Living in Tulsa, OK
Explore Things To Do, Cost of Living, Top Restaurants and More

• 2026 Top 100 Best Places to Live
• 2025 Top 100 Best Places to Live

Thinking of moving to Tulsa, OK? You’ve come to the right place! You will find all the details about living here, from insight into the quality of life and cost of living to details about industry and job opportunities to lists of fun things to do.

Why You’ll Love Living in Tulsa, OK

One of the biggest perks of living in Tulsa, OK, is having amazing amenities right in your backyard. Most notably, the Gathering Place is a magical park set along the Arkansas River with boating, one-of-a-kind playgrounds, a sports park, art, a picnic grove and much more. The sprawling park is the perfect weekend getaway within the city.

Arts and culture enthusiasts will also delight in the city’s world-class museums and can gawk at beautiful architecture throughout downtown. The oil and construction boom in the early 20th century gave way to ornate, Art Deco-style architecture in the city, so even just walking around is a visual treat with iconic buildings like the Philtower Lofts located in a 1920s-era building that has a pyramid-style roof with multi-colored tiles. 

The Tulsa Arts District is also a favorite destination for locals and visitors alike. Here, you can catch a performance from the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra, check out a collection of rare vintage Barbie dolls, listen to live music at the iconic Cain’s Ballroom, sip tropical cocktails or share tiki bowls at Saturn Room and find your next read at Magic City Books.

The city of 425,712 is also home to a 28-mile stretch of the iconic Route 66, which turns 100 in 2026, and quirky roadside attractions like Buck Atom, a 21-foot-tall space-cowboy muffler man. With an affordable cost of living well below the national average, a well-connected city complete with several highways and an international airport, and a range of housing options from Art Deco apartments to suburban homes, it’s no wonder Tulsa is among the best places to live in the U.S. To sweeten the deal even more, though, the city is also emerging as a hub for remote workers. The Tulsa Remote program offers $10,000 grants (along with other perks) to attract remote workers to this city and add to its creative legacy.

Top Reasons to Move to Tulsa

• Home to the “Gathering Place,” a 100-acre riverfront oasis when completed, Tulsa is great for people who love the outdoors.
• Tulsa is exceptionally remote-work friendly, and the “Tulsa Remote” program has fostered a diverse community of newcomers.
• Highly rated schools and specialized higher education institutions make Tulsa a great place for education.
• Tulsa is affordable, offering residents a high quality of life with a low cost of living.

Tulsa is a dynamic city in northeastern Oklahoma, about 100 miles northeast of Oklahoma City, accessible via Interstate 44 and U.S. Route 412. Tulsa International Airport is just northeast, offering flights to Dallas and Chicago. Nearby major cities include:

• Oklahoma City, OK, sits 100 miles southwest, home to the Oklahoma City National Memorial, Bricktown and OKC Thunder.
• Fayetteville, AR, is just 115 miles east, where you can explore the Clinton House Museum, Botanical Garden of the Ozarks and the University of Arkansas.
• Kansas City, MO, is 250 miles northeast, offering the National WWI Museum, savory BBQ at Gates and Chiefs games at Arrowhead Stadium.

The climate here is continental, characterized by rapid changes in temperature. Winters can be quite cold, and summers are hot, with temps surpassing 100 degrees. Spring is wet and stormy, but fall is long and pleasant. Sunshine is abundant, and the mostly clear skies have led to the city becoming an aviation center.

The city has a lot of talent and, as a result, a diverse economy with a strong foundation in a variety of industries, including health care, manufacturing and retail. Saint Francis Health System, Hillcrest Healthcare System and Tulsa Public Schools are major employers in Tulsa. Williams Companies and ONEOK, Fortune 500 Companies, and QuikTrip, a convenience store and gas station chain, are all headquartered here. American Airlines also has a maintenance base in town.

Remote workers looking to move should check out Tulsa Remote, a relocation program offering a $10,000 grant to help talent make Tulsa their new headquarters and home.

The cost of living in Tulsa is below the national average. The median home value in Tulsa is $229,105, and the average household income is $59,104.

Oklahoma has a state income tax. In 2026, the combined sales tax rate in Tulsa is 8.517%.

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The city is a vibrant hub for arts and culture. The Philbrook Museum of Art, set in a gorgeous Italian Renaissance-style villa, is a local treasure. With an impressive art collection, 25 acres of gardens and a packed events calendar, visitors can enjoy everything from children’s storytimes and meditations to wine-and-hip-hop nights. Other top museums to explore include Greenwood Rising, which honors the legacy of Black Wall Street, and the Tulsa Air and Space Museum, where you can learn about the history of flight from a theater inside an airplane. For music lovers, the iconic Cain’s Ballroom is the place to be for live performances. You can also immerse yourself in the life of folk singer Woody Guthrie at the Woody Guthrie Center, where you’ll get a glimpse of his lyric journal or visit the Bob Dylan Center for unprecedented access to the voice of a generation. Soon, the Oklahoma Museum of Popular Culture will tell the story of Oklahoma’s creatives.

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Parkgoers have lots of ground to cover in Tulsa – there are 135 parks and trails in town! The Gathering Place has gotten a lot of national attention, and for good reason. Opened in 2018 on 100 acres of land near the Arkansas River, the Gathering Place has everything you could imagine in a good park: trails, gardens, an outdoor concert arena and ONEOK Boathouse to launch kayaks. But the main attraction is their covetable, sprawling playground. The Chapman Adventure Playground inside the Gathering Place is a whopping 5 acres of playspace for children to run, scream and, let’s face it, get covered in dirt, water and sand (all the best things in the entire world for a child). Learn about plants at the Trust Sky Garden, soar on swings 56 feet above Peggy’s Pond, rent a kayak, listen to a concert – the options are limitless. 

For sports enthusiasts, LaFortune Park offers tennis, croquet, golf and more. Turkey Mountain’s 45 miles of dirt trails are calling your name if you’re into trail running, hiking or mountain biking. 

This Midwestern City Is Home to the Coolest Park in America

Local residents on the hunt for their favorite steakhouse can try out contenders like Bull in the Alley, The Hemingway, Spudder and Mahogany Prime Steakhouse. But Tulsa offers more than just mouthwatering rib-eyes. Dive into the flavors of Mexico City at Noche, savor Native American dishes at Nātv in nearby Broken Arrow or enjoy grilling at your table at Mr. Kim’s Asian-inspired steakhouse. For a group outing, head to Mother Road Market, where everyone can find something to love – from Brazilian dishes at Doctor Kustom to nostalgic burgers at Howdy Burger and Nashville hot chicken at Chicken and the Wolf. Check out the Takeover Cafe Residency, where up-and-coming food entrepreneurs host pop-ups and win over new fans.

The city offers a variety of educational options for young families, including a mix of public, private and charter schools. Tulsa Public Schools is the largest public district in the area, with more than 33,000 students enrolled, serving most of the city’s students. Union Public Schools is another large public school district serving parts of Tulsa. The area offers several private school options, from religiously affiliated institutions to college-preparatory and non-sectarian schools. KIPP Academy has both a middle and high school option for residents to choose from, too.