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Tonkawa, Oklahoma

Tonkawa is a small town of about 3,000 people in Kay County, Oklahoma. Its population has held about steady since 2020. A typical home costs about 1.4 years of the typical household's income, compared with 4.1 across the U.S. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Oklahoma City, is about 84 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
2,983
down 0.9% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$84,300
Kay County prices up 14% since 2022
Household income
$58,767
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, rural Oklahoma
83.6
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
9 miles
Blackwell, OK
To Oklahoma City
84 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 16.4% below the U.S. average in the parts of Oklahoma outside metro areas.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 1.4 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood6 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 2 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 10.7 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town3 public schools: 1 elementary, 1 middle and 1 high school.
  • A hospital close byStillwater Medical-Blackwell in Blackwell, about 9 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityOklahoma City is about 84 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Tonkawa meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$84,300U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 14%Kay County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$800 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$58,767U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
74%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$484 a yearOklahoma: $1,599
Homes built before 1940
33%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
3%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
2%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
83.6U.S. average = 100 (the parts of Oklahoma outside metro areas)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 14% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the parts of Oklahoma outside metro areas, not Tonkawa alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2025 estimate
2,9832020: 3,010
Median age
33.6 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
19%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
23%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
21%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
6%U.S.: 6%
College students
11%share of all residents

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work
Schools, health care and social services (24%); arts, recreation, lodging and restaurants (14%); manufacturing (13%)
Unemployment rate
5%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
19 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
5%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
14%U.S.: 12%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Stillwater Medical-Blackwell, Blackwell, OK, about 9 miles away. It's a rural emergency hospital (24-hour emergency care and outpatient services, no overnight stays). Medicare hasn't given it a star rating.

Nearest general hospital: Integris Health Ponca City, Ponca City, OK, about 14 miles away. Medicare gives it 2 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

3 public schools in Tonkawa, run by Tonkawa.

Colleges in or next to town: Northern Oklahoma College (1,000 to 4,999 students).

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on Oklahoma's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Internet

Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet
63%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
82%U.S.: 91%

Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Weather

January average low
23°F
July average high
93°F
Days 90°F or hotter
74 a year
Nights at or below freezing
100 a year
Rain and melted snow
38.8 inches a year
Snow
8 inches a year
Elevation
954 feet

Weather stations: Blackwell 4SSE Mesonet (7 miles away) and Blackwell 1SSW (8 miles away, rain and snow). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Stillwater Medical-Blackwell, Enid, Oklahoma City.

Kay County is outside any metro area, with 20,000 or more people in its towns, next to a metro area (USDA rural-urban code 4, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

4 places on the National Register of Historic Places.

Read about Tonkawa's history on Wikipedia.

Know Tonkawa?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Smaller places

  • Tonkawa Tribal Housing, OK (unincorporated)276 people, 3 miles
  • Billings, OK571 people, 12 miles
  • Marland, OK187 people, 12 miles
  • Nardin, OK (unincorporated)130 people, 12 miles
  • White Eagle, OK (unincorporated)331 people, 13 miles
  • Lamont, OK293 people, 14 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.