Renters in Oklahoma City and Tulsa just got fresh confirmation that, by national standards, their leases are still relatively kind to their wallets. Both cities landed on a new ranking of the most affordable rental markets in the country, with Oklahoma City at No. 26 and Tulsa at No. 45. Typical rents clock in at about 19.8% of median household income in Oklahoma City and roughly 21.1% in Tulsa, keeping both metros well below the strain seen in many coastal hot spots.
The list comes from a national breakdown of rental affordability compiled by WalletHub. The site compared median annual gross rent with median household income across 182 U.S. cities, a methodology that helped Oklahoma’s two largest metros stand out. The rankings and local bragging rights were quickly highlighted by The Oklahoman. WalletHub’s table puts Bismarck, N.D., at the very top of the affordability pile and Miami near the bottom, and the firm says it relied on U.S. Census data current through mid-March 2026.
Rents Have Climbed Sharply
Those relatively friendly Oklahoma numbers come against a rough national backdrop. Federal data show the U.S. rent index has shot up more than 50% over the last decade: the FRED series for the BLS "Rent of Primary Residence" index moved from about 293.5 in March 2016 to roughly 442.9 in March 2026. FRED notes that shelter costs remain a major driver of inflation, a reality many tenants feel every time a new lease shows up. Looking at median rent as a share of median income is one way to see how that pressure lands very differently from city to city.
Why Oklahoma Still Fares Better
Oklahoma City’s strong showing tracks with other cost-of-living scorecards. The metro has repeatedly landed among the country’s cheapest large cities in the Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER) indexes, according to Greater Oklahoma City Economic Development. Lower housing costs - especially when stacked up against coastal urban centers - help keep rent-to-income ratios in check. Tulsa’s top-50 placement signals that this affordability edge extends beyond the capital, even if prices can swing quite a bit from neighborhood to neighborhood.
What Renters Should Watch
Broader state data help explain why both cities perform well in WalletHub’s snapshot. U.S. Census Bureau estimates show that Oklahoma’s median gross rent for 2020–2024 sits near the lower end compared with other states, according to U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts. That lines up with the idea that renters in Oklahoma generally face lower median rents than many coastal counterparts, even though any given household’s reality still depends on its income, neighborhood, and the local housing supply. For the moment, the latest ranking is one more data point suggesting Oklahoma remains a relatively affordable place to sign a lease.
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