Cost of living in Kansas

Kansas at a glance

Median rent

$1,060

Census ACS, B25064, monthly

Median household income

$74,275

Census ACS, B19013, yearly

Median home value

$217,200

Census ACS, B25077

Median property tax bill

$2,798

Census ACS, B25103, yearly, current owners

Mean commute

20 min

Census ACS, DP03, one way

Unemployment

3.9%

Census ACS, DP03

Kansas's own published state rows, never an average of its counties. Prices overall run 10% below the national average (BEA regional price parity, 2024).

Figures from the 2024 release of the Census American Community Survey, checked September 2026. Health, hazard and price-level readings name their own release beside them.

The three most populous counties in Kansas

These are the most populous places in Kansas, not a match to you. Set what matters to you on Find your fit and this becomes your three closest matches here. Made-up answers work too. This is a tool, not a survey.

• Johnson County

  Population

  621K

  Rent

  $1,434

  Household income

  $109,208

  Prop. tax (yearly)

  $4,447

  Set as targetPlan

• Sedgwick County

  Population

  528K

  Rent

  $998

  Household income

  $69,365

  Prop. tax (yearly)

  $2,461

  Set as targetPlan

• Shawnee County

  Population

  178K

  Rent

  $1,000

  Household income

  $67,104

  Prop. tax (yearly)

  $2,705

  Set as targetPlan

Kansas, worth the trip

Admitted to the Union on January 29, 1861, as the 34th state. Spanish explorers led by Francisco Vázquez de Coronado reached Kansas in 1541. The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 let residents decide on slavery, which led to the conflict known as Bleeding Kansas before Kansas entered the Union as a free state.

• Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve

  A remnant of the tallgrass prairie that once covered 170 million acres, in the Kansas Flint Hills.

• Brown v. Board of Education National Historical Park

  The story of the parents, teachers and students whose work led to the Brown v. Board of Education decision.

• Fort Larned National Historic Site

  A complete sandstone army post from the 1860s and 1870s on the Santa Fe Trail.

History: Encyclopaedia Britannica. Each place links to the page of the agency that looks after it.

Property tax in Kansas

Current owners in Kansas pay a median 1.29% of home value a year in property tax. Example: $2,798 a year, the median bill. By county, the median bill runs from $991 in Chautauqua County to $4,447 in Johnson County. These are bills that current owners pay, as the Census measures them. Each county's own figure is in the table below.

Health in Kansas

Life expectancy

76.4 yrs

County Health Rankings, from CDC NCHS vital statistics

No health insurance

10.2%

County Health Rankings, from Census SAHIE, people under 65

Poor or fair health

15.4%

County Health Rankings, from CDC BRFSS. Modeled, not counted

Injury deaths per 100K people

85

County Health Rankings, from CDC NCHS, counted deaths

Each is the figure County Health Rankings publishes for Kansas as a whole, never an average of its counties. Each county's own health readings are on its page.

Natural hazards in Kansas

Expected yearly loss, statewide

$1.8B

All natural hazards, an average year. Larger states lose more

Building loss rate

$1.39

Per $1,000 of building value, each year. Fair to compare between states

Costliest hazard

Inland flooding

$634M of the expected yearly loss, the largest share of any hazard FEMA assesses

Air quality

—

The EPA publishes air quality by county and metro area, never by state. It is on each county's page

FEMA publishes a risk score for counties and none for states, so none is shown here. Each county's score is on its own page.

Side by side

Johnson County, KS is the largest county here. Set it beside another place, reading by reading.

All 105 counties in Kansas

Each has its published readings on its own page. Press a column to sort by it. Pick one, or open the map to see them shaded side by side.

Household income, home value and population are on each county's own page, and in this table on a wider screen.

Where these numbers come from

Each reading is the published figure, not an estimate. A dash means the source did not publish one, or published one too uncertain to print.

• State figures: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 20245-year estimates, the state's own row (tables B25064, B19013, B25077, B25103, B01003, DP03).
• County figures: the same survey, each county's own row, as on every county page.
• Price level: Bureau of Economic Analysis, regional price parities, 2024, all items, state-level.
• Health: County Health Rankings & Roadmaps 2025, University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, the state's own row. Poor or fair health is a modeled estimate from CDC survey data. The other three are counted or calculated.
• Natural hazards: FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025, state table, expected annual loss. This product uses FEMA data but is not endorsed by FEMA.
• Air quality has no state figure: the EPA publishes it by county and metro area only.
• Photographs: Wikimedia Commons and the county photo feed, each credited to its photographer under its own licence, beneath the picture.