McAlester is a medium-sized city located in the state of Oklahoma. With a population of 18,140 people and six associated neighborhoods, McAlester is the 29th largest community in Oklahoma.

Telecommuters are a relatively large percentage of the workforce: 7.69% of people work from home. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce it is high relative to the nation. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.

Residents of the city have the good fortune of having one of the shortest daily commutes compared to the rest of the country. On average, they spend only 16.35 minutes getting to work every day.

In terms of college education, McAlester is nearly on par with the US average for all cities of 21.84%: 20.49% of adults 25 and older in McAlester have a bachelor's degree or advanced degree.

The per capita income in McAlester in 2022 was $27,243, which is middle income relative to Oklahoma, and lower middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $108,972 for a family of four. However, McAlester contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

McAlester is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call McAlester home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of McAlester residents report their race to be White, followed by Native American. Important ancestries of people in McAlester include Irish, German, English, Italian, and Dutch.

The most common language spoken in McAlester is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Native American languages.