OKC MAPS PROJECTS – 25 YEARS
• The total number of Oklahoma County residents working in the study area increased 20.4 percent in the period to a total of 35,432, exceeding the overall downtown job gain of 17.3 percent in the period. • Neighboring counties supplied the remaining one-third of workers in the period, a reflection of the continued broad distribution of labor across the region. • Residents of both Cleveland and Canadian counties gained about 1,000 downtown jobs each in the period. Despite large and growing numbers of in-commuters to downtown, growth in employment of residents who live in the study area has been even stronger. • Measured from the recent bottom in 2010, employment among study area residents regardless of where they work increased 26.8 percent through 2015, or a total of 5,280 workers. Jobs in the downtown study area remain highly concentrated in four sectors - health care, education (primarily medical), public administration (city, state and federal government) and mining. • These four sectors represent the traditional areas of employment concentration downtown. • These sectors are anticipated to remain anchors in the area in the near- to intermediate-term. • In the longer-term, however, industry diversification could begin to introduce significant change to the current industry structure downtown. The growth rate for downtown jobs has been larger and more persistent for residents who live in the study area versus commuters coming from outside downtown. • Total jobs in downtown held by downtown residents were at a recent bottom of 1,006 in 2010 and increased by 600 to just above 1,600 by 2015, a 59 percent gain in the period. • Though the absolute numbers are smaller than for commuters, job growth rates are far higher for downtown residents and suggest an important shift in the labor supply of the region. Recent growth in the number of workers who both live and work downtown is found almost exclusively among workers in the highest wage category. • Based on monthly earnings in three income ranges ($1,250 or less, $1,251 to $3,333, and more than $3,333), the number of workers in the highest wage category has increased steadily from about 400 in 2007 to 944 in 2015, a more than doubling in the period. • In contrast, while a significant share of downtown residents is employed in lower-paying jobs located downtown, the number has remained flat or fallen slightly since 2002. ZIP code-based employment estimates for the study area similarly suggest a surge in downtown hiring in recent years following an extended period of relatively stagnant business activity. • Following little net hiring growth in the study area from the Oil Bust in the early 1980s through the late 2000s, more than 8,800 jobs were added in the downtown study area ZIP codes between 2009 and 2016, a 22 percent gain in the period. • Total jobs in the four primary downtown ZIP codes surged to more than 48,716 in 2016.
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