Tulsa, Oklahoma is a unique city with a warmth and charm all its
own. With its American Indian heritage, western frontier
history and the discovery of oil nearby leading to the designation
The Oil Capitol of the World, Tulsa was the quintessential boom
town in the early third of the 20th century.
Today, Tulsa's heritage lives on in its many beautiful art deco
buildings, parks and museums featuring American Indian and American
West life.
The city of Tulsa stands at the intersection of Tulsa, Osage and
Rogers counties, in the heart of Oklahoma's forested rolling hills
in the northeastern part of the state. Together with oil centers in
Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Texas, Tulsa is a giant in the world's
petroleum market, with more than 1,000 firms dependent on the
production and sale of oil.
Tulsa was first settled by Creek Indians in 1828. In 1848,
Creek Indian Lewis Perryman established the first trading post at
the new settlement, and in 1878 his son George developed a regular
mail station at the site, which then came to be called Tulsa,
probably from the Talsi or Talasi branch of the Creek
tribe.
Originally a cattle and dry goods trading center drawing
attention from ranchers scattered throughout the area, Tulsa was
integrated into a wider trading area in 1882 when the Frisco
railroad brought a line through town. This in turn
facilitated the movement of new settlers into the area and allowed
"Tulsey Town" to transport cattle to the stockyards of St. Louis
and Chicago and from there, throughout the nation. Tulsa was
incorporated as a town on January 18, 1898.
Oil was first discovered in the area in 1901. In 1905, 2
years before statehood, a huge strike - the world's largest at the
time - was made at Glenn Pool, where oil still flows to this
day. By 1920, the city was already well-known as the "Oil
Capitol of the World". Many of Tulsa's historic buildings
were constructed during the boom period, which explains the city's
extraordinary art deco flavor in its downtown architecture.
Oil naturally fueled the growth of aviation, and Tulsa was an
early center for the development of this industry. During the
Second World War, many of the nation's pilots were trained at
Spartan School of Aeronautics and Douglas Aircraft sited a major
manufacturing plant in Tulsa. In later years, both McDonnell
Douglas and Rockwell International based aviation and space
technology operations in Tulsa. Today, American Airlines
operates a major maintenance facility in Tulsa and the Tulsa
International Airport offers direct service to many major
cities.
Today, with just under 1 million residents, the Tulsa MSA
(Metropolitan Statistical Area) ranks 54th in the
nation, slightly less than Tuscon, AZ and Honolulu, HI and slightly
more than Fresno, CA, Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT, and
Albuquerque, NM. What distinguishes Tulsa from other similar
sized American cities, is it's relative diversity and
representativeness. Tulsa ranks very high on the index for
key demographics such as age, gender, ethnicity, education, and
income and is a very good market for gauging the opinion of
"typical" Americans.
The Tulsa metropolitan surrounding area (MSA) is comprised of
seven counties with an aggregate population estimated at 916,457 or
25.1 percent of the population in Oklahoma. The gross product of
all goods and services produced in the seven-county MSA is $33.6
billion or 29 percent of the Oklahoma economy.
A quick look at Tulsa MSA demographics:
- Male 49.6%; Female 50.4%
- Median age: 37.1
- Average household income: $64,106
- Number of employees: 471,256
Tulsa Rankings:
- No. 1 place to live in the U.S. (Relocate America, 2009)
- No. 5 on America's Most Livable Cities (Forbes.com, 2009)
- 2nd shortest commute time in the nation
- Cost of living is 12 percent below the national average
- 5th lowest cost for doing business in the nation
- Tulsa County's per capita income is 16 percent above the
national average
- Named one of the Top 10 southern cities by Southern Living
Tulsa is Home to:
- The nation's largest Young Professional Organization
- America's largest Community Foundation
- The country's best Chamber of Commerce (2008)
- One of the largest heritages of art deco art and architecture
in the U.S
- Top travel spot and most affordable destination (2008)
- One of the nation's best cities for minor league sports
The city of Tulsa and the state of Oklahoma have much going on
today. A partial list of accolades relevant to today:
No. 1 state for entrepreneurship(Kauffman
Foundation 2010)
No. 1 affordable city in the U.S.(Relocate America 2010)
No. 1 metro for cost of living(Business Facilities 2010)
No. 1 fastest-growing state by GDP(The Huffington Post 2010)
No. 2 city for second quarter 2011 employment outlook(Manpower
2011)
No. 2 housing market(MSNBC 2010)
No. 3 city for starter homes(CNBC 2010)
No. 3 state for corporate tax environment(Area Development
2010)
No. 4 city for Ten Best Places to Find a Job(The Fiscal Times
2011)
No. 4 city for jobs in winter 2011(Forbes 2010)
No. 4 metro for quality of life(Business Facilities 2010)
No. 4 state for employment(Business Facilities 2010)
No. 4 state for workforce development(Area Development 2010)
Top 5 real estate market for value gain(Zillow.com 2011)
No. 5 place to buy a home(Zillow.com 2011)
No. 5 strongest economy for families(Parenting Magazine, Best
Cities 2010)
No. 6 state for wind power capicity(U.S. Dept. of Energey
2011)
No. 6 region for small business(The Business Journals 2011)
No. 6 place to live in the U.S.(Relocate America 2010)
No. 8 U.S. city for young adults(Portfolio.com 2010)
No. 9 metro for GDP growth in 2009(U.S. Bureau of Economic
Analysis 2010)
No. 9 venue in the U.S. and No. 27 worldwide, BOK Center(Pollstar
Magazine 2011)
Top 10 state for job growth and business creation(U.S. Bureau of
Labor Statistics 2011)Top 10 city in which to retire(AARP
2011)
No. 10 city having an awesome recovery(Business Insider
2010)
No. 10 state for doing business(Area Development 2010)
Top 10 pro-business communities in the South, without a
beach(Southern Business & Development 2011)
No. 11 for best state for business(Chief Executive Magazine
2011)
No. 15 affordable city(Forbes 2011)
Top 20 strongest performing metro economies(Brookings Institution
2010)
No. 25 best city for business(Market Watch 2010)