We used science and data to determine which places in Oklahoma are the unhappiest of all.

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Do you live in one of the most miserable places in Oklahoma?

According to a Harris Poll taken in October of 2015, only a third of Americans say they are truly happy. That’s too bad, considering that Americans – especially folks in Oklahoma – don’t really have it too bad, in the grand scheme of things.

But, we were curious – which Oklahoma cities might be the most miserable? We’re about to find out, using science and data.

After analyzing the largest cities, we sadly present the most miserable cities in the Sooner State:

Holdenville Tahlequah (Photos) Wagoner (Photos) Anadarko (Photos) Hugo (Photos) Okmulgee (Photos) Bristow Atoka Durant (Photos) Idabel (Photos)

Read on below to see how we crunched the numbers and how your town ranked. If you have a smile on your face, you probably don’t live in one of these cities.

Oh, and by the way, Jenks is the happiest place in Oklahoma.

Or check out the Most Miserable Cities In America.

If you’re looking for something more positive, check out the best states in America or the best places to live in America.


How We Measured The Most Miserable Cities In Oklahoma

In order to rank the unhappiest places in Oklahoma, we had to determine what criteria makes people happy. It isn’t a stretch to assume that happy people earn great salaries, are relatively stress free, and have a stable home life.

So we went to the Census’s American Community Survey 2010-2014 report for the criteria, flipped the list, and it spit out the answer. Like magic.

We threw a lot of criteria at this one in order to get the best, most complete results possible:

Percentage of residents with a college degree

Average commute times

Unemployment rates

Cost of living

% of married couples

% of home owners

Poverty rate

After we decided on the criteria, we gathered the data for the 108 places in Oklahoma with over 2,000 people.

We then ranked each place from one to 102 for each of the seven criteria with a score of one being the most miserable (Any ties were given to the larger place).

Next, we averaged the seven rankings into a Miserable Index for each place with the lowest overall Miserable Index ‘earning’ the title ‘Most Miserable City In Oklahoma’.

If you’d like to see the complete list of states, most miserable to happiest, scroll to the bottom of this post to see the unabridged chart.


1. Holdenville



Population: 5,768

People Who Own Their Home: 51.61%

Married Adults: 38.51%

2. Tahlequah

Population: 16,190

People Who Own Their Home: 37.07%

Married Adults: 36.46%

3. Wagoner

Population: 8,499

People Who Own Their Home: 51.01%

Married Adults: 44.96%

4. Anadarko

Population: 6,786

People Who Own Their Home: 45.36%

Married Adults: 34.53%

5. Hugo

Population: 5,294

People Who Own Their Home: 39.15%

Married Adults: 33.34%

6. Okmulgee

Population: 12,398

People Who Own Their Home: 43.39%

Married Adults: 31.85%

7. Bristow

Population: 4,251

People Who Own Their Home: 45.33%

Married Adults: 44.89%

8. Atoka

Population: 3,093

People Who Own Their Home: 49.32%

Married Adults: 43.8%

9. Durant

Population: 16,507

People Who Own Their Home: 38.74%

Married Adults: 41.26%

10. Idabel

Population: 7,015

People Who Own Their Home: 39.81%

Married Adults: 37.28%

There You Have It

Like we said earlier, trying to determine the most miserable cities in {state} is usually a subjective matter. But if you’re analyzing cities where people are not stable, where you’re stuck in traffic, and no one spent the time to go to college, then this is an accurate list.

If you’re curious enough, here are the happiest cities in {state}, according to science:

For more Oklahoma reading , check out:

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City Rank People Who Own Their Home Holdenville 1 51.61% Tahlequah 2 37.07% Wagoner 3 51.01% Anadarko 4 45.36% Hugo 5 39.15% Okmulgee 6 43.39% Bristow 7 45.33% Atoka 8 49.32% Durant 9 38.74% Idabel 10 39.81% Commerce 11 58.39% Eufaula 12 44.44% Chandler 13 55.63% Carnegie 14 49.31% Lexington 15 55.84% Guthrie 16 46.56% Ada 17 43.51% Seminole 18 53.65% Henryetta 19 51.49% Sallisaw 20 43.76% Weatherford 21 39.17% Cushing 22 49.94% Vinita 23 55.48% Poteau 24 54.31% Shawnee 25 49.83% Muskogee 26 49.58% Tulsa 27 46.35% Spencer 28 67.05% Stillwater 29 33.66% Blackwell 30 57.97% Pauls Valley 31 43.74% Hobart 32 48.62% Cleveland 33 46.04% Miami 34 54.81% Frederick 35 53.0% Lawton 36 42.12% Calera 37 51.52% Norman 38 49.22% Tecumseh 39 59.64% Broken Bow 40 37.35% Sayre 41 45.72% Claremore 42 50.66% Marietta 43 37.22% Hollis 44 49.78% Oklahoma City 45 52.2% Lindsay 46 56.11% Pryor Creek 47 50.75% Warr Acres 48 58.13% El Reno 49 55.53% Del City 50 55.98% Sulphur 51 46.65% Skiatook 52 59.21% Mcloud 53 63.42% Mcalester 54 53.57% Bethany 55 52.21% Fairview 56 56.11% Chickasha 57 51.02% Clinton 58 48.85% Ardmore 59 50.69% Sapulpa 60 57.76% Catoosa 61 58.37% Altus 62 45.91% Midwest City 63 53.82% Duncan 64 55.29% Slaughterville 65 68.15% Marlow 66 52.88% Grove 67 55.77% Purcell 68 63.52% Collinsville 69 62.1% Pocola 70 73.14% Alva 71 48.38% Ponca City 72 56.61% Fort Gibson 73 67.14% Coweta 74 63.97% Davis 75 53.01% Guymon 76 52.96% Elk City 77 49.48% Glenpool 78 70.1% Perry 79 53.24% Elgin 80 69.12% The Village 81 64.08% Blanchard 82 76.35% Sand Springs 83 62.87% Moore 84 67.41% Harrah 85 66.45% Woodward 86 52.94% Lone Grove 87 63.96% Noble 88 68.43% Enid 89 55.12% Tuttle 90 80.8% Edmond 91 65.6% Choctaw 92 79.37% Owasso 93 63.73% Bartlesville 94 61.66% Mustang 95 72.13% Bixby 96 73.33% Broken Arrow 97 72.68% Piedmont 98 89.88% Newcastle 99 80.46% Kingfisher 100 64.95% Yukon 101 73.68% Jenks 102 77.45%

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