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Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Military veterans have earned every benefit — where do those benefits go furthest? We analyzed 4 cities in Oklahoma: cost, state taxes, and supplemental healthcare. Oklahoma — index 73, 4.75% state tax — leads.
#1 Ranked: Oklahoma — cost index 73, rent $1,255/mo, income $66,702
Veteran scoring: cost index 73, state tax 4.75%, healthcare index 95 — preserving earned benefits
Data sourced from Census Bureau, Zillow, BLS, and Tax Foundation — current as of 2026
Military veterans have earned every benefit — where do those benefits go furthest? We analyzed 4 cities in Oklahoma: cost, state taxes, and supplemental healthcare. Oklahoma — index 73, 4.75% state tax — leads.
Here's Oklahoma by the numbers — and there's a lot to like (and a little to watch). Cost index: 73. Rent: $1,255/month. Income: $66,702/year. Home price: $203,329. Population: 702,767. The strongest category is Housing at 73; the most expensive is Healthcare at 95. Translate that rent to annual numbers, and residents are saving renters $7,680 per year vs. the national median. That ratio is hard to beat anywhere else.
If you're ready to act on this, three things to do next: 1) Click into the city pages for the top 3 and check rent trends — direction matters more than the snapshot. 2) Run your income through the salary calculator for a personalized cost comparison. 3) Compare your top two picks head-to-head on our comparison page. The data is here; the decision is yours.
702,767 residents · Oklahoma
The #1 spot goes to Oklahoma, and the breakdown explains why. Renters here pay $1,255/month — saving renters $7,680 per year compared to the national average. Meanwhile, Housing is the standout at index 73, making it one of the cheapest in the country for that category. The weak spot? Healthcare at 95. At a 23% rent-to-income ratio, there's genuine breathing room in the average household budget (that's pre-tax, of course).
411,894 residents · Oklahoma
Here's Tulsa by the numbers — and there's a lot to like (and a little to watch). Cost index: 70. Rent: $1,207/month. Income: $58,407/year. Home price: $212,757. Population: 411,894. The strongest category is Housing at 70; the most expensive is Healthcare at 94. Translate that rent to annual numbers, and residents are saving renters $8,256 per year vs. the national median. This is quietly one of the better values out there (not adjusted for inflation, but still telling).
130,046 residents · Oklahoma
Dive into Norman's numbers: cost index 75 (36 points below national average), rent $1,289/month, income $65,060, and a home price of $257,977. About what you'd guess. The city's cost profile isn't flat — Housing is the cheapest category at 75, while Healthcare runs 95. With 130,046 residents, it balances mid-size city convenience with manageable costs.
119,194 residents · Oklahoma
What does daily life actually cost in Broken Arrow? Start with the 24% rent-to-income ratio — that's the kind of margin that lets people build savings. On the category level, Housing (index 98) is where the real savings show up, while Healthcare (index 100) is the line item most likely to surprise newcomers. Income at $85,220 and homes at $283,474 round out a profile that ranks #4 for clear reasons.
Our persona scoring model weights cost, income, rent, healthcare, taxes, and city size based on what matters most to military veterans. Each factor scores 10-25 points out of a 100-point composite. The guide ranks every tracked city in Oklahoma by this personalized metric. All data is sourced from federal agencies and verified research institutions. Cost of living indices are normalized to 100 (national median) using Zillow rent as the primary signal, with sub-category adjustments derived from regional BLS price data. Rankings are updated monthly as new data is released.
Oklahoma ranks #1 in Oklahoma for this analysis with a cost index of 73 and median income of $66,702.
Oklahoma scores highest for military veterans due to its below-average cost of living, median rent of $1,255/mo, and competitive median income of $66,702.
Our cost of living index uses real Zillow rent data as the foundation, indexed to 100 (national median). Sub-categories (housing, food, transport, utilities, healthcare) are derived from the overall index with regional adjustments. Data is updated monthly.
Oklahoma (ranked #1) has a cost index of 73 and rent of $1,255/mo, while Broken Arrow (ranked #4) has a cost index of 98 and rent of $1,671/mo — a 25-point difference in cost of living.
City data is refreshed monthly from Census Bureau population estimates, Zillow rent and home price indices, BLS salary data, and Tax Foundation tax rates. Last updated: 2026.
The median 1-bedroom rent in Oklahoma is $1,255/month as of 2026, based on Zillow's Observed Rent Index. This is $640 below the national median of $1,895/month.
The median home price in Oklahoma is $203,329, which is 3.0× the local median income. That's within the standard 3.5× affordability rule for most local earners. The national median home price is $467,370.
Oklahoma has a 4.75% state income tax rate. Combined state and local sales tax averages 8.97%, and the effective property tax rate is 0.82%.
This ranking was generated using data current as of early 2026. Population and income data comes from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey (5-year estimates). Rent and home price data is from Zillow's monthly releases. Tax rates are from the Tax Foundation's 2025 edition. Rankings are refreshed monthly.