OKLAHOMA CITY (Jan. 4, 2024) – The 2024 Oklahoma Scorecard shows the Sooner State moving in the right direction. Oklahoma improved nine spots in overall economic competitiveness, climbing from 39th in the nation last year to 30th in the 2024 edition.
The State Chamber Research Foundation has released the 2024 edition of its annual index of Oklahoma’s economic competitiveness. The Scorecard evaluates Oklahoma’s competitive position compared to other states across metrics that are highly impactful on economic growth and prosperity.
This boost in the rankings was largely driven by the state’s continued improvement in tax competitiveness, a result of targeted tax reforms championed by The State Chamber and enacted into law over the last two years. Oklahoma improved its national tax ranking in that period from 30th to 19th, outperforming all but one state in improving tax competitiveness.
“Oklahoma’s remarkable rise in the tax rankings illustrates the power of the Scorecard as a tool to use data to drive pro-growth public policy. The Scorecard identifies the areas where the state needs to become more competitive and measures the specific factors that produce economic growth and prosperity. SCRF then uses this data to calibrate its research and policy,” said SCRF executive director Ben Lepak.
SCRF releases the Scorecard annually to highlight areas where Oklahoma is succeeding and more importantly where improvements are needed for the state to thrive as a business and economic force. The Scorecard gives Oklahoma legislators and business leaders a comprehensive look at Oklahoma’s strong points and weaknesses in a national context, ranking all the states on tax competitiveness, workforce, infrastructure, legal climate, government burden, and health care.
“We still have a lot of work to do, but Oklahoma has made really positive progress in recent years. We are tough graders in this report, so we certainly highlight areas where Oklahoma’s ranking lags. But that is the goal of the report—we can't really address problems unless we know what the problems are in the first place,” said Lepak. “I think the Scorecard has been a great tool for policymakers to prioritize the issues where we need to become more competitive as a state and to target our policy development and research to those variables.”
The full 2024 Oklahoma Scorecard is available here.
Media Contact
Brent Skarky – 405-818-1939, brent@okstatechamber.com