When it Comes to Finding a Summer Job, Oklahoma Teens Have it (Relatively) Easy

• 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.

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Oklahoma teens could have a more profitable summer than their peers in other states.

Teens here have an easier time finding summer work than youth in Arizona, California, Florida and Washington, D.C., according to the Tahlequah Daily Press, which looked at projections from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Teddye Snell reports:

This is partially due to supply and demand, but also because Oklahoma has fewer immigrant workers than some of the other states.

Some teens in Tahlequah find work at Reasor’s, a grocery store, which enjoys an uptick in business from seasonal tourism and suffers a labor drain when student employees attending nearby Northeastern State University head home for the summer, the paper reports.

The summer employment opportunity is even greater for teens who are Cherokee Nation citizens, the paper reports:

“Thanks in part to additional funds from the Tribal Council and the Baker administration, we have more than 500 teenagers participating in the summer youth program this year, an increase of more than 300 students from 2011,” Jeff Vance, director of employment programs at the tribe, tells the paper.