For a relatively small large city, OKC finishes #1 in ranking in a bunch of “best of” lists. These include #1 for High Wages and Low Cost of Living, #1 for America’s Best New Restaurants, #1 Most Passionate Live Music Fans, #1 Most Romantic Cities In America. It also finishes in the Top 10 for a whole slew of other city benefits. All-in-all these rankings signal an amazing place to be for young professionals and young families looking for the next great American city.

The big challenge for families is the quality of the public schools. Lots of factors have played a role in poor-performing schools including decreased state funding, suburban schools pulling away families, charter school growth, and too few kids spread across too great a size city causing funding to sink when it is based on a $$$ per enrolled student model. The district is shutting down schools as a way to improve and focus but for the time being the schools remain troubled.



We’re #1

LookyLOO Review of Oklahoma City?

People imagine OKC to be a low key family kind of town. And if you’re into that kind of thing then it is definitely here for you. However, if you’re younger and hankering for entertainment then this city has your back. There are tons of things happening, particularly in the Bricktown area. Concerts, sporting events (steps from where the Thunder play), museums, shopping, restaurants, you name it and it is happening downtown. Many people in OKC live in the outer edges or suburbs and come downtown for bigger nights out or big days out. But there is a lifestyle downtown for young professionals or families and retirees who want to live more “on the edge”.

If you want to see what happens year throughout the year, check out the [**calendar of events**](https://www.visitokc.com/events/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Events%20-%20SV&utm_term=oklahoma%20city%20events&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw8pKxBhD_ARIsAPrG45l_MjsxmuvZfLl0rJGl7k1Mj-WX0kADyT7-AJXKS7-b9SNoF1QjFkAaAqmzEALw_wcB)

Lifestyle 

Not surprisingly energy is one of the big employers in OKC. South Central still runs on oil and natural gas and so employment is big in the industry with two Fortune 500 companies, Chesapeake and Devon Energy providing a lot of paychecks. That’s not the only industry however as retail has a big footprint with Hobby Lobby and Love’s Travel Stores also massive local employers. Expect a good job market for energy, retail, IT, and health services if you go looking for work. OKC is also one of the cities where long-haul work-from-homer’s are landing as they look for less costly cities with decent downtown social and cultural experiences available to them.


Worklife 

The [**Oklahoma City Public School District**](okcps.org) struggles when evaluated by standardized ranking sites like niche.com on which it receives a [**"C" for performance**](https://www.niche.com/k12/d/oklahoma-city-public-schools-ok/). 

Parents and teachers in the area put the fault for the district struggles at the hands of poor funding and young teachers fleeing the state for reasons of ultra-conservative pressures on school curriculums and teaching models. True or not the point of view exists and drives a cycle of declining performance. There are better-performing schools including:
-[**Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics**](ossm.edu) receives an ["A+" on niche.com(https://www.niche.com/k12/oklahoma-school-of-science-and-mathematics-oklahoma-city-ok/) and is particularly celebrated for the quality of Academics, College Prep, and Teachers. 
-[**Harding Charter Preparatory High School**](hicd.org/schools/harding-charter-preparat) is another high flier in OKC that receives an [**"A+" on niche.com**](https://www.niche.com/k12/harding-charter-preparatory-high-school-oklahoma-city-ok/). Harding is a public charter that focuses on preparing students for college. This means requiring students to take AP classes and has a rigorous workload intended to mirror what is required at the college level. 

OKC also has several private school options including [**Casady School**](https://www.niche.com/k12/casady-school-oklahoma-city-ok/), the #1 ranked school in Oklahoma, and [**Heritage Hall**](https://www.niche.com/k12/heritage-hall-oklahoma-city-ok/), the #4 highest-ranked private school in the state. 

While the public schools in OKC are a struggle, families make it work by either, landing one of the coveted spots at the best magnet/charter options, footing the bill for private, or moving to the burbs if unsatisfied with the options in the city. 

Schools

We hate to put the rational in front of the emotional in such a vibrant city but it is seriously hard to ignore the fact that OKC is the #1 city in the country for the ratio of high salaries to low cost of living. If you want to make a good living and have more of it to spend or save, OKC is your joint. The cool part of it all is that not only will you have that extra $$$ but this city has so much going on you’ll get to enjoy the experience while you’re saving. That’s a tough combo to pass up. 


 The Ratio

Why You Should Move Here Now?

**One_Preference6619**
Living in OKC
6mo ago
✭✭✭✭✭

I think okc is a great city. The best part abt it, is it's growing rapidly rn. This is the perfect time to get situated be4 prices skyrocket even more then they have recently. It's on the verge of exploding: it just became the 20th biggest city in the US, we're getting a new arena, many buildings r being planned for here, the thunder r doing better than ever, we have hidden gems of restaurants. It isn't dallas level yet, but I think it will be very soon. That's why I think while right now you'd probably enjoy dallas more, okc is building for the very bright future currently.

Paseo is a good choice if u wanna live near clubs/nightlife and close to downtown and wanna be in a good area. If u wanna be in a currently gentrifying area that will be worth alot more pretty soon, I'd recommend plaza district as someone else mentioned (metro park I believe they said). It's not a war zone or anything, just an older part of town that has my favorite district in the city personally.

As someone who's lived in almost every section considered the "hood", ppl avoid south of the river generally, and the east around the capitol. Ppl also see del city as a warzone, but as someone who grew up there it isn't too terrible as long as u avoid the apartments there. Renters rights r terrible here, so don't rent cheap. Trust me, this is rule #1 (prob for any city rlly).

I hope you choose to live in our city. I've lived in dallas and am the same age as u and ur friends and prefer okc for the friendlier ppl/smaller community feel. Good luck my friend

For more reviews of what living in Oklahoma City is like from locals check out: [**The Reviews**](https://lookyloomove.com/locations/oklahoma-city/reviews).

Reviews of Oklahoma City from Locals

**The Best Thing About Oklahoma City?**  We’re #1

For a relatively small large city OKC finishes #1 in ranking in a bunch of “best of” lists. These include: #1 for High Wages and Low Cost of Living, #1 for America’s Best New Restaurants, #1 Most Passionate Live Music Fans, #1 Most Romantic Cities In America. It also finishes in the Top 10 for a whole slew of other city benefits. All-in-all these rankings signal an amazing place to be for young professionals and young families looking for the next great American city. 

**The Worst Thing About Oklahoma City?**  Public Schools

The big challenge for families is the quality of the public schools. Lots of factors have played a role in poor performing schools including: decreased state funding, suburban schools pulling away families, charter school growth, and too few kids spread across too great a size city causing funding to sink when it is based on a $$$ per enrolled student model. The district is shutting down schools as a way to improve and focus but for the time being the schools remain troubled. 

**How You Living?**  With The Millennials (and some Gen Z’ers)

There are definitely family friendly neighborhoods in OKC, like Crown Heights - Edgemere Heights, with beautiful streets, wonderful homes in every style, and prices friendly to a range of middle-class families. However, it’s the younger population that is seeing the emergence of high-growth, popular neighborhoods: Plaza District, Bricktown, Deep Duce, and Automobile Alley are all filled with young professionals and lots of art galleries, live music, theater, cool retail, bars and restaurants. 


**Why You Should Move Here Now?** The Ratio

We hate to put the rational out front of the emotional in such a vibrant city but it is seriously hard to ignore the fact that OKC is the #1 city in the country for the ratio of high salaries to low cost of living. If you want to make a good living and have more of it to spend or save, OKC is your joint. The cool part of it all is that not only will you have that extra $$$ but this city has so much going you’ll get to enjoy the experience while you’re saving. That’s a tough combo to pass up. 


Oklahoma City is BIG. Not just in population but in land. It’s the second largest capital (after Juneau) in the US of A. It’s centrally located along the I-35 corridor connecting Texas and Mexico to the south, and  Wichita and Kansas City to the north. Expect a pretty good driving distance between the cities: Dallas a bit over three hours and KC a bit over five. In that region that ain’t much. 
OKC and the state in general are in a transition zone between the wetter forested regions of the east and the drier Great Plains of the south and central regions so if you go expecting things to be completely flat and dry you’ll be pleasantly surprised. 


The Area

The younger population of OKC is benefitting from the emergence of high-growth, popular neighborhoods like Plaza District, Bricktown (Thunder play here!), Automobile Alley which is host to the monthly Auto Alley Shop Hop, a huge neighborhood party, and Deep Deuce, which is a bit more affordable but every bit as fun as some of the other choices. These neighborhoods are filled with art galleries, live music, theater, cool retail, bars and restaurants as well as plenty of apartment and condo buildings available for rent or purchase. 
- Bricktown
- Downtown
- Plaza District
- Automobile Alley
- Deep Deuce
- The Arts District


Young Professionals

Bricktown

Deer Creek is a wonderful neighborhood for starting and raising a family. It houses five elementary schools to choose from and smaller but wonderful affordable homes. Warwick Estates and Warwick West are also great choices for young families - one of the safest areas of the city, it's a quiet diverse neighborhood close to Bluff Creek park, for family outings, and also has the school district considered the best in the city. 
- Deer Creek
- Warwick Estates/Warwick West
- Quail Creek 


Young Families

Deer Creek

OKC has plenty of great family neighborhoods but one that tops the list of many locals is Crown Heights - Edgemore Heights. A pretty posh place with big older homes and large yards, it is also host to a huge annual 4th of July Parade and Picnic that brings out every family in the neighborhood. Crown Heights/Edgemore Heights is also just a few minutes from downtown and has great public schools. Another popular choice is Nichols Hills. Just over the border this suburban neighborhood is home to the Oklahoma City Golf & Country Club and has beautiful homes and tons of greenery and winding streets to enjoy. 
- Edgemere Heights/Crowne Heights
- Nichols Hills
- Persimmon Hills


Established Families

Crowne Heights / Edgemere Heights

Oklahoma City

**TheLoneBear**
Living in Oklahoma City
2y ago
✭✭✭

Cost of living is super cheap. Housing costs are on the rise but nothing compared to larger cities. You can typically afford a safe home as a single person with costs going up as you get closer to the city. You will be safe walking in 95% of the city and you pretty much have to be seeking out bad areas to stumble into them.

You will need a car. As others have said the public transport is pretty much nonexistent.

OKC is the most liberal area of Oklahoma and if you're downtown even more so.

There's not quite as much to do as a bigger city but I always say if you're not having fun it's your fault, not the city's. There are many different areas of downtown that offer a diversity of nightlife. We have some of the best breweries in the middle of the county.

Depending what you're into, we have excellent golf courses, D&D groups, hunting, fishing, mountain biking, a large road-biking community, etc.

The people here are generally very nice and welcoming. Generalizing, there are some Trump nuts you'll run across especially in the surrounding rural areas and suburbs but I can honestly say that it doesn't come up in daily conversations around the city very much. Our governor is not great but looks like he'll be voted out next term. Our mayor is pretty progressive for a red state and he is very focused on improving life in the city.

**puppatea**
Living in Oklahoma City
2y ago
✭✭✭

I’ll just speak to the part about being single and in your 30s since I think other posters have pretty well explained the pros and cons of Oklahoma. I agree with all the pros and can see the perspective of the cons.

The dating scene can be rough here, especially depending on your sexual orientation. However, I’ve yet to meet or talk to anyone from another state that hasn’t said it’s also hard elsewhere. I think you will run into different problems here than other places while dating, but it doesn’t mean it’s more difficult per se. I grew up in evangelical circles so I was convinced if I wasn’t married by 25 then I wouldn’t have anyone to hang out with or do things with. This is far from the truth. There are a lot of people in their 30s here who are married and single and value friendships highly, so if you’re open and work at it, you can create a really nice social circle.

I saw another poster say people don’t like when you approach them here. I have never experienced that once in my 32 years of living in Oklahoma. I approach people all the time and people approach me all the time as well.

Also, if you’re religious there’s plenty of places for that. And if you’re not, there’s a growing population of young people who aren’t, in addition to the mass exodus of the church over the last 2 years. A lot of people I know who were very into church have no desire to step into one again.

**emijay82**
Living in OKC
5mo ago
✭✭✭

If you look at the OK state parks, quite a few have trails, from beginner to more intermediate. If you are looking for mountains, we don't have much of those. But our state parks do have beautiful and/or interesting trails. Plenty of places to hike in Roman Nose and Lake Thunderbird, both of which are pretty close to the metro area. I have lived in Norman for 17 out of the last 19 years, all as an adult working full time. I enjoy Norman. Schools are decent, we have a free immersion language charter school, walking on and around campus and campus corner is really pretty most of the year. We have some super cold weather, or snow or ice, but the majority of winter is not crazy terrible. This year, we started having weather in the mid 80s off and of in mid to late February, and while we have had some front blow through with cold weather, they did not last long.

I am moving for reasons unrelated to Oklahoma in about a month. But OP should feel free to reach out to me about what to do for outdoors activities.

**One_Preference6619**
Living in OKC
6mo ago
✭✭✭✭✭

I think okc is a great city. The best part abt it, is it's growing rapidly rn. This is the perfect time to get situated be4 prices skyrocket even more then they have recently. It's on the verge of exploding: it just became the 20th biggest city in the US, we're getting a new arena, many buildings r being planned for here, the thunder r doing better than ever, we have hidden gems of restaurants. It isn't dallas level yet, but I think it will be very soon. That's why I think while right now you'd probably enjoy dallas more, okc is building for the very bright future currently.

Paseo is a good choice if u wanna live near clubs/nightlife and close to downtown and wanna be in a good area. If u wanna be in a currently gentrifying area that will be worth alot more pretty soon, I'd recommend plaza district as someone else mentioned (metro park I believe they said). It's not a war zone or anything, just an older part of town that has my favorite district in the city personally.

As someone who's lived in almost every section considered the "hood", ppl avoid south of the river generally, and the east around the capitol. Ppl also see del city as a warzone, but as someone who grew up there it isn't too terrible as long as u avoid the apartments there. Renters rights r terrible here, so don't rent cheap. Trust me, this is rule #1 (prob for any city rlly).

I hope you choose to live in our city. I've lived in dallas and am the same age as u and ur friends and prefer okc for the friendlier ppl/smaller community feel. Good luck my friend

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Everyday I’m Thunderin!