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PantryPath Research · Rural & Persistent Poverty Atlas

Rural poverty in Oklahoma

10 persistent-poverty counties

Oklahoma has 10 persistent-poverty counties and 59 nonmetro counties — home to 258,504 residents living in counties with 30+ years of 20%-or-higher poverty. The state's all-ages poverty rate is 15.3% and child poverty is 20.1%.

10

Persistent-poverty counties

59

Nonmetro counties (RUCC 4–9)

259K

Residents in PPCs

77

Total counties

Oklahoma by county

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Toggle between the rural hunger risk score, all-ages poverty, child poverty, the Rural-Urban Continuum Code, and the binary persistent-poverty flag. Hover a county for its ERS typology and ACS poverty rate.

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Oklahoma at a glance

Poverty rate

15.3%

All ages, ACS S1701

Child poverty

20.1%

Under 18

PPC share

13.0%

Of counties in state

Nonmetro share

76.6%

RUCC 4–9

Pantries / 100K

3.10

PantryPath verified

Risk score (mean)

0.29

Composite 0–1

"Pantries / 100K" divides Oklahoma's 124 verified PantryPath pantries by the state population — a minimum-density indicator, not a saturated census. See methodology.

County-level hotspots

Top five counties across 77 in Oklahoma.

Highest rural hunger risk

Composite 0–1 score

  1. 1 Choctaw 0.69
  2. 2 Johnston 0.69
  3. 3 Coal 0.69
  4. 4 Hughes 0.68
  5. 5 Okfuskee 0.67

Highest poverty rate

ACS all-ages

  1. 1 Okfuskee 27.4%
  2. 2 Kiowa 25.0%
  3. 3 Payne 23.9%
  4. 4 Pushmataha 23.7%
  5. 5 Beckham 23.2%

Persistent-poverty counties

PPCs ranked by current poverty

  1. 1 Okfuskee 27.4%
  2. 2 Payne 23.9%
  3. 3 Seminole 22.4%
  4. 4 Choctaw 22.0%
  5. 5 Johnston 21.9%

Every county in Oklahoma

All 77 counties with RUCC, typology flags, and ACS poverty data.

County RUCC PPC Flags Poverty Child poverty Population Risk
Adair 8 Yes Low ed. 21.5% 27.2% 19,595 0.65
Alfalfa 8 — Low emp. 14.0% 23.1% 5,685 0.32
Atoka 9 — Low emp., Low ed. 17.6% 17.8% 14,255 0.37
Beaver 9 — Pop. loss 9.8% 8.0% 5,041 0.34
Beckham 7 — Low emp. 23.2% 32.1% 22,202 0.32
Blaine 8 — Low emp., Pop. loss 15.3% 23.7% 8,603 0.32
Bryan 6 — — 17.4% 20.9% 47,237 0.26
Caddo 6 — Low ed., Pop. loss 19.0% 27.7% 26,626 0.26
Canadian 1 — — 8.6% 11.5% 162,621 0.03
Carter 5 — — 15.1% 17.6% 48,255 0.21
Cherokee 6 Yes — 19.3% 23.8% 47,621 0.56
Choctaw 9 Yes Pop. loss 22.0% 27.5% 14,299 0.69
Cimarron 9 — Pop. loss 10.5% 12.5% 2,247 0.34
Cleveland 1 — — 12.8% 13.3% 297,545 0.05
Coal 9 Yes Low ed., Pop. loss 21.3% 28.6% 5,275 0.69
Comanche 3 — Low emp. 17.7% 23.0% 121,699 0.15
Cotton 3 — Pop. loss 22.9% 36.3% 5,475 0.17
Craig 6 — — 19.5% 27.7% 14,215 0.27
Creek 1 — — 13.9% 18.2% 72,353 0.06
Custer 5 — — 16.5% 12.9% 28,332 0.22
Delaware 6 — Retire. 18.6% 27.6% 41,017 0.26
Dewey 9 — — 14.4% 21.9% 4,433 0.36
Ellis 9 — — 13.8% 17.7% 3,717 0.36
Garfield 3 — — 12.7% 16.2% 62,322 0.13
Garvin 6 — — 15.3% 19.7% 25,779 0.25
Grady 1 — — 12.3% 16.8% 55,868 0.05
Grant 8 — Pop. loss 13.5% 17.4% 4,137 0.32
Greer 9 — Low emp., Low ed. 14.7% 11.7% 5,498 0.36
Harmon 9 — Pop. loss 17.0% 24.1% 2,452 0.37
Harper 9 — — 15.9% 21.4% 3,231 0.36
Haskell 8 — — 20.0% 27.8% 11,667 0.34
Hughes 9 Yes Low emp., Pop. loss 20.9% 23.8% 13,411 0.68
Jackson 7 — Pop. loss 16.0% 21.6% 24,730 0.29
Jefferson 8 — Low ed., Pop. loss 22.8% 36.9% 5,377 0.35
Johnston 9 Yes — 21.9% 29.4% 10,334 0.69
Kay 4 — Pop. loss 15.5% 21.3% 43,731 0.17
Kingfisher 8 — — 11.7% 12.7% 15,288 0.31
Kiowa 8 — Pop. loss 25.0% 33.1% 8,458 0.36
Latimer 9 — — 19.2% 25.5% 9,495 0.38
Le Flore 6 — — 20.0% 27.1% 48,728 0.27
Lincoln 1 — — 16.5% 24.2% 33,917 0.07
Logan 1 — Retire. 13.7% 17.9% 50,905 0.05
Love 9 — — 14.8% 16.9% 10,196 0.36
Major 8 — — 11.4% 13.9% 7,656 0.31
Marshall 9 — Low ed. 16.5% 20.3% 15,628 0.37
Mayes 6 — — 17.6% 24.4% 39,406 0.26
McClain 1 — — 7.8% 9.2% 43,779 0.03
McCurtain 7 Yes Pop. loss 21.1% 29.8% 30,825 0.61
McIntosh 8 — Low emp., Low ed. 20.9% 26.3% 19,237 0.35
Murray 9 — — 12.8% 18.3% 13,807 0.35
Muskogee 4 — — 20.3% 29.7% 66,471 0.19
Noble 8 — — 11.5% 13.9% 10,909 0.31
Nowata 8 — Pop. loss 16.4% 23.1% 9,392 0.33
Okfuskee 8 Yes Low emp. 27.4% 36.3% 11,304 0.67
Oklahoma 1 — Housing 15.7% 21.5% 800,487 0.06
Okmulgee 1 — — 17.6% 23.7% 36,922 0.07
Osage 1 — — 12.6% 16.7% 45,963 0.05
Ottawa 6 — Pop. loss 20.7% 28.7% 30,360 0.27
Pawnee 1 — Pop. loss 17.0% 22.5% 15,689 0.07
Payne 4 Yes Housing 23.9% 23.1% 82,290 0.51
Pittsburg 7 — — 18.2% 24.3% 43,629 0.30
Pontotoc 7 — — 12.6% 14.6% 38,158 0.28
Pottawatomie 4 — — 15.7% 19.5% 73,011 0.18
Pushmataha 9 — Low ed., Pop. loss 23.7% 29.2% 10,787 0.39
Roger Mills 9 — — 15.4% 24.7% 3,378 0.36
Rogers 1 — — 9.6% 13.2% 97,235 0.04
Seminole 7 Yes — 22.4% 29.1% 23,550 0.61
Sequoyah 3 — — 20.3% 28.1% 39,676 0.16
Stephens 4 — — 17.5% 24.7% 43,314 0.18
Texas 7 — Housing 18.5% 23.0% 20,880 0.30
Tillman 8 — Pop. loss 17.2% 21.0% 6,967 0.33
Tulsa 1 — — 14.7% 20.2% 673,708 0.06
Wagoner 1 — — 9.3% 12.6% 84,339 0.04
Washington 4 — — 14.6% 19.7% 52,895 0.17
Washita 9 — — 12.6% 16.4% 10,857 0.35
Woods 7 — Pop. loss 19.1% 18.2% 8,619 0.30
Woodward 7 — — 11.1% 13.4% 20,260 0.27

Find a food pantry in Oklahoma

Search Oklahoma's 124 verified pantries, food banks, and meal programs — filtered by city, open-now status, and service type.

Oklahoma pantry directory

Oklahoma SNAP

Income limits, application steps, and EBT card details for residents of persistent-poverty counties and beyond.

Oklahoma SNAP guide

Emergency food help

National hotlines, 211 referrals, and same-day food options — critical in rural counties where the nearest pantry may be 30+ miles away.

Emergency food

Food deserts atlas

Rural poverty and low food access often overlap. Compare persistent-poverty counties to USDA's low-income / low-access food desert designations.

Oklahoma food deserts

Methodology

How we combined USDA ERS typology codes, the Rural-Urban Continuum, ACS poverty data, and PantryPath's own pantry directory — plus the risk-score formula.

Full methodology