Reports · October 2026

Green Country Retail & Main Street Report

October 2026 edition · Sales-tax collections, customers, wages and costs for the shops, restaurants and services of 25 counties of eastern Oklahoma and western Arkansas

What changed this month

Customers are still spending. The 177 cities and towns of the footprint collected $79.17M of local sales tax in the September 2026 distribution, +7.4% on a year earlier — +5.9% outside Tulsa — with 114 towns up and 62 down. Muskogee (+14.9%), Tulsa (+9.5%) and Owasso (+8.7%) led the larger cities; Tahlequah (-1.7%), Claremore (-3.9%) and Pryor (-9.9%) slipped. Prices in the South are running 3.1% above last year, so about 4.2 points of that growth is real. The customer's mood is another matter: sentiment is 55.2, -10.5% on the year, Midwest gasoline is $3.89 (+27%), and unemployment across the 25 counties has risen to 5.2%. Restaurant and bar payrolls fell 1.7% in the first quarter while the average wage rose to $426 a week; retail stores shed 680 jobs. The holiday season starts on page 9.

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This month in 12 numbers

The dashboard from page one of the edition, in full. Arrows are graded from the reader's seat — up is good for you, whatever the number is doing.

Sales

Local sales tax, 177 footprint cities$79.2MSeptember 2026 distributionon the month · +7.4% on the year
Tulsa city collections$33.5MSeptember 2026 · vs September 2025on the month · +9.5% on the year
Muskogee city collections$2.98MSeptember 2026 · vs September 2025on the month · +14.9% on the year
Tahlequah city collections$1.26MSeptember 2026 · vs September 2025on the month · -1.7% on the year

Customers

Unemployment, 25-county average5.2%Jul 2026on the month · +1.2 pts on the year
Consumer sentiment (U. Michigan)55.2index · Jul 2026+11.5% on the month · -10.5% on the year
Gasoline, Midwest retail$3.89/gal · Sep 7+2.0% on the month · +27.5% on the year
Consumer prices, South region+3.1%CPI-U y/y · Aug 2026+0.2% on the month · — on the year

Costs & money

Avg weekly wage, restaurants & bars$426QCEW · 2026Q1on the month · +2.9% on the year
Commercial electricity, Oklahoma9.90¢/kWh · Jun 2026+22.2% on the month · +1.2% on the year
Prime rate6.75%Sep 2026unchanged on the month · -0.63 pts on the year
U.S. retail sales$660Bseasonally adj. · Jul 2026-0.8% on the month · +5.0% on the year

Inside this edition

  1. This month in twelve numbers1
  2. Sales — what the towns collected2
  3. Sales — every city3
  4. Sales — county by county4
  5. Customers — the household5
  6. Restaurants and bars6
  7. Stores and personal services7
  8. Tourism, lodging and recreation8
  9. Price strip and October spotlight: holiday staffing9
  10. Three decisions for October10
  11. Watch list for November11
  12. Methodology and sources12
  13. County reference table13
Page one of the October 2026 edition

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25 counties, every month

Adair, OK, Cherokee, OK, Craig, OK, Crawford, AR, Creek, OK, Delaware, OK, Haskell, OK, Latimer, OK, Le Flore, OK, Mayes, OK, McIntosh, OK, Muskogee, OK, Nowata, OK, Okfuskee, OK, Okmulgee, OK, Osage, OK, Ottawa, OK, Pawnee, OK, Pittsburg, OK, Rogers, OK, Sebastian, AR, Sequoyah, OK, Tulsa, OK, Wagoner, OK, Washington, OK.

Where the numbers come from

Public data only, every figure sourced and dated in the edition itself.

  • USDA AMS market news — Oklahoma National Stockyards, Tulsa, McAlester
  • USDA NASS — Census of Agriculture, crop progress, land values
  • BLS — county employment, wages, unemployment
  • US Census — population estimates, business patterns
  • Oklahoma Tax Commission and Arkansas DFA — sales tax collections
  • US Drought Monitor and Oklahoma Mesonet
  • EIA — diesel and fuel; FRED and KC Fed — rates and credit conditions