Oklahoma Has a Lot More Local Government Than Other States

• Joe Wertz
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  Joe Wertz was a reporter and managing editor for StateImpact Oklahoma from 2011-2019. He reported on energy and environment issues for national NPR audiences and other national outlets. He previously worked as a managing editor, assistant editor and staff reporter at several major Oklahoma newspapers and studied journalism at the University of Central Oklahoma.

Government becomes grassroots by way of counties, cities, townships, municipalities, and special districts with authority over specific functions like utilities and parks.

But Oklahomans enjoy a relatively large amount of local government, according to data compiled by Stateline.

There are 1,995 Oklahomans per local government entity, Stateline reported today in an infographic web feature based on numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The national average of 3,451 people per local government, the data show.

North Dakota had the highest density, with 249 people per local government; Hawaii had the lowest with 71,595 people per local government entity.

The sortable chart below shows how Oklahoma compares to its neighbors.

[spreadsheet key=”0An-0uSFNZhY0dHZDbDBONWRHNXpKZVFnMjRKOWt2WFE&hl” source=”U.S. Census Bureau via Stateline” sheet=0 filter=0 paginate=0 sortable=1]

Editors note: We incorrectly reported that Oklahoma has a relatively low amount of local government, per census data complied by Stateline. Oklahoma’s low number of people per government actually reflects an amount of state government higher than the U.S. average.