Demographics of Mcalester, OK
Affluence Level in Mcalester, OK
A below-average socioeconomic profile. Incomes, home values, and educational attainment trail the U.S., with higher poverty and unemployment.
People of Mcalester, OK
The people of McAlester, Oklahoma, today number 18,098, forming a community that is predominantly white (64.2%) with a small but established Hispanic population (7.6%) and a Black community (4.7%). The city’s foreign-born population is just 1.5%, reflecting a deeply rooted, native-born character. McAlester’s identity is shaped by its history as a coal-mining and railroad hub, its role as a regional trade center for southeastern Oklahoma, and the presence of the Oklahoma State Penitentiary, which anchors a significant portion of the local economy and workforce. With only 20.5% of adults holding a college degree, the population skews toward blue-collar and service-sector employment, giving the city a practical, working-class feel.
How the city was settled and grew
McAlester’s settlement began in the 1870s, when the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad (the “Katy”) pushed into Indian Territory. The town was founded by J.J. McAlester, a Confederate veteran and Choctaw citizen who recognized the area’s coal deposits. The first major population wave came from European immigrants—primarily Italian, Polish, and Irish miners—who arrived to work the coal mines that powered the railroad. These groups built the Italian District (also known as “Little Italy”) near the original mine shafts, a neighborhood that still retains its ethnic identity through St. Joseph’s Catholic Church and annual festivals. The North Town area, settled by railroad workers and merchants, became the commercial core, while South McAlester (now part of the city proper) developed as a separate community for Choctaw families and freedmen after the Civil War. By statehood in 1907, McAlester had grown to roughly 8,000 residents, with a diverse mix of European immigrants, African Americans (many descended from freedmen of the Choctaw Nation), and Native Americans from the Five Civilized Tribes.
Modern era (post-1965)
After the 1965 Hart-Cellar Act, McAlester saw little new immigration—its foreign-born share remains minuscule at 1.5%. Instead, the city’s demographic changes came from domestic migration. The 1970s and 1980s brought an influx of rural Oklahomans from surrounding Pittsburg County, drawn by jobs at the state prison and the expansion of the McAlester Army Ammunition Plant. These new residents settled in the Briarwood and Oakwood subdivisions, which grew as bedroom communities for prison and plant employees. The Hispanic population, now 7.6%, began rising in the 1990s, largely from Mexican and Central American families working in agriculture, construction, and the poultry processing plants in nearby towns like Wilburton. They concentrated in the East McAlester area, near the industrial corridor along U.S. Highway 69. The Black population, at 4.7%, has remained stable, with many families living in the South McAlester historic district, where the city’s African American heritage is preserved through the Mount Triumph Baptist Church and the annual Juneteenth celebration. East/Southeast Asian communities (0.6%) are a small, recent addition, primarily Vietnamese and Filipino families who arrived in the 2000s for medical and engineering jobs at the local hospital and ammunition plant.
The future
McAlester’s population is projected to remain flat or decline slightly over the next decade, mirroring trends across rural Oklahoma. The city is not homogenizing into a single identity but is instead consolidating into distinct enclaves: the historic Italian District and South McAlester retain their ethnic character, while Briarwood and Oakwood are becoming more uniformly white and middle-class. The Hispanic community is growing slowly, with second-generation families moving into the West McAlester area near the new high school, but assimilation is high—Spanish-language use is declining among younger residents. The Black population is aging, with younger adults leaving for college or jobs in Tulsa and Oklahoma City. No significant new immigrant wave is expected, given the lack of refugee resettlement programs or major employers recruiting abroad. The city’s future likely looks much like its present: a stable, predominantly white community with small, persistent ethnic pockets, where the biggest demographic shift will be an aging population and a slight uptick in Hispanic residents.
For someone moving in now, McAlester offers a predictable, low-density environment where community ties are strong but diversity is limited. The city is becoming a quieter, older version of itself—a place where the past is visible in its neighborhoods and the future holds few surprises. New residents will find a town that values its history, from the Italian District’s heritage to South McAlester’s legacy, but one that is unlikely to see the kind of rapid demographic change that reshapes other parts of Oklahoma.
* Values derived from national, state, county, city and local statistics and may differ in a specific area. Last updated: 2026-04-21T11:42:01.000Z
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