Alva is located in northwestern Oklahoma in Woods County (of which it is the county seat) northwest of Enid along U.S. Highway 64 on the banks of the Salt Fork of the Arkansas River.

Museum-goers will enjoy the Cherokee Strip Museum and the Stevens-Carter Museum of Natural History located here.

The population estimate for July 1, 1998 was 4,995, a decrease of 500 since 1990.