Coal County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2020 census, the population was 5,266. Its county seat is Coalgate.
History
Coal County was formed at statehood from the former Shappaway County (later renamed Atoka County) of the Pushmataha District of the Choctaw Nation in Indian Territory. A strip of Coal County was taken from the Pontotoc District of the Chickasaw Nation. Initially, the Oklahoma legislature named Lehigh as the county seat, but a special election held in 1908 resulted in the citizens choosing Coalgate as the county seat. Lehigh tried to sue because more people voted than were registered, but no court would hear the case.
Mining became a mainstay of the county's economy during the 1870s. The first coal mine opened on Chief Allen Wright's land. The industry activity peaked between 1910 and 1916 but declined sharply after World War I. Many of the mines closed by 1921, due to the refusal of mining companies of the area to unionize. Some mines reopened during World War II, but these closed by 1958, because of the rising cost of refining sulfur out of the coal mined.
Geography
Coal County is in southeastern Oklahoma, in a 10-county area designated for tourism purposes by the Oklahoma Department of Tourism and Recreation as Choctaw Country. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.9%) is water. It is the fifth-smallest county in Oklahoma by area. The eastern part of the county lies in the Ouachita Mountains, while the western part has open prairie and lies in the Sandstone Hills physiographic region. The county is drained by the Clear Boggy and Muddy Boggy creeks.
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| footnote = U.S. Decennial Census<br />1790-1960 1900-1990<br />1990-2000 2010
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 5,266. The median age was 42.8 years. 23.1% of residents were under the age of 18 and 20.9% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 97.5 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 96.0 males age 18 and over. 0.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 100.0% lived in rural areas.
The racial makeup of the county was 65.3% White, 0.5% Black or African American, 19.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% Asian, 0.0% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 1.6% from some other race, and 12.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 3.8% of the population. There were 2,810 housing units. The median age was 41.0 years. Male full-time, year round workers had a median income of $36,442 compared to $26,450 for female full-time, year round workers. and was the only one to do so until the 2000 election. Coal County extremely narrowly supported two Democrats amidst national Republican landslides: James M. Cox by 24 votes in 1920 and Walter Mondale by 25 votes in 1984. The county swung 41 points Republican in the 2008 presidential election, the largest swing of any county in the country.
{| class=wikitable
! colspan = 6 | Voter Registration and Party Enrollment as of February 28, 2026
|-
! colspan = 2 | Party
! Number of Voters
! Percentage
|-
|
| Republican
| align = center | 2,016
| align = center | 52.97%
|-
|
| Democratic
| align = center | 1,263
| align = center | 33.18%
|-
|
| Libertarian
| align = center | 21
| align = center | 0.55%
|-
|
| Others
| align = center | 506
| align = center | 13.29%
|-
! colspan = 2 | Total
! align = center | 3,806
! align = center | 100.00%
|}
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Communities
Cities
- Coalgate (county seat)
- Centrahoma
- Lehigh
- Tupelo
Towns
- Bromide
- Phillips
Census-designated places
- Clarita
- Cottonwood
Other unincorporated communities
- Cairo
- Olney
NRHP sites
The following sites in Coal County are listed on the National Register of Historic Places:
- Benjamin Franklin Smallwood House, Lehigh
- Coalgate School Gymnasium-Auditorium, Coalgate
- Keel Creek Bridge, Coalgate
- Merchants National Bank Building, Lehigh
- United States Post Office Coalgate, Coalgate