Photo by Abby Bellow
With seniors preparing to graduate in December and April, the issue of affordable living is on some students’ minds.
According to a NewsOK article, Oklahoma City and Tulsa have been named on a Kiplinger list of the most affordable big cities in the nation. Oklahoma City is ranked the ninth most affordable city to live with the cost of living index at 9.7 percent lower than national average. Tulsa ranked fifth most affordable with the cost of living index at 11.7 percent lower than the national average.
Jeffery Simmons, professor of business management and marketing said a possible reason why Oklahoma City and Tulsa are two of the less expensive cities in the country is because of land availability and price.
“We have a lot of land and so the level of demand for that land isn’t too great, so therefore land values are the lower,” Simmons said. “It comes down to supply and demand and traditionally there hasn’t been much of a demand to live in Tulsa or Oklahoma City compared to other markets in the nation.”
Tulsa and Oklahoma City are cheaper to live in compared to Dallas, Texas, he said.
“As demand increases, that’s going to drive up prices for cost of living,” Simmons said. “Oklahoma City and Tulsa are, relatively speaking, smaller U.S. cities. Therefore, you don’t have to be in level of demand for the jurisdiction in Oklahoma City and Tulsa that you have in other markets.”
Simmons said he has not seen much of a difference compared to where he has previously lived.
“I moved here from Michigan six years ago and I didn’t see as big as a cost difference within Oklahoma,” Simmons said. “In some respect things are cheaper here… Gas prices have traditionally been cheaper here in Oklahoma than the national average.”
Simmons said that graduating seniors should consider living in Oklahoma.
“I’d encourage them to stay in Oklahoma and take a job,” Simmons said. “If you look at major markets in the U.S. then Oklahoma City is probably better than California or somewhere like New York City. And so I encourage some students to stay right here in Oklahoma to try and find a job because they realize that their income dollars will go further than if they were to move into someplace like the coast or the Northeast.”
Senior Ramiro Zamora from Fort Worth, Texas said a possible reason for Oklahoma City and Tulsa being affordable could be due to the population in the state.
“There isn’t a massive population living here in Oklahoma compared to other places,” Zamora said. “I would say it’s not as popular as other places.”
Growing up in Fort Worth and then coming to college in Oklahoma, Zamora has seen some difference between the two places.
“It’s very cheap in Fort Worth,” Zamora said. “Houses are very affordable, taxes aren’t as high.”
While Fort Worth has much land and is affordable as well, Oklahoma has one thing that is cheaper.
“The gas here is a lot cheaper than in Fort Worth,” Zamora said.
Zamora said graduating seniors should stay in Oklahoma to find a job, although he himself will not.
“I preferably would move back to Fort Worth or at least back to Texas,” Zamora, who will graduate in April 2015, said.
Senior David Lopez from Dallas, Texas said the three cities have similar affordability.
“From what I’ve heard, the affordability is very similar here in Edmond, or at least the Oklahoma City area,” Lopez said. “I think that the quality of the houses or getting a new house, they’re probably higher here.”
Lopez knows of several people who have stayed in Oklahoma, or are possibly going to when they graduate.
“I do know many people that will stay here after they graduate,” Lopez said. “I know many people who were nursing majors who graduated last year and they stayed here. I actually have a friend that pulled out a list of five reasons to stay in Oklahoma and affordability is probably two or three of those [listed].”
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