- Details
- By Chez Oxendine
- Economic Development
Nineteen Oklahoma tribes generated more than $23.4 billion in economic impact for the state while employing nearly 140,000 people, according to a new report released in early June.
The report, produced through a partnership between United for Oklahoma and the Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association, examined 2023 wages and benefits paid to employees, capital and government expenditures, and business revenue. A previous report analyzing 2019 data showed $18.5 billion in total impact by the tribes.
The increase represents $4.9 billion in growth — the largest dollar increase since the report began in 2011. Tribes reported just over $14 billion in 2011 and $15.8 billion in 2017.
“I don't know about you all, but I was floored when I saw that number,” Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association Chairman Matt Morgan said during a press conference announcing the report finding. “Tribal nations are creating a huge impact by investing in long-term Native American development, like healthcare systems, schools, and broadband.”
Oklahoma City University economics professor and Center for Native American and Urban Studies Director Kyle Dean compiled the report. Dean found that tribes paid $7.8 billion in total wages and benefits to roughly 139,860 employees, including 55,600 Oklahoma residents. Tribal government expenditures and spending on capital projects totaled roughly $12.7 billion in impact, according to the report.
Gaming drove much of the economic activity, generating $7.4 billion in revenues for the 19 tribes studied. The industry has become a significant draw for out-of-state visitors, with more than one-third of casino visits coming from outside Oklahoma in 2019, bringing external dollars into rural Oklahoma communities. Under state compacts, these tribes paid around $208 million in exclusivity fees to Oklahoma in 2023 — a 36% increase from 2019 figures, the report states.
"This is the fourth such report I've completed, and I have to say I'm unsurprised — the impact is extraordinary, but it no longer surprises me," Dean said at the press conference. "The level of growth is consistent and persistent, indicating that tribal contributions to the state are both reliable and enduring."
Employment and economic output from tribal operations have increased sharply since 2011. Employment with tribes has risen about 60 percent compared to the first report — more than five times the increase in state employment rates over the same period, according to the report.
Tribes also provide jobs in areas where employment opportunities might be otherwise limited. Chickasaw Nation Gov. Bill Anoatubby said that while the tribes studied were scattered throughout the state, many of them operate in rural areas, often making them the largest and most consistent employers in their area.
Choctaw Nation Chief Gary Batton agreed. He pointed to tribal projects in Oklahoma — including an unmanned aircraft systems manufacturing plant in Daisy and a water tower in Durant — as examples of targeted investment. These projects help create jobs in small towns that might otherwise struggle economically, Batton said. In many rural areas, tribes have become the primary economic anchors, with some serving as the largest employers in regions where other industries have declined.
“How many of you know where Daisy, Oklahoma is? I don’t see many hands,” Batton said at the press conference. “It’s a place where only the Choctaw Nation would invest, and I see this happening with other tribes all across their reservations.”
Tribes contributed significantly to Oklahoma healthcare and education, the report found. Tribal expenditures on healthcare services reached $582 million, supporting over 3.5 million patient visits at tribal-operated and Indian Health Service-managed facilities.Tribes also spent $51 million on purchased and referred care, directing patients to healthcare providers throughout Oklahoma and supporting the broader medical economy, according to the report.
Education spending — including both direct tribal investments and portions of gaming exclusivity fees — totaled $351 million.
The Cherokee Nation, Oklahoma's largest tribe and one of the study participants, recently released its own economic impact analysis showing the tribe alone contributes $3.1 billion annually to the state's economy while supporting over 23,000 jobs — demonstrating the substantial individual impact that major tribal nations can generate.
The $23 billion economic impact reported by 19 Oklahoma tribes likely represents a significant undercount of tribal economic contributions statewide. Among the 19 tribes that didn't participate in the study are several with substantial gaming and business operations, including the Seminole Nation, Comanche Nation, and Sac & Fox Nation — all of which operate major casinos and other enterprises that would add millions more to the state's economic impact.
“The success of tribal governments is a shared success with the state of Oklahoma,” Anoatubby said. “The report shows that when we work together as partners, everyone benefits.”
Brian Edwards contributed additional reporting.
