Results of the annual Oklahoma City resident survey show that most people living within the city are consistently happy with the direction the city is moving.
For a 2025 survey administered to 1,283 random households, 72% of respondents believe the city is moving in the right direction, up three percentage points from last year’s survey. That’s also nearly 24 points higher than the national average and 30 points higher than the average for large communities, according to ETC Institute, the Kansas-based research firm that has conducted the survey the past two decades.
According to the survey, 80% of respondents said they were satisfied overall with Oklahoma City as a place to live. The overall quality of services provided by the city rated 19 points above the average for large communities and nearly 12 points above the national average.
For 2025, Oklahoma City ranked 30% above the national average as a place to live, 16% above as a place to work and 14% above as a place to retire. As a place to visit, the city rated nearly 13% above the national average, and as a place to raise children, Oklahoma City rated 5% above the national average.
“For the most part, the trends are pretty much the same compared to a year ago,” said ETC Institute CEO Chris Tatham as he presented the survey results Tuesday, Nov. 18, to the Oklahoma City Council. “And I think in an area where a lot of communities are really struggling to provide high quality services, consistency is one of the marks of excellence.”
Among 89 areas evaluated in both 2024 and 2025, seven categories saw increases by more than three percentage points. Helpfulness of city staff overall increased most ― by seven percentage points ― while specific areas like the city’s communication with the public and the quality of its downtown also maintained positive gains.
But notable decreases in satisfaction from last year included city code enforcement, wastewater services, and ― unsurprisingly ― the condition of the city’s streets.
“With streets, I think the residents forgive you on that, because this has been rated below the national average for a long time, but it doesn’t seem to hurt their perception of leadership with the direction that the city’s going,” Tatham said. “I think it’s your customer service and other things that overcome some of the challenges you’ve had with streets.”
This year, 87% OKC respondents who said they’d interacted with police also said they had been treated fairly by an officer, according to ETC Institute. That’s 21 points above the average for police services satisfaction in large U.S. cities, Tatham said.
People’s feelings of safety in the city improved four percentage points from last year, but it was still at 52%, around 14 points below the national average.
Explore the original article from The Oklahoman, posted by Jessie Smith on November 19th, 2025.