Social Security replaces about 40 percent of the income you earn during your working years, and Oklahomans may fare better than people in other states. A report from FinanceBuzz shows that Social Security covers 44.1 percent of expenses in Oklahoma.
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With Devon Energy moving to Houston, a tremendous amount of real estate will be on the market in Downtown Oklahoma City. With 1.8 million-square-feet of space, the tallest building in Oklahoma has never been on the market, nor has any of that space been offered for lease, reports The Oklahoman. “If Devon's nearly 1.8 million square feet of space were to be dumped on the downtown market for leased office space, it would be a colossal shock, increasing available space by nearly 30 percent.”
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By mid-2026, Expand Energy (formerly Chesapeake Energy) also will move its corporate offices from Oklahoma City to Houston, but plans to continue a presence in OKC.
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A proposed Oklahoma-based laboratory would focus on aerospace defense, advanced computing and energy innovation. Chip Keating, a candidate in the Oklahoma race for governor, announced a plan in February to launch the Oklahoma-headquartered Trump National Laboratory for Energy and National Security. If established, Keating said the lab would represent the most ambitious economic and national security initiative in Oklahoma history, serving as a long-term anchor for corporate headquarters, high-paying jobs and technological leadership in the state.
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Alleged drug kingpin Hao Tong Chen and 19 others involved in an illegal marijuana operation in Oklahoma were arrested, according to Oklahoma AG Gentner Drummond. The Chinese syndicate members were captured in a takedown named Operation Blunt Force. Drummond described the operators as an “interstate and international crime organization” that moved money to and from China. The Hao Chen organization grew one million pounds of marijuana, with a street value of $1.5 billion, trafficking the black-market product in Oklahoma, Georgia, Illinois, New York and Texas, said Drummond. Of the operation, Drummond added, “Frankly, we crushed it.”
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Republican Senate leaders want to redirect $254 million meant for Oklahoma's pension fund for public school educators to boost teacher pay, improve literacy rates and expand the Parental Choice Tax Credit to help parents send their children to private schools. Oklahoma Senate leaders want to expand the tax credit to increase the funding cap by 10 percent and allow as many as 7,000 more students to participate in the program.
One of Oklahoma’s most significant environmental cases was settled for $25 million from “protein leader” and “food innovator” Tyson Foods and Cargill, a company “providing food and agricultural solutions.” State Attorney General Genter Drummond announced the settlement of the 20-year poultry pollution litigation.
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Allen Gamble Correctional Center is a medium-security prison in Holdenville that incarcerates up to 1,723 inmates. It has an unusually high number of homicides, according to reporting by Nolan Clay in The Oklahoman. The state took over operations of the prison in 2023, which had been operated by a private company. Even with the change, prison homicides have continued, with inmates killing inmates at a higher rate than any other lockdown facility in Oklahoma.
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