Retaining wall cost in Tulsa, OK

Specs and site conditions that change a Tulsa bid

• Material

  Block, poured concrete and natural stone are priced differently; concrete and stone walls run higher than the segmental block default.

• Drainage

  Every wall needs drainage behind it. A French drain adds $10-$85+ per linear foot.

• Rebuilding

  Replacing an old wall adds $15-$30 per linear foot for demolition plus disposal.

Tulsa against nearby metros and the rest of Oklahoma

Of the five closest metros, 3 are cheaper than Tulsa. Fort Smith is the lowest at about $9,000 (midpoint, 200 sq ft of wall face), 110 miles away.

Out of the 300 metros we cover, Tulsa ranks #213 for the cost of this job (#1 is the most expensive). Statewide, Tulsa is 5% above the Oklahoma figure.

Elsewhere in Oklahoma

Metros of a similar size

Big cities and small ones price differently, so here is Tulsa against the 4 metros with the closest total employment.

The best months for retaining wall in Tulsa

Climate numbers on this page come from NOAA's 1991-2020 U.S. Climate Normals at the nearest suitable station, Tulsa Intl Ap (5 miles from the city center). They are 30-year averages, so any one year can run hotter, colder or wetter.

For digging, grading and setting material in the ground, the comfortable months in Tulsa are March through June and September through November: 7 of 12. Outside them, January, February and December have an average overnight low at or below freezing (32°F), and July and August have an average daytime high of 90°F or more.

In January, February and December the average low is at or below freezing, which means frozen ground and slower digging, compaction and sod or stone placement. NOAA counts about 72 days a year with a low at or below 32°F at this station.

Tulsa gets about 41 inches of precipitation in a normal year, including roughly 9 inches of snow. The wettest months are April, May and June (5.7 inches in May). Inside the workable window, March and November are the driest, at 3.1 and 2.7 inches. The station averages about 74 days a year at 90°F or above.

We do not adjust the estimate by month, because we have no reliable published data on seasonal pricing. It is still worth asking contractors whether an off-peak start date changes their bid.

Who does the work: Tulsa trade wages

The labor line is built from BLS wage data, one trade at a time. This job draws on 3 trades. We compare each trade's local median with the US median, weight the ratios by how much of the job each trade does, and apply the blend to the national labor cost. For Tulsa the blend is 0.90.

For brickmasons and blockmasons (47-2021, weighted 50%) the local median is $27.92 an hour, which is 7% below the national $29.87. The middle half of them earn between $21.88 and $29.24 an hour. BLS counts 190 of them working in the area, 4.1 for every 10,000 jobs (US: 3.4), so the local bench is deeper than average.

For construction laborers (47-2061, weighted 30%) the local median is $20.77 an hour, which is 8% below the national $22.66. The middle half of them earn between $18.11 and $23.29 an hour. BLS counts 3,990 of them working in the area, 87.0 for every 10,000 jobs (US: 70.5), so the local bench is deeper than average.

Operating engineers and other construction equipment operators (47-2073), 20% of the weighting: a median of $23.28 an hour, 19% below the US median of $28.78. The middle half of them earn between $21.83 and $27.29 an hour. About 1,530 work in the metro. That is 33.4 per 10,000 jobs, compared with 30.7 nationally, so the supply of crews looks typical.

A quick sensitivity check: moving the lead trade (brickmasons and blockmasons) from the median to the 75th percentile wage adds about $100 to the midpoint estimate; the 25th percentile takes off about $480. That is a swing of roughly 5.0% to 1.1% of the total, which is useful for judging whether a bid reflects wages or something else, such as scope or margin.

Tulsa has 458,730 jobs in total (BLS, May 2025), ranking 54th by size among the 300 metros on this site.

Cost by quality level and size in Tulsa

The cited range is split into basic, standard and premium bands, then scaled to Tulsa. Bands overlap, because plenty of standard jobs cost as much as a light premium one. Sizes run from short garden wall (4x25 ft), 100 sq ft of wall face to 40 ft x 6 ft (240 sq ft of wall face).

Planning more than one job in Tulsa?

Jobs that often go together with retaining wall are priced below at their usual sizes, using the same Tulsa wage and price inputs. Compared with national midpoints, sod installation comes out highest (−7%) and concrete driveway lowest (−13%); the gap comes from the trades each job uses.