ~49,000
- Enid: ~49,000
The Suburban Explosion
The real story isn't just the big cities. It’s the suburbs. Places like Broken Arrow and Edmond are absolute engines of growth.
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Broken Arrow is basically the "Golden Child" of the Tulsa area. It grew by about 3,000 people in just one year. That’s a huge jump for a city of its size. It’s transitioned from being a "bedroom community" where people just slept before driving to Tulsa, to a legitimate destination with its own Rose District and a booming housing market.
Edmond is the OKC equivalent. It’s right on the edge of hitting the 100,000 mark. It’s wealthy, the schools are top-tier, and it’s where everyone wants to be if they work in the OKC tech or medical sectors.
But then you have the outliers.
Why Some Cities Are Shrinking
It’s not all sunshine and growth. Lawton and Enid are the two big names that are actually moving in the opposite direction. Lawton, heavily tied to Fort Sill, lost more than 400 people last year. It’s a steady decline that has been happening since 2021.
Enid is seeing a similar slip, though much smaller—losing about 60 people recently. When you look at Oklahoma cities by population, it’s clear that the "rural flight" is real. If a city isn't attached to the OKC or Tulsa metro umbilical cord, it's struggling to keep its numbers up.
Stillwater is an interesting middle ground. Home to Oklahoma State University, its population ebbs and flows with the student body, but it has shown modest, steady growth of a few hundred people a year. It’s staying relevant by leaning into the "college town" identity while trying to attract more permanent tech startups.
What This Means for You
If you’re looking to move to Oklahoma, or even just invest there, the trend is your friend. The "Big Two" metros are absorbing almost all the state's growth.
Watch the "In-Between" spots. Towns like Owasso, Jenks, and Bixby are technically smaller on the list, but they are growing at percentage rates that put the big guys to shame. Jenks, for example, is becoming the "South Tulsa" powerhouse for families.
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Don't ignore the housing gap. Even though the population is booming, the number of new houses isn't keeping up. In 2024, Oklahoma grew by 33,000 residents, but housing units only grew by 0.65%. This means if you're looking at top-ranked cities like Norman or Broken Arrow, expect competition for real estate to be fierce.
The takeaway? Oklahoma is no longer just a flyover state with a few scattered towns. It’s a state of two massive hubs and a whole lot of rapidly expanding suburbs. If you’re tracking population, keep your eyes on the OKC-Edmond corridor and the Tulsa-Broken Arrow axis. That’s where the future of the state is being built.
To stay ahead of these shifts, focus your research on specific municipal development plans in the OKC metro, as these are the primary drivers of the state's current economic and demographic tilt.