Latimer County

Latimer County, Oklahoma — key demographics

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (2020 Decennial Census; 2019–2023 American Community Survey 5-year estimates)

Population size

• Total population: 10,483 (2020 Census)

Age

• Median age: ~41 years (ACS 2019–2023)
• Under 18: ~23%
• 18–64: ~57%
• 65 and over: ~20%

Sex

• Male: ~51%
• Female: ~49%

Race and Hispanic origin (2020 Census)

• White (non-Hispanic): ~63%
• American Indian/Alaska Native: ~17%
• Two or more races: ~12%
• Hispanic or Latino (any race): ~6%
• Black or African American: ~1%
• Asian: <1%

Households (ACS 2019–2023)

• Total households: ~4,100
• Average household size: ~2.5
• Family households: ~66% of households
• Married-couple households: ~52% of households
• Owner-occupied housing: ~76% of occupied units
• Households with children under 18: ~27%
• One-person households: ~30%

Insights

• Small, rural county with a relatively high share of American Indian/Alaska Native residents compared with the U.S. overall.
• Age structure is older than the national average, with about one in five residents aged 65+.
• Household composition skews toward owner-occupied, married-couple households, with smaller average household size typical of rural counties.

Latimer County, OK snapshot (pop. ≈10,400; density ≈14 people/sq mi)

• Estimated email users: ≈7,600 residents (≈73% of total; ≈92% of adults).
• Age distribution of email users:
  • 13–17: 6%
  • 18–29: 16%
  • 30–49: 31%
  • 50–64: 28%
  • 65+: 19%
• Gender split among email users: Female ≈51%, Male ≈49% (mirrors county demographics).
• Digital access and usage trends:
  • ≈70% of households subscribe to fixed broadband; ≈84% have a computer.
  • ≈17% are smartphone‑only for home internet; ≈15% have no home internet.
  • Email engagement remains high across adults, with daily use concentrated among working‑age groups; seniors participate but at lower intensity.
  • Connectivity is strongest in and around Wilburton; many outlying areas rely on DSL, fixed wireless, or mobile data, which constrains rich media but supports routine email.
• Local connectivity context:
  • Rural terrain in the Ouachita foothills increases last‑mile costs, contributing to patchy high‑speed coverage.
  • Fixed broadband availability and speeds are below Oklahoma’s urban averages, but incremental gains from fiber and fixed‑wireless buildouts are improving reliability and access for email and basic cloud services.

Mobile phone usage in Latimer County, Oklahoma — 2025 snapshot

Definitive context

• Population: 10,469 residents (2020 Decennial Census). The county seat is Wilburton; the area is sparsely populated and largely rural, with mountainous/forested terrain in the San Bois/Ouachita foothills that materially affects radio propagation and coverage.
• Economic/demographic profile: Older and lower-income than the state average, with a sizable Native American population (Choctaw Nation presence). These factors tend to reduce high-end device penetration and tilt plan choices toward value and prepaid offerings.

User estimates (inferred from Census population, rural adoption patterns, and recent national/rural benchmarks)

• Adult base: roughly 7,800–8,200 adults out of ~10.5k total population.
• Smartphone users: approximately 6,300–6,800 adults use a smartphone (roughly 80–85% of adults, consistent with rural U.S. adoption). Device mix skews toward midrange Android more than the statewide average.
• Wireless-only voice: an estimated 70–80% of adults rely solely on mobile phones for voice (no landline), consistent with high wireless substitution in rural Oklahoma.
• Cellular-reliant home internet: about 30–40% of households primarily use a cellular connection (phone hotspot or fixed wireless) for home internet, meaning mobile data is a primary on-ramp. This share is materially higher than in Oklahoma’s metro counties.
• Multi-line/multi-device: total active mobile lines likely exceed the resident population, reflecting secondary lines (watches, hotspots, tablets) and business/agency lines.

Demographic and usage patterns

• Age: Older households show higher voice/SMS reliance and lower app diversity; younger adults drive video/social traffic and hotspot use, especially where fixed broadband is limited.
• Income and plan selection: Elevated prepaid/Lifeline participation; ACP wind-down in 2024 pushed some households to downgrade data buckets or lean harder on public Wi‑Fi and zero-rated apps.
• Tribal communities: Connectivity projects tied to tribal and federal funding have improved anchor-institution connectivity and select tower builds, but last-mile cellular reliability still varies outside towns.

Digital infrastructure highlights

• Coverage baseline: 4G/LTE is the workhorse radio layer. Reliable service clusters around Wilburton, US‑270, OK‑2, and school/college and health-care anchors; terrain-induced shadowing produces dead zones in valleys and forested ridges, especially south and east of Wilburton and along lesser county roads.
• 5G: Low-band 5G is present near population centers and main corridors; mid-band 5G (for higher capacity) remains sparse. This contrasts with Oklahoma City/Tulsa metros where mid-band 5G is common.
• Carriers and networks:
  • AT&T (including FirstNet Band 14) provides broad rural coverage and public-safety priority; often best building penetration in-town.
  • Verizon offers strong LTE footprint with improving 5G but more signal fades in hill/valley terrain off-corridor.
  • T‑Mobile coverage is solid in Wilburton/US‑270 but becomes inconsistent faster than AT&T/Verizon in remote stretches.
• Backhaul and build constraints: Fiber backhaul concentrates along highway and utility corridors; away from these, sites may be microwave-fed, limiting capacity and upgrade cadence.
• Public offload: Schools, libraries, Eastern Oklahoma State College, and select civic sites provide Wi‑Fi that locals use to offload mobile data, a bigger factor here than state urban averages.

How Latimer County differs from the Oklahoma state-level picture

• Higher reliance on mobile for home internet: Cellular-only or cellular‑primary households are meaningfully more common than statewide, due to patchy fixed broadband and affordability constraints.
• Lower 5G capacity footprint: Far less mid-band 5G than metro Oklahoma; 4G remains dominant for everyday use.
• More coverage variability: Steeper terrain and forests create more dead spots and in-vehicle reliance on boosters than typical statewide.
• Plan mix and affordability: Prepaid and budget plans comprise a larger share; ACP sunset hit a larger fraction of households, amplifying mobile-first behavior.
• Device mix and usage: Skews toward midrange Android and hotspotting; average app/video bitrates are throttled more often than in urban counties due to plan caps and capacity limits.

Implications and actionable insights

• Network planning: Additional fill-in sites/repeaters on valley floors and ridgelines, plus microwave-to-fiber backhaul upgrades, would yield outsized reliability gains versus adding spectrum alone.
• Public services: Maintaining and expanding library/school Wi‑Fi and tribal/community hotspots materially supports residents who downshifted plans post-ACP.
• Emergency communications: FirstNet coverage is an asset; further Band‑14 densification near rugged terrain and along secondary roads would improve resilience.
• Market strategy: Value-heavy handset promos, prepaid family bundles, and fixed‑wireless home offerings (with sensible data buckets) are likely to outperform premium unlimited tiers in this county.

Latimer County, OK — Social Media Snapshot (2025, modeled local estimates) Method note: Percentages below are county-level estimates derived from Pew Research Center’s 2024 U.S. social media adoption benchmarks, adjusted for a rural, older-leaning age mix, and ACS demographic structure. They are best-available figures for planning and benchmarking.

Overall usage

• Adults using any social media: 76–80% of adults
• Daily users (of any platform): ~70% of social media users
• Mobile-first usage: ~90% primarily on smartphones

Most-used platforms (share of adults)

• YouTube: 80–83%
• Facebook: 66–70%
• Instagram: 36–40%
• TikTok: 25–30%
• Pinterest: 30–33%
• Snapchat: 20–24%
• X (Twitter): 15–18%
• Reddit: 13–16%
• LinkedIn: 16–20% Note: Facebook and YouTube lead by a wide margin; Instagram/TikTok skew younger; Pinterest skews female; Reddit/X skew male.

Age breakdown (share using any social media; platform highlights)

• 18–29: 92–95% use social media
  • YouTube ~95%, Instagram ~75%, TikTok ~70%, Snapchat ~65%, Facebook ~55%
• 30–49: 85–89%
  • YouTube ~90%, Facebook ~72%, Instagram ~48%, TikTok ~33%, Snapchat ~30%
• 50–64: 75–80%
  • YouTube ~80%, Facebook ~70%, Instagram ~30%, TikTok ~20%
• 65+: 55–60%
  • Facebook ~60%, YouTube ~60%, Instagram ~18%, TikTok ~10–12%

Gender pattern (platform tendency among adult users)

• Women: Higher on Facebook and Pinterest (Facebook 70%+, Pinterest ~40%+), solid Instagram (40%), TikTok (~30%)
• Men: Higher on YouTube (85%+), Reddit (20%), X (18–20%), similar Facebook (65–68%)

Behavioral trends

• Community-centric usage: Heavy engagement with Facebook Groups for schools, youth sports, churches, local government, outdoor/recreation, and buy/sell/trade; Facebook Marketplace is a primary local commerce channel.
• Video-first consumption: YouTube is the default for how-to, farming/DIY, hunting/fishing, auto, and product research; short-form video via Reels/TikTok is growing, especially among under-40s.
• Local news and alerts: Facebook and YouTube channels/pages act as de facto local news sources; school closings, weather, road conditions, and events drive spikes.
• Messaging over posting: Younger users favor Snapchat/Instagram DMs; older users share via Facebook Messenger and private groups.
• Posting cadence and peak times: Highest activity early evening (7–9 p.m.), secondary peaks around midday; weekends see more Marketplace and event-related activity.
• Trust and word-of-mouth: Recommendations in local groups strongly influence small-business discovery and service selection; creator/neighbor testimonials outperform brand ads.
• Content format: Short, captioned video and photo carousels outperform text-only posts; local faces/recognizable locations increase engagement rates.

Source basis

• Pew Research Center, Social Media Use in 2024 (national platform adoption by age/gender)
• U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (age structure and rural profile applied for localization) These figures synthesize national benchmarks with Latimer County’s demographic profile to provide actionable local estimates.