© 2024 Public Radio Tulsa
800 South Tucker Drive
Tulsa, OK 74104
(918) 631-2577

A listener-supported service of The University of Tulsa
classical 88.7 | public radio 89.5
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Tulsa in Top 10 Percent for Recovery From Great Recession

New rankings indicate Tulsa has recovered from the Great Recession.

Tulsa is 11th among the nation’s 150 biggest cities. Financial website WalletHub analyzed a variety of federal and private-sector economic data. CEO Odysseas Papadimitriou said Tulsa ranked highly because of a higher median income, home price appreciation and a decreased rate of households on public assistance.

"Another metric that has helped also is that there is a significant amount of entrepreneurial activity and opportunities to start a new business, which is always a positive sign," Papadimitriou said.

Tulsa's No. 11 ranking is 20 spots ahead of Oklahoma City. Papadimitriou said in several ways Tulsa is doing better than it was before the recession.

"Homes cost more than they did prior to the recession: A very health 11 percent increase," Papadimitriou said. "I think [Tulsa is] such a good example of a city that is ahead in that regard. Other cities are still 30, 40 percent, for example, on home prices, below what they were pre-recession."

The study ranked cities based on employment and earning opportunities as well as overall economic indicators. Tulsa ranked in the top 50 percent or better for more than half of the 18 metrics used.

Matt Trotter joined KWGS as a reporter in 2013. Before coming to Public Radio Tulsa, he was the investigative producer at KJRH. His freelance work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times and on MSNBC and CNN.