Tulsa, OK cityscape
Markets / Oklahoma / Tulsa
RENTAL MARKET INTELLIGENCE

Tulsa, OK

Tulsa merits investigation by cash-flow buyers prepared to underwrite slow employment growth and flood exposure; buyers relying on rapid demand growth or unwilling to assess water risk should avoid it.

Median price$256k
Median rent$1,361
Gross yield6.4%
Job growth▲ 0.1%
Metro Area · CBSA 4614040 public sourcesChecked nightly
SCORE / 10050RANK #267 / 571
Composite Market ScoreRank #267 of 571 scored US market areas
Direct rental answer

How much is rent in Tulsa, OK?

Zillow's metro-wide Observed Rent Index is $1,361 per month for 2026-06-30. That is up 3.25% from a year earlier.

Zillow ZORI$1,3612026-06-30

All homes and bedroom counts

Census ACS gross rent$1,078ACS 2024 5-year

Occupied rental units paying rent

HUD 2BR FMR$1,217FY2026 FMR

Two-bedroom standard

These figures are not averaged together. Zillow and Realtor describe asking-rent markets, ACS measures rent paid by surveyed households, and HUD publishes administrative bedroom standards.

Exact county schedules

HUD rent benchmarks inside Tulsa

Every row keeps its own county FIPS schedule. No county is selected as a metro proxy and no synthetic metro FMR is calculated.

FY2026 FMR · FY2026 · monthly gross-rent standards
CountyStudio1 BR2 BR3 BR4 BR
Tulsa County, OKFIPS 40143$933$987$1,217$1,602$1,858
Rogers County, OKFIPS 40131$933$987$1,217$1,602$1,858
Wagoner County, OKFIPS 40145$933$987$1,217$1,602$1,858
Creek County, OKFIPS 40037$933$987$1,217$1,602$1,858
Osage County, OKFIPS 40113$933$987$1,217$1,602$1,858
Okmulgee County, OKFIPS 40111$763$766$937$1,284$1,289
Pawnee County, OKFIPS 40117$774$818$1,006$1,336$1,688
The read

Why this market scores where it does

Tulsa merits investigation by cash-flow buyers prepared to underwrite slow employment growth and flood exposure; buyers relying on rapid demand growth or unwilling to assess water risk should avoid it. A $255,840 median value, $1,361 asking rent and 6.38% gross yield set the headline economics before expenses.

Rent grew 3.25% while CES employment rose just 0.12%, so rent momentum is stronger than the labor signal. Net migration was positive at 1,753 households, but that support does not remove the risk that weak job growth limits tenant demand.

Inventory is tight at 2.4 months, yet 32.53% of listings had price cuts, showing that scarce supply does not eliminate property-level negotiation. The 4,854 permits warrant monitoring for added supply; inland flood exposure and the 0.1606% annual climate loss ratio require property-level insurance and loss review.

Frequently Asked Investor Questions

What are the headline price, rent and yield?
Median home value is $255,840, median asking rent is $1,361 per month, and gross yield is 6.38%.
Is household migration positive or negative?
Tax filings show 16,241 households moved in and 14,488 moved out, for net migration of 1,753.
How large is non-occupant mortgage activity?
Non-occupants represented 11.9% of purchase mortgages.

Investor Quick Takeaways

Gross Yield: 6.4%

Computed from the current Zillow rent and home-value medians.

Rent Momentum: ▲ 3.25%

Zillow ZORI rent growth trend over trailing 12 months.

Investor Activity: 11.9%

Originated investment purchase share (CFPB HMDA).

Climate Exposure: FEMA NRI

Annualized loss ratio evaluated for flood & hurricane risk.

Run Cash-Flow Test for Tulsa
Market pulse

The current market in eight signals

Fast-moving Redfin conditions sit beside the slower fundamentals so a buyer can separate today's negotiating climate from the long-run investment case.

Months of supply2.4 mo.▼ from 2.6 mo. a year ago
Median days on market31 days▲ from 28 days a year ago
Listings with price drops32.5%▲ from 29.5% a year ago
Sale-to-list ratio98.3%2026-05-01
Home value growth▲ 2.9%Zillow ZHVI · trailing 12 months
Rent growth▲ 3.25%Zillow ZORI · trailing 12 months
Gross rental yield6.4%Rent × 12 ÷ price
Payroll job growth▲ 0.1%CES · 12m to 2026-06
Release-to-release evidence

What actually changed

This comparison exists because at least one underlying source period advanced. Rebuilding the same data never creates a new observation.

Published score held steady5050
0 pts

The published component scores did not move in this release.

Weights were unchanged at metro-2026-07-v2-omb2023, so the movement comes from refreshed evidence and percentile ranks.

The named source periods advanced, but the measured values on this page held steady.

Composite breakdown

What each component measures

Weights are published, not hidden, and the arithmetic is shown. Five components, each measured as a national percentile across all tracked metros.

Jobs49Rent trend49Affordability57Supply58Climate safety39
Published arithmeticComponent × weight = points
50
SignalScoreWeightPoints
Job growth4930%14.70
Rent trend4925%12.25
Affordability5715%8.55
Supply pressure5815%8.70
Climate risk3915%5.85
Published score50
Tulsa, OK scoreRank #267
50
Job growth49/100

CES employment grew 0.12% -> the labor-market signal offers little confirmation for stronger rent growth.

Rent trend49/100

Asking rent grew 3.25% and gross yield is 6.38% -> rent is rising, but the headline yield is not a net return because operating costs are not published.

Affordability57/100

Rent is 23.55% of median income and price is 3.69 times income -> median-income underwriting has a defined local benchmark, though tenant-level distributions are not published.

Supply pressure58/100

Supply is 2.4 months and 32.53% of listings had price cuts -> scarcity and negotiation coexist, so broad seller leverage should not be assumed.

Climate risk39/100

A 0.1606% annual climate loss ratio with inland flood as the dominant hazard -> insurance terms and parcel-level flood exposure are key diligence items.

The numbers

What this market costs and what it earns

Every derived ratio below recomputes from the same source record used by the article and score.

ZHVI Median Price
$256k
YoY ▲ 2.9%
ZORI Median Rent
$1,361
YoY ▲ 3.25%
Gross Rental Yield
6.4%
Rent × 12 ÷ price
$1,361 × 12 ÷ $255,840
Job Growth (YoY)
▲ 0.1%
CES payrolls
Job signal 49/100
Median Household Income
$69k
Census ACS 5-year
Rent Burden
23.5%
Annual rent ÷ household income
Price-to-Income
3.7x
Median value ÷ household income
HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent
$1,217
Market rent 111.8% of FMR
Historical affordability context

Compare aligned 2019 and 2024 asking-rent and nominal household-income endpoints across the direct-overlap metro set.

Independent rent evidence

One market, several legitimate rent benchmarks

These releases observe different homes and different moments. RentMarker keeps them separate: ZORI remains the scoring baseline, while the other sources test how sensitive the market story is to bedroom mix and measurement method.

Monthly benchmark4 of 4 reported values
Zero-based scale
Monthly rental benchmarksIndependent monthly rent measures shown on a zero-based scale. Missing source values are labelled unavailable and are not inferred.$0$375$750$1,125$1,500Zillow ZORI2026-06-30$1,361HUD 1BR FMRFY2026 FMR$987HUD 2BR FMRFY2026 FMR$1,217Census ACS gross rentACS 2024 5-year$1,078Monthly rental benchmarksIndependent monthly rent measures shown on a zero-based scale. Missing source values are labelled unavailable and are not inferred.$0$750$1,500Zillow ZORI2026-06-30$1,361HUD 1BR FMRFY2026 FMR$987HUD 2BR FMRFY2026 FMR$1,217ACS gross rentACS 2024 5-year$1,078
The chart compares published levels without averaging them. A longer bar does not mean a source is more accurate; it means that source measures a higher rent under its own definition.
Typical observed market rentZillow ZORI
$1,361Primary RentMarker baseline
2026-06-30

All homes and bedroom counts

A smoothed metro rent index for observed rentals; it is the primary rent used by RentMarker scores and career ratios.

View source release ↗
Fair Market RentHUD 1BR FMR
$987−$374 vs ZORI
FY2026 FMR

One-bedroom standard

An administrative gross-rent benchmark used by HUD programs; it is neither a listing median nor a prediction of one lease.

View source release ↗
Fair Market RentHUD 2BR FMR
$1,217−$144 vs ZORI
FY2026 FMR

Two-bedroom standard

An administrative gross-rent benchmark used by HUD programs; it is neither a listing median nor a prediction of one lease.

View source release ↗
Median gross rentCensus ACS gross rent
$1,078−$283 vs ZORI
ACS 2024 5-year

Occupied rental units paying rent

A five-year survey estimate of contract rent plus applicable tenant-paid utilities; it is not a current asking-rent index.

View source release ↗
Take the next step

Keep Tulsa as context, then replace market-wide evidence with the candidate property's facts.

Direct local rental evidence

Recent leases and rental-market liquidity in Tulsa, OK

These Apartment List observations match the exact metro CBSA code 46140. They are kept separate from Zillow asking rent, Census occupied-home rent and property-level comparables.

Direct recent-lease rent history

Monthly overall-rent index; missing observations are not filled from another geography.

$1,089$911$7332017-012026-07
Recent-lease rent$1,0892026-07 · +1.2% year over year
Rental vacancy5.6%2026-07 · +0.3 percentage points year over year
Time on market24 days2026-07 · -1.8 days year over year
Measured rent retention

How much of gross yield survives the first two measured deductions?

This bridge subtracts direct rental vacancy and effective property tax only. It is not net yield, NOI, cap rate or property cash flow.

Gross-to-retained yield bridgeApartment List 2026-07
Gross yield bridged to measured rent-retention yieldGross yield of 6.4%, less property-tax drag of 0.9% and vacancy drag of 0.4%, leaves measured rent retention of 5.1%.5.1%6.4%RETAINEDGROSS
measured retention property tax vacancy
Gross yield
6.4%
Vacancy
5.6%
Effective tax
0.9%
Retained yield
5.1%
Regional price level

What feels expensive inside Tulsa

BEA compares each category with the United States, which equals 100. This is a 2024 price-level comparison—not annual inflation.

BEA Regional Price Parities · 2024US = 100
Regional price parity categories for Tulsa, OKHorizontal bars compare all-items, housing, goods, utilities and other-services price levels with the United States benchmark of 100.60708090100110All items89.2Housing68.2Goods93.8Utilities73.9Other services95.5
Orange extends above the national level; emerald extends below it. The chart does not convert rent or income into purchasing power.
Occupation wage lens

How asking rent sits against major local occupations

Annualized Zillow asking rent is divided by each BLS annual median wage. This is a screening ratio for one wage, not a household budget or affordability verdict.

Six largest published major groupsannual rent ÷ median wage
Annualized asking rent compared with major occupational median wages in Tulsa, OKHorizontal bars show annualized Zillow asking rent as a share of the BLS annual median wage for six major occupational groups with the largest published employment.0%10%20%30%40%50%60%Office and AdministrativeSupport Occupations$44,000 median wage37.1%Food Preparation and ServingRelated Occupations$28,070 median wage58.2%Sales and Related Occupations$35,830 median wage45.6%Transportation and MaterialMoving Occupations$37,790 median wage43.2%Production Occupations$47,680 median wage34.3%Healthcare Practitioners andTechnical Occupations$81,110 median wage20.1%
Office and Administrative Support Occupations$44,000 median wage
37.1%
Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations$28,070 median wage
58.2%
Sales and Related Occupations$35,830 median wage
45.6%
Transportation and Material Moving Occupations$37,790 median wage
43.2%
Production Occupations$47,680 median wage
34.3%
Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations$81,110 median wage
20.1%
BLS OEWS 2025-05; Zillow rent 2026-06-30. The 30% line is a visible screen, not a RentMarker score or a claim about household costs.
Supply pipeline

What is being built, and for whom

Permits are the 12-to-24 month early warning. The total matters less than the mix: apartments compete with a rental the day they open.

National supply context

Compare this authorization pipeline with asking-rent growth, jobs and for-sale liquidity across the evidence-complete metro set.

Building permits by structure type
units per year · latest year annualised
Download CSV ↓
4,25620194,84220204,80020215,05720224,87020234,20320245,03220254,74220265+ unit buildingssingle family
4,742 units authorised in 2026, 37% of them in 5+ unit buildings. A meaningful share is apartments, which discount first when they lease up. ✓ recomputed from series
Source: Census Building Permits Survey
Who is arriving, and who is buying

Demand, and the competition for it

Tax filings say how many households moved and what they earn; mortgage disclosures say how many local purchases went to someone who will not live there. Moves between counties inside this metro are netted out of both flow figures.

Net Household Move
+1,753
16,241 in vs 14,488 out (IRS SOI)
▲ 10.8% of arriving households
Mover Income Gap
+$698
Arriving $61,004 vs leaving $60,306
Average AGI per tax return (IRS SOI)
Investor Purchase Share
11.9%
1,477 of 12,412 originated purchase loans
CFPB HMDA 2024
Dominant Hazard
inland flooding
0.161% building value annual loss ratio
FEMA NRI · risk type: water
Compare yield and FEMA exposure →
Households arrive mainly from: Oklahoma County · Washington County · Muskogee County · Payne County · Mayes County
16,241 in − 14,488 out = 1,753 net
Direct market links

Where tax-return households moved from and to

These are the largest flows where both counties map to a RentMarker market area. They are a documented subset of the all-US IRS totals above.

Explore every route
Leading inbound markets
  1. Oklahoma City, OK1,393 arriving
  2. Dallas, TX646 arriving
  3. Muskogee, OK526 arriving
Leading outbound markets
  1. Oklahoma City, OK1,462 leaving
  2. Dallas, TX645 leaving
  3. Muskogee, OK506 leaving
The other side

What would make this a bad buy

Generated from the same figures with the instruction to argue against the score, and published unedited. A page that only agrees with itself is an advertisement.

Three ways the case breaks

  1. CES employment grew only 0.12%, leaving little labor-market confirmation for the 3.25% rent increase.
  2. Price cuts affected 32.53% of listings despite 2.4 months of supply, so low inventory may not translate into dependable pricing power.
  3. Inland flood is the dominant hazard, and the 0.1606% annual climate loss ratio adds property-level loss risk not reflected in gross yield.
Statistical peers

Market areas that behave like Tulsa

Nearest neighbours on price level, income, yield and job growth — not on geography. Every market page gets a different peer set, which is the point.

Market areaScorePriceRentYieldJob Growth
Tulsa, OK (Target)50$256k$1,3616.4%▲ 0.1%
Birmingham, AL39$264k$1,4626.7%▲ 0.2%
Baton Rouge, LA40$250k$1,4036.7%▼ 0.0%
Little Rock, AR42$233k$1,2776.6%▲ 0.2%
Greensboro, NC54$267k$1,4116.3%▲ 0.5%
Provenance

Where every figure came from

“Checked nightly” means every source is re-pulled and re-verified each night. It does not mean every source moves nightly — the release column tells you how fresh each number can possibly be.

Dataset SourceMethodRelease PeriodPulled Date
Census ACS 5-year — household income and gross rentdirectACS 2024 5-year2026-08-05
Census ACS 5-year — historical household incomedirectACS 2019 and 2024 5-year2026-08-05
Census ACS 5-year — populationdirectACS 2024 5-year2026-07-26
Apartment List Rent Estimates — recent-lease rent indexdirectApartment List 2026-072026-08-08
Apartment List Time on Market — listing liquiditydirectApartment List 2026-072026-08-08
Apartment List Vacancy Index — rental vacancydirectApartment List 2026-072026-08-08
BEA County Personal Income — income and populationdirect2024 County Personal Income (released 2026-02-05); history 1969-20242026-08-03
BEA Regional Price Parities — metropolitan price levelsdirect2024 Regional Price Parities (released 2026-02-19); history 2008-20242026-08-03
BLS CES — payroll employmentdirectCES SM current2026-07-26
BLS LAUS — resident employmentdirectLAUS current2026-07-26
BLS OEWS — occupation employment and wagesdirectMay 2025 OEWS estimates (released 2026-05-15)2026-08-03
BLS QCEW — county employment and wagesdirectannual county employment and wages 2021-2025; latest 2025 vs 20242026-08-02
OMB/BLS delineation — metro geographydirectOMB July 2023 delineation2026-07-30
Census Building Permits Survey — permitted unitsdirectBPS through 20262026-07-26
Census ACS 5-year — city population, households and housingdirectACS 2024 5-year2026-07-29
Census ACS 5-year — county housing value, tenure and stockdirectACS 2024 5-year2026-07-30
Census ACS 5-year — cities and communitiesdirectACS 2024 5-year2026-07-30
Census ACS five-year — ZCTA housing and incomedirectACS 2024 5-year ZCTA2026-08-08
FEMA National Risk Index — hazard loss ratiosmodelledNRI counties (FEMA ArcGIS)2026-07-26
FHFA House Price Index — annual county appreciationdirectannual county HPI history 1975-2025; latest 20252026-08-02
HMDA / CFPB — purchases by occupancy typedirectHMDA 2024 purchase originations2026-07-26
HUD CHAS — renter burden by HAMFI income banddirectHUD CHAS 2018-2022 ACS 5-year (released 2025-12-23)2026-08-03
HUD Fair Market Rents — Section 8 standarddirectFY2026 FMR2026-07-26
HUD USPS crosswalk and Small Area FMRs — ZIP rent fallbackdirectZIP-CBSA 2025Q4 + SAFMR FY20262026-07-26
HUD-USPS ZIP-to-county residential-address crosswalkdirectHUD-USPS 2026Q12026-08-09
IRS SOI — county migration and mover incomedirectSOI migration 2022-20232026-07-26
Freddie Mac PMMS — mortgage ratesdirectweek of 2026-07-302026-08-06
Census ACS 5-year — effective property taxdirectACS 2024 5-year2026-08-06
Realtor.com Economic Research — county listing inventorydirectcounty inventory 2026-062026-07-28
Realtor.com Rental Report — top-50 asking rentsdirecttop-50 rental asking rents 2026-052026-08-05
Redfin Data Center — inventory, days on market, and price cutsdirectmetro tracker through 2026-05-012026-07-26
Redfin Data Center — ZIP resale activity and supplydirectZIP rolling 3 months through 2026-06-30; updated 2026-07-032026-08-12
USDA ERS — Rural-Urban Continuum CodesdirectUSDA ERS 2023 Rural-Urban Continuum Codes2026-08-02
Zillow ZHVI and ZORI — county values and rentsdirectcounty ZHVI/ZORI 2026-062026-07-26
Zillow ZHVI — metro home valuesdirectMetro_zhvi_uc_sfrcondo_tier_0.33_0.67_sm_sa_month.csv2026-07-26
Zillow ZHVI — city home valuesdirectzillow_zhvi_city.csv2026-07-29
Zillow ZORI — metro market rentsdirectMetro_zori_uc_sfrcondomfr_sm_sa_month.csv2026-07-26
Zillow ZORI — city market rentsdirectzillow_zori_city.csv2026-07-29
Zillow ZORI - metro market rents, not seasonally adjusteddirectMetro_zori_uc_sfrcondomfr_sm_month.csv2026-08-15
Zillow ZORI — ZIP market rentsdirectZORI ZIP 2026-062026-08-08