Regional Analysis

1. General Description of the Region 

The CEDS project area encompasses Tulsa and Osage Counties in the State of Oklahoma.  The area reflects urban, suburban and rural characteristics and contains several cities/towns of varying size and economic/social diversity.  The two counties are at the heart of a larger economic region represented by the designated Tulsa Metropolitan Statistical Area (historically five counties and most recently designated in the 2000 Census as seven counties).  Beyond the MSA, Tulsa has a labor draw that comes primarily from 10 counties that contain a population of over one million residents.  

The area is also home to three major American Indian Tribes including the Osage, the Cherokee and the Muscogee Creek Nations.

With an area of 570.3 square miles, Tulsa County is largely urbanized and has 10 cities/towns within its borders:  Bixby, Broken Arrow, Collinsville, Glenpool, Jenks, Owasso, Sand Springs, Skiatook, Sperry and Tulsa.   

Adjacent Osage County has a huge, basically rural, geographic area of 2,251 square miles with a relatively small population centered in smaller cities and towns represented by Avant, Barnsdall, Burbank, Fairfax, Foraker, Grainola, Hominy, Pawhuska, Shidler and Wynona. The number of persons per square mile is 19.7.  The City of Sand Springs, the Town of Skiatook and the City of Tulsa all include land area in both Tulsa and Osage Counties.  Osage County is home to the historic Osage Indian Reservation.  The setting is high plains, rolling hills, rich farm and cattle lands and the Nations largest preserve of Tall Grass Prairie.