OKC MAPS PROJECTS – 25 YEARS
Downtown Study Area - Economic Profile Along with accelerated growth in population and housing, another key spillover effect anticipated from MAPS is growth in the base of business establishments and employment downtown. Many of the city’s largest employers have a significant presence downtown and attract workers from all regions of the metropolitan area. Much like population and other demographic measures, the results suggest a sharp increase in employment and business activity in the downtown study area since approximately 2009. Activity in the study area has also far outpaced the county, metro area and state in the period. The full report provides a detailed examination of recent changes in the size and composition of the local economy in the downtown study area. Key findings on changes in the downtown study area economy include the following: Employment Much like recent population gains, a distinct acceleration in downtown job growth has taken place since approximately 2009. • Total jobs located in the 14 census tracts in the downtown study area reached 61,100 in 2015, the most recent year of data available. • More than 9,000 jobs were added in the study area between 2009 and 2015, a 17.3 percent gain. This follows an extended period of relatively flat and volatile job growth from 2002 to 2009. • The study area far outpaced job growth at the county (12.4 percent), metro (12.5 percent) and state (8.0 percent) levels in the period. • Measured instead across the four major downtown zip codes, more than 8,800 jobs were added between 2009 and 2016, a 22 percent gain in the period. • Total jobs in the four primary downtown zip codes surged to more than 48,700 in 2016. • Job growth in the study area zip codes also far exceeds the reported 5.4 percent gain statewide, 7.7 percent gain countywide, and 7.6 percent gain for the metropolitan area in the 2009 to 2016 period using comparable measures. Most new workers in the study area since 2009 commute to downtown from outside the relatively small downtown study area. • In 2015, more than 59,500 (97.4 percent) of the 61,100 jobs downtown were held by persons who live outside the study area. • Since 2009, more than 8,500 of the approximately 9,000 new downtown jobs were filled by residents living outside the immediate downtown study area. However, most new jobs in the downtown study area since 2009 were filled by workers who live in Oklahoma County. • Two-thirds (5,999) of the 9,009 net new jobs downtown were filled by residents living in Oklahoma County.
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