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Tulsa is paying people more than $10,000 just to move there

Kari Paul

Go West, young entrepreneur.

Tulsa, Okla. is offering remote workers $10,000 to move there. The city is joining the ranks of other locations in the U.S. including Vermont and Maine advertising incentives to workers for relocating.

Tulsa claims it is “the ideal city” for remote workers due to its array of museums, low cost of living, and food and drink scene.

“Tulsa is gaining international recognition for the use of modern technology to better serve citizens, and one of the areas where we see great opportunity is as a home for remote workers,” Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum said.

One catch: You have to stay in Tulsa for a full year to cash the complete prize. Each $10,000 grant comes in the form of $2,500 to be put towards relocation expenses, a $500 per month stipend, and $1,500 at the end of a 12-month program.

The grant, which is offered in partnership with the City of Tulsa and the George Kaiser Family Foundation, also includes a free membership to 36 Degrees North, a co-working space in the city. The folks behind the program are hoping remote workers will choose to stay beyond that 12-month finish line.

“We are looking for talented and energetic people who not only will consider relocating permanently to Tulsa but especially for people who want to make something happen here — to add to the dynamism, idealism and get ‘er done spirit of Tulsa.” Ken Levit, executive director of George Kaiser Family Foundation, said.

The cost of living in Oklahoma is 8% lower than the national average, according to salary-comparison site Payscale. But based on its cost of living, quality of life, and job market, Oklahoma was ranked 43 out of 50 in a recent U.S. & World Report ranking of the best states in which to live.

Tulsa is the 14th most dangerous city in the U.S., according to data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s 2017 Uniform Crime Report with a population of 404,868 people and a rate of 565.7 violent crimes per 100,000 people.

The Tulsa Remote program comes as flexible work is on the rise. The number of people quitting their jobs for flexible work doubled from 2014 to 2017 and the number of remote jobs rose 115% between 2005 and 2018, according to FlexJobs, a job-search site for remote work.

Remote workers are shown to be more productive than non-remote workers: A 2017 study of 24,000 workers from the video and voice collaboration technology company Polycom Inc. found that 98% of people said the ability to work anywhere has a positive impact on productivity.

Oklahoma has scary weather... :) But it's limited to 20-25 people, and they're profiling a particular kind of person to attract to the area. It's interesting that they're bothering to do this; Tulsa already has 400,000 people. (OKC, a couple of hours down the road, has about 640k people. OK itself has a shade under 4 million people, total.)

TULSA, Okla. (KTUL) -- Ten thousand dollars in cash could be yours if you move to Tulsa. However, you have to meet certain requirements by the George Kaiser Family Foundation, who is funding the unique project.

The program, Tulsa Remote, said the goal is to recruit a certain type of person to help push Tulsa forward.

"So, it's not a situation where we want people to come in for a year and leave. A success for us would be seeing somebody come, enjoy the program and getting connected to the community and deciding to stay," said Aaron Bolzle, the program's manager.

Bolzle describes the cash and other benefits as a way to cut the cost of transition.

"The individuals that we want a part of this program already have a job. Be it either through a company that allows them to work remotely or they're self employed and have the ability to move wherever they like," said Bolzle.

The selected participants are also getting a free housing stipend and a free space to work.

"We think that Tulsa has enough going for it that if people take a look and give it a consideration, they'll see that it's a great choice for them," said Bolzle.

For the program's first year, they plan to pick 20 to 25 people.

"If we see a large amount of success with individuals getting involved in community organizations, collaborating with the already strong workforce that exists here in Tulsa, it would be great to continue to grow the program," said Bolzle.

The participants will get the cash over 12 months.

You get $2,500 when you first move, then $500 each month, then the final pay out of $1,500 will be given the last month.

I lived in Norman,OK for 2 years and I am glad to live in TX. OK is a flat monotonous landscape with red clay dirt/earth, and it is very windy. This makes a fine red dust all over everything incl your car, driveway and path into your home. Red dust tracked inside makes a pink path and is very hard to get out of your carpets. After a while, even your white clothes become pink tinged. Not to mention dust tornadoes. That was my biggest dislike of OK. Also, they had no snow plowing facility in winter. Their policy if it snowed was to make all the stop lights at intersections yellow-caution-blinking lights and hope people could stop in time and were courteous yielding to each other. Norman was a university town and over enthusiastic fans spread shaving cream, toilet paper, bar soap (and sometimes unclean stuff) all over properties, trees, sidewalks, etc. Sometime cleanup took days.

Interesting concept. I wonder what the angle is?

I don't see 20 people making a dent in the culture of the city.