Mapping Drive-Times from Private Schools in Oklahoma

Oklahoma helps more than an estimated 2,500 families afford private school through its tax-credit scholarship and voucher programs, but do kids in this fairly rural state actually have nearby private school options to choose from?

Which communities have private schools, and which don’t? And how quickly can families in the Sooner State transport their children to private school options?

The below private school drive-time map can shed some light.

Here’s a quick breakdown of what this map shows:

• All students in grades K–12:
  • 29 percent live within a five-minute drive or less of at least one private school
  • 59 percent live within a 10-minute drive or less of at least one private school
  • 70 percent live within a 15-minute drive or less of at least one private school
  • 77 percent live within a 20-minute drive or less of at least one private school
  • 82 percent live within a 25-minute drive or less of at least one private school
  • 86 percent live within a 30-minute drive or less of at least one private school
  • 4 percent live more than a 45-minute drive of at least one private school

• Families that, based on their income, would qualify for free or reduced-price lunch (conservatively assumes income less than $35,000 for a family of three):
  • 29 percent live within a 5-minute drive or less of at least one private school
  • 56 percent live within a 10-minute drive or less of at least one private school
  • 65 percent live within a 15-minute drive or less of at least one private school
  • 71 percent live within a 20-minute drive or less of at least one private school
  • 77 percent live within a 25-minute drive or less of at least one private school
  • 82 percent live within a 30-minute drive or less of at least one private school
  • 6 percent live more than a 45-minute drive of at least one private school

• Median incomes of households:
  • $52,179 for those zero to five minutes from at least one private school
  • $54,583 for those five to 10 minutes from at least one private school
  • $61,029 for those 10 to 15 minutes from at least one private school
  • $52,813 for those 15 to 20 minutes from at least one private school
  • $48,657 for those 20 to 25 minutes from at least one private school
  • $45,653 for those 25 to 30 minutes from at least one private school

It’s important to note that one state’s private school market cannot be generalized to all states.

Take South Carolina. Unlike South Carolina’s private school drive-time map, multiple communities in Oklahoma have more than a 30-minute drive time to at least one in-state private school. This may be due to a number of factors, not the least of which is the comparative population density of these states: Oklahoma has 54.7 people per square mile of land area and South Carolina has 153.9 people per square mile of land area.

We hope to expand on mapping projects in the coming years at EdChoice. Among those planned include a look at where there is a lack of reasonable access to highly rated schools in Indiana. You can also expect more private school drive-time maps for related surveys in additional states, including one for New Hampshire set to be released in July.

If you would like to pitch new mapping projects to the EdChoice research team, email research@edchoice.org.