Tulsa County, Oklahoma

Tulsa County is a county in Oklahoma, United States, centred on the city of Tulsa about 106 miles northeast of Oklahoma City. It had a population of 669,279 at the 2020 census, an estimated 698,782 by 2025, and covers 587 square miles (1,520 km2) centred near 36°07′N 95°56′W.

Tulsa is the county seat and the county’s largest city; its postal code is 74103. The county holds 9 cities, 1 incorporated town and 2 census-designated places across no civil townships — Oklahoma abolished them county by county between 1913 and the mid-1930s — and it runs on Central time. Its FIPS code is 40143.

Towns & Villages in Tulsa County

Tulsa County has 12 named places on the map: 9 incorporated cities, 1 incorporated town, and 2 census-designated places (CDPs) that the Census Bureau tracks but that have no city government. Several of the cities extend into neighboring counties as well as Tulsa County.

Four of these places straddle a county line. Broken Arrow and Bixby both sit in Tulsa and Wagoner counties, with most of each city’s population on the Tulsa side. Skiatook sits on the Osage–Tulsa line in the northwest corner. Owasso extends north into Rogers County, Collinsville extends east into Rogers County, and Sand Springs reaches into both Osage and Creek counties. Oakhurst, the CDP west of Sand Springs, is split between Tulsa and Creek counties. Leonard, an unincorporated community on US-64 at the Wagoner County line, is not a CDP but the 2020 census counted 262 people there (ZIP 74043); it is listed here for completeness but not in the table above because the Census Bureau does not track it as a standalone place. Garden City, a historic neighborhood name in west Tulsa, is now fully inside the Tulsa city limits and carries no separate population count.

ZIP Codes

• 74103 — downtown Tulsa (one of more than 40 ZIPs serving the city itself)
• 74011–74014 — Broken Arrow
• 74055 — Owasso
• 74008 — Bixby
• 74037 — Jenks
• 74063 — Sand Springs (also serves Lotsee)
• 74033 — Glenpool
• 74070 — Skiatook
• 74021 — Collinsville
• 74073 — Sperry
• 74126 — Turley
• 74050 — Oakhurst
• 74043 — Leonard

Tulsa itself carries more than 40 separate ZIP codes across its neighborhoods; the historic Garden City area uses west-Tulsa codes in the 74107 range rather than a ZIP of its own.

Geography

Tulsa County sits on the eastern edge of the Cross Timbers, where the sandstone hills of northeastern Oklahoma flatten into the Arkansas River valley. The Arkansas River cuts southeast through the county’s center, past downtown Tulsa, and Keystone Lake backs up along the Arkansas and Cimarron rivers on the county’s western edge, shared with Osage and Pawnee counties. Land makes up 570 of the county’s 587 square miles; the remaining 17 square miles are water, mostly Keystone Lake and the river itself.

Tulsa County borders seven counties. Washington County lies to the northeast, Rogers County to the north and east, Wagoner County to the southeast, Okmulgee County to the south, Creek County to the southwest, Pawnee County to the northwest, and Osage County to the west and northwest.

Demographics

Tulsa County had a population of 669,279 at the 2020 census, up from 603,403 in 2010, and an estimated 698,782 residents by 2025. Tulsa and Broken Arrow are the two largest communities, together holding roughly 79% of the county’s population. Median household income runs $69,000, about 6% above the Oklahoma state figure. Land-area density works out to roughly 1,174 people per square mile, making Tulsa County the most densely populated county in Oklahoma.

Economy & Local Life

Health care and social assistance is the county’s largest employment sector, followed by retail trade and manufacturing. Saint Francis Health System and Ascension St. John employ several thousand workers each in Tulsa; American Airlines runs a major aircraft maintenance base at Tulsa International Airport, and QuikTrip, the convenience-store chain, is headquartered in the city. Tulsa Public Schools is among the county’s largest employers outside health care and aviation. The Tulsa State Fair, held each year at Expo Square starting the fourth Thursday after Labor Day, is the county’s biggest annual event, drawing more than a million visitors over 11 days.

History

Tulsa County organized at Oklahoma statehood in 1907, when its population stood at 21,693; it had grown to 34,995 by 1910. The name comes from Tallasi, a Muscogee Creek word meaning “old town,” carried west by Creek settlers who founded their new town in 1836 after removal from Alabama. Tulsa grew from a Creek settlement and cattle-trail stop into an oil boomtown after the 1901 Red Fork discovery and the 1905 Glenn Pool strike, earning the nickname “Oil Capital of the World” by the 1920s. In 1921, a white mob destroyed the Greenwood district, one of the country’s most prosperous Black business communities, killing an estimated 100 to 300 residents and burning 35 city blocks; the Tulsa Race Massacre remains central to the county’s history and is memorialized at Greenwood Rising, which opened in 2021.

Getting There

Interstate 44 runs east–west through the county, meeting the Interstate 244 loop and Interstate 444 spur in Tulsa; U.S. Routes 64, 75, 169 and 412 also cross the county. Anchor distances:

• Oklahoma City — 106 miles southwest
• Fayetteville, Arkansas — 120 miles east
• Wichita, Kansas — 165 miles north
• Kansas City, Missouri — 250 miles northeast

Tulsa International Airport, in northeast Tulsa, is the county’s commercial airport. Tulsa has no Amtrak service; the nearest station is the Santa Fe Depot in Oklahoma City, about 106 miles away on the Heartland Flyer route.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Tulsa County?
Tulsa County is in northeastern Oklahoma, along the Arkansas River, about 106 miles northeast of Oklahoma City.

What is the population of Tulsa County?
Tulsa County had a population of 669,279 at the 2020 census, estimated at 698,782 by 2025 — the second-most populous county in Oklahoma.

How big is Tulsa County?
Tulsa County covers 587 square miles (1,520 km2), of which 570 square miles are land and 17 square miles are water.

What is the county seat of Tulsa County?
Tulsa is the county seat and the county’s largest city.

How many towns and cities are in Tulsa County?
Tulsa County has 9 incorporated cities, 1 incorporated town, and 2 census-designated places, plus the unincorporated community of Leonard.

What ZIP codes cover Tulsa County?
Tulsa itself uses more than 40 ZIP codes; the surrounding cities each carry their own, from 74008 in Bixby to 74073 in Sperry.

Do any Tulsa County cities extend into other counties?
Yes. Broken Arrow and Bixby extend into Wagoner County, Owasso and Collinsville extend into Rogers County, Skiatook extends into Osage County, and Sand Springs extends into both Osage and Creek counties.

More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Oklahoma.