Oklahoma City

Oklahoma City was born at the sound of a gun. At noon on April 22, 1889, approximately 10,000 homesteaders raced to stake claims to nearly 1.9 million acres of former Indian Territory. By nightfall, a city existed where none had stood that morning. That founding velocity—the ability to build something from nothing in a single day—remains embedded in the city's self-image.

Oil arrived in 1928. The Mary Sudik well blew wild in 1930, gushing 10,000 barrels daily for 11 days and depositing petroleum on buildings 15 miles away. Oklahoma City joined Tulsa as an oil capital. But when the boom went bust in the 1980s, it took the city with it. Developers had added 5.2 million square feet of downtown office space during the boom; by the 1990s, much of it sat empty. Downtown Oklahoma City entered a prolonged decline.

The recovery came through deliberate reinvestment. A series of voter-approved public initiatives—the MAPS (Metropolitan Area Projects) programs—rebuilt the urban core. Today aerospace has replaced oil as the anchor industry: $8.8 billion in goods and services supporting 80,200 jobs. Tinker Air Force Base provides stability. Biotechnology and advanced manufacturing diversify the base. Wind energy has made substantial inroads, positioning Oklahoma City in the energy transition rather than against it.

The economics work: Oklahoma City's cost of living index stands at 81.9—nearly 20% below the national average. U.S. News & World Report named it the #1 Best Big City to Live for 2025–26. Population continues growing through domestic migration, particularly from Texas and California. The city has learned from the oil bust: diversification is survival. By 2026, whether Oklahoma City can sustain its affordability advantage while building industries beyond extraction will determine if the Land Run's entrepreneurial spirit has found lasting expression—or if the city remains one commodity cycle away from another bust.