The number of establishments in Oklahoma and nationally has sharply increased over the past decade. Oklahoma’s establishment growth (50%) outpaced the national level (35%) between 2014 and 2024, adding 139 new private establishments to reach a total of 417. Employment gains at the national and state levels were smaller compared to the number of establishments. Over the past decade, total private aerospace hiring increased 25% nationally and 15% in Oklahoma. The nation added about 280,000 private sector aerospace jobs, while the state added 2,500, reaching 19,441 jobs in 2024. Oklahoma’s underperformance in hiring relative to the nation the past decade occurred mostly since 2020 in the post-pandemic period. Notably, both the state and nation have made little progress in expanding total employment over the past three decades. Employment at both the state and national levels is still slightly below the levels seen in the sector in the early 1990s. Much like establishment growth, total wages paid to private sector aerospace workers have shown significant growth over the past decade. Nationally, total wages paid increased by 73%, while in Oklahoma, they rose by 52% from 2014 to 2024. Total wages paid in Oklahoma’s private aerospace sector reached $1.8 billion in 2024, while nationally, private aerospace wages totaled $152 billion. Similar to employment, the nation’s outperformance in aerospace wage growth compared to Oklahoma occurred largely since 2020 in the post-pandemic period Components of Oklahoma’s Core Private Aerospace Sector Figure 13 provides an overview of the long-run path of establishments, employment, and total wages for each of the three NAICS sectors comprising the private aerospace sector in Oklahoma since 1990. The estimates are adjusted for a reclassification issue in Bureau of Labor Statistics data for Oklahoma prior to 2018. 14 Most of the establishments engaged in aerospace activities in Oklahoma provide air transportation services (NAICS 4881). These include the operation of airports, air traffic control, aircraft maintenance, and other air transportation support roles. The remaining firms in Oklahoma are split roughly evenly, with 104 firm engaged in air transportation (NAICS 481) and 89 firms engaged in aerospace product and parts manufacturing (NAICS 3364). In contrast, employment is far more concentrated in aerospace manufacturing (NAICS 3364), with 13,356 workers reported in the sector in 2024. Slightly more than 1,400 workers are 14 When evaluating private sector aerospace data for Oklahoma, it is important to note a reclassification by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of approximately 6,000 jobs from NAICS 4881 to NAICS 3364 between 2017 to 2018. The result was a significant shifting of what were historically maintenance and repair jobs to manufacturing jobs. To create a consistent series over time, the estimates for Oklahoma employment and wages are adjusted from 1990 to 2017 to reflect the shift between industries in 2018. While this creates a consistent series over time, the shift by BLS is believed to overstate manufacturing employment in NAICS 3364 and understate maintenance and repair activity in NAICS 4881. The shift does not affect overall totals for employment or wages in Figure 12 but affects the individual components reported in Figures 13 and 14.
Greater OKC Region Aerospace and Aviation - 2025
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