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Welcome to McAlester ...

The city of McAlester is located in Pittsburg County<1> (at the time of its founding, McAlester was located in Indian Territory) and is the County Seat for Pittsburg County.

While we don't have a date for the founding of McAlester, you might consider that their post office opened  in 1885.

When the people of McAlester refer to themselves (known as a demonym), they frequently use McAlesterite<2>

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, McAlester has a population of 17,839 people<3> (see below for details).

McAlester is 710 feet [216 m] above sea level.<4>.

Time Zone: McAlester lies in the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT) and observes daylight saving time

Area Codes for McAlester: 918 & 539<5>

The ZIP code for McAlester: 74501<6>

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, McAlester had an population of 17,839 people. This is a decrease of 2.96% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 0.31% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, McAlester had a population of 18,383 people (which is 40.14% of the total population of Pittsburg County). This makes McAlester the county's most populous community.

The population of McAlester represents 0.49% of the population of Oklahoma (which has 3,751,351 people), making it the state's 26th most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 18,383 people, the population of McAlester increased 3.37% from the 2000 Census (which had a count of 17,783 people).

More information can be found on the Census Page for McAlester.

Websites for McAlester ...

Official Website:   www.cityofmcalester.com/

Chamber of Commerce:   www.mcalester.org/

Communities near McAlester ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near McAlester.

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around McAlester. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for McAlester.

We have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around McAlester. Our list includes 20 papers. See our Newspapers Page for McAlester.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for McAlester ...

Looking for more information about McAlester? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

In addition to the Tourism page for McAlester, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for McAlester.

Adding McAlester to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of McAlester in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for McAlester was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<9>

X2X - From that list, the McAlester post office opened in 1885.

We also found McAlester on a map titled Rand McNally Map of Oklahoma (1911).

For more details, see References and Mentions for McAlester.

The official website for McAlester: www.cityofmcalester.com/

The official website for State of Oklahoma: https://www.ok.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of Oklahoma's counties, including Pittsburg, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>A demonym is the name for a resident of a community which is usually derived from (or is related to) the name of that community. In other words, it's how the residents of McAlester refer to themselves. It's important to note that there aren't any rules for taking a city's name and turning it into a demonym. A demonym is informal and while the majority of McAlester may use one name, keep in mind that others may use something different.
<3>Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for McAlester.
<4>The elevation is an estimate for the area around McAlester - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<5>When there's a risk of an area code running out of phone numbers, an 'Overlay Area Code' is created that has the same geographic boundaries as the existing area code. In this case, the 918 code has been Overlayed with the 539 area code. New phone numbers in the McAlester area will be assigned with one of these codes: 918 or 539. As a result, placing a call in the McAlester area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number).
<6>ZIP Codes have been created by the United States Postal Service (USPS) as a way of grouping addresses to make delivery more efficient. The boundaries of the ZIP Code can be changed, re-assigned, eliminated or overlapped with other ZIP Codes. So keep in mind that any given ZIP Code is only 'loosely' associated with a city (such as McAlester). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether McAlester or elsewhere, it's always best to check the website of the United States Postal Service (USPS).
<7>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<8>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<9>A copy of their list with background information can be found at:

      https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 22 Apr 2025