Kansas Population and Demographics

In this article, we'll explore the population statistics for Kansas, including popular demographics data like median age, number of households, household income, gender, employment and unemployment rates, occupations, religion, and more.

We are using the latest American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year survey data from the US Census Bureau, which is accurate up to 2021.

Table of Contents

Population

There is a lot of data that lets us see how many people live in Kansas. The most basic data is the total population, which is the total number of people living in Kansas. The estimated population of Kansas is 2,932,099 people, with a median age of 37.

We can look at the total population in Kansas over the last 5 years to see how much it has changed.

Year Population Change 5-Year Change
2021
2,932,099
+0.67%
+0.97%
2020
2,912,619
+0.07%
-
2019
2,910,652
+0.06%
-
2018
2,908,776
+0.17%
-
2017
2,903,820
 - -

Population of Kansas by Race and Ethnicity

We can also look at how the population has changed over the last 5 years by each of the race/ethnicity types as defined by the US Census Bureau.

Race 2021 2017 Change
White
74.8%
76.5%
 -2.22%
Black/African American
5.4%
5.6%
 -3.57%
Native
0.5%
0.7%
 -28.57%
Hispanic
12.3%
11.5%
 +6.96%
Asian
3%
2.8%
 +7.14%
Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
0.1%
0.1%
 0.00%
Two Or More Races
3.7%
2.8%
 +32.14%
Other
0.2%
0.1%
 +100.00%

This data can be very important for a number of reasons, including social and economic research, planning and development, and marketing to a multi-cultural population.

Note that the Native group includes both Native American and Alaskan Native people.

Population of Kansas by Age and Gender

The age and gender of a population is another interesting demographic statistic because it lets us track trends in the population over time. For example, we can see how the population has changed over the last 5 years by median age as a total, and also by male and female.

Year Total Male Female
2021 37 +0.27% 36 +0.84% 38.1 -0.26%
2020 36.9 +0.54% 35.7 +0.85% 38.2 +0.53%
2019 36.7 +0.55% 35.4 +0.28% 38 +0.26%
2018 36.5 +0.55% 35.3 +0.57% 37.9 +0.53%
2017 36.3 - 35.1 - 37.7 -

The median age of Kansas gives you an idea of the age distribution, with half of the population being older than the median age and half being younger.

This can then be used to infer and compare against birth rates, parent ages, and more metrics to understand the population. For example, an increasing median age indicates an aging population, which can be a sign of a declining population in terms of birth rates and workforce participation.

Age 2021 2017
(Years) Male Female Male Female
0 to 9 204,908 -2.76% 196,111 -3.79% 199,292 188,740
10 to 19 204,368 +2.97% 194,404 +2.8% 210,407 199,886
20 to 29 213,642 -1.71% 195,256 -1.49% 209,998 192,352
30 to 39 189,096 +2.91% 182,384 +2.32% 194,655 186,626
40 to 49 170,703 +0.66% 168,915 -0.63% 171,807 167,822
50 to 59 190,636 -6.33% 192,985 -7.33% 178,834 179,202
60 to 69 150,024 +11.84% 159,939 +9.24% 168,594 175,216
70+ 122,603 +9.43% 167,846 +3.71% 134,565 174,103

Median Household Income

The latest median household income of Kansas is $64,521.00.

In simple terms, the median income is the middle income of a group of people. Half of the people in the group make more than the median income, and half make less. The median income is a good indicator of the overall income of a group of people, and can be used to compare against other metrics such as the average income, per capita income, and more.

Median Income by Age

We can also look at the median income by age to see how the median income varies by age, and how it compares to the overall median income for Kansas.

  • Under 25
    $35,320.00
  • 25 to 44
    $71,976.00
  • 45 to 64
    $78,885.00
  • 65 and over
    $49,216.00

Average Household Income

Whenever we ask what is the average household income in Kansas, we are actually talking about the mean household income.

This is calculated by adding up all the incomes of all the households in Kansas, and then dividing that number by the total number of households. This is a good way to get a general idea of the average income of a group of people, but it can be skewed by a very high or very low incomes.

The average household income of Kansas is currently $87,033.00.

In terms of accurately summarizing income at a geographic level, the median income is a better metric than the average income because it isn't affected by a small number of very high or very low incomes.

If you had an area where the average income was greater than the median, it can mean that there is significant income inequality, with income being concentrated in a small number of wealthy households.

6.55% of households in Kansas are classed as high income households (making $200,000+ per year).

Household Income Tiers

The US Census Bureau divides households into income tiers based on the median income for the area. This is a good way to compare the income of Kansas against other areas.

  • Less than $24,999
    16.78%
  • $25,000 to $49,999
    21.83%
  • $50,000 to $74,999
    18.47%
  • $75,000 to $99,999
    13.63%
  • $100,000 to $149,999
    15.99%
  • $150,000 to $199,999
    6.74%
  • $200,000 or more
    6.55%

Per Capita Income

The per capita income in Kansas is $34,968.00.

Per capita income is the average income of a person in a given area. It is calculated by dividing the total income of Kansas by the total population of Kansas.

This is different from the average or mean income because it includes and accounts for all people in Kansas, including people like children, the elderly, unemployed people, retired people, and more.

Education Levels

We can also look at the education levels in Kansas to see how many people have a high school degree, a bachelor's degree, or a graduate degree.

Educational attainment is a good indicator of the overall education level of a population, and can be used to compare against other metrics such as the average income, per capita income, and more to see how education levels affect income, unemployment rates, and more.

  • Master's degree or higher
    15.22%
  • Bachelor's degree
    34.73%
  • Some college or associate's degree
    12.92%
  • High school diploma or equivalent
    34.87%
  • Less than high school diploma
    2.26%

Employment

Employment rates are all based around the total population in Kansas that are over the age of 16.

The total population of Kansas over the age of 16 is 2,299,477.

Of those people, a total of 66.60% are working or actively looking for work. This is called the labor force participation rate.

The participation rate is a useful market measure because it shows the relative amount of labor resources available to the economy.

The employment to total population rate in Kansas is 63.10%.

Employment by Age

We can look at the employment rates by age to see how it compares to the overall employment rate.

Age Population Participation Unemployment Rate
16 to 19 years 165,703 49.90% 13.50%
20 to 24 years 211,823 79.90% 7.30%
25 to 29 years 190,527 85.50% 4.50%
30 to 34 years 187,454 84.90% 3.30%
35 to 44 years 366,623 85.40% 2.90%
45 to 54 years 337,255 84.30% 3.00%
55 to 59 years 187,614 76.90% 2.90%
60 to 64 years 188,450 62.60% 2.50%
65 to 74 years 273,373 30.40% 1.80%
75 years and over 190,655 7.30% 1.60%

Employment by Race

Another very interesting employment statistic we can look at is the employment and unemployment rates by race in Kansas. The table below shows the rates for each of the ethnicity groups types defined by the US Census Bureau.

Age Population Participation Unemployment Rate
White 1,908,187 66.20% 3.60%
Black or African American 128,507 65.50% 9.10%
American Indian and Alaska Native 16,984 61.70% 8.10%
Asian 70,082 69.80% 3.50%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 1,668 69.70% 2.10%
Other 64,817 69.30% 5.20%
Two or more races 109,232 70.50% 5.80%
Hispanic or Latino 240,814 72.60% 5.20%
Not Hispanic or Latino 1,780,739 65.70% 3.50%

Occupations

In this section we can look at the most common occupations in Kansas as well as the gender breakdown and earnings of them.

The total population of civilian employees that are 16 years old or older in Kansas is 1,450,216, with median earnings of $39,838.00.

Women in Kansas earning approximately 69.80% of the men's earnings.

Population Earnings
Total 1,450,216 $39,838.00
Male 765,976 $46,636.00
Female 684,240 $32,537.00

Occupations by Category

In the table below, we can break down the population and earnings even further by occupation. The list of occupation categories below will show you how many people are employed in each category and the median earnings of each profession.

Occupation Employed Earnings
Management 156,452 $67,749.00
Business and Financial 77,919 $62,290.00
Computer and Mathematical 42,183 $74,890.00
Architecture and Engineering 29,129 $79,114.00
Life, Physical, and Social Science 12,997 $57,346.00
Community and Social Service 26,468 $41,983.00
Legal 12,339 $76,835.00
Educational and Library 100,408 $40,219.00
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 23,210 $39,180.00
Healthcare Practitioners 95,577 $55,491.00
Healthcare Support 44,726 $22,441.00
Firefighters and Protective Service 12,704 $37,985.00
Law Enforcement 13,864 $50,644.00
Food Preparation and Serving 76,008 $12,787.00
Building and Grounds Cleaning 49,959 $21,635.00
Personal Care and Service 37,359 $16,153.00
Sales 133,611 $34,036.00
Office and Administrative Support 160,349 $32,930.00
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 13,368 $32,902.00
Construction and Extraction 71,558 $39,761.00
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 51,524 $47,695.00
Production 99,544 $39,876.00
Transportation and Material Moving 50,367 $42,531.00

Occupations by Gender

The table below shows the same occupations from the list above, but we have split them by male and female to see how many male and females work in each occupation, the median earnings, and the male to female ratio of earnings.

That last metric is important because it can be used to look at the gender pay gap between men and women.

Occupation Male Female
Population Earnings Population Earnings
Management 97,689 $76,451.00 58,763 $56,640.00
Business and Financial 36,237 $73,752.00 41,682 $54,425.00
Computer and Mathematical 31,992 $77,591.00 10,191 $63,865.00
Architecture and Engineering 24,679 $82,156.00 4,450 $58,510.00
Life, Physical, and Social Science 7,491 $63,390.00 5,506 $53,094.00
Community and Social Service 9,100 $42,784.00 17,368 $41,688.00
Legal 6,342 $117,955.00 5,997 $58,474.00
Educational and Library 24,972 $49,148.00 75,436 $36,480.00
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 11,304 $44,276.00 11,906 $34,396.00
Healthcare Practitioners 21,782 $77,868.00 73,795 $52,645.00
Healthcare Support 5,693 $25,174.00 39,033 $22,239.00
Firefighters and Protective Service 9,685 $41,496.00 3,019 $17,580.00
Law Enforcement 11,594 $52,945.00 2,270 $42,709.00
Food Preparation and Serving 31,785 $13,501.00 44,223 $12,435.00
Building and Grounds Cleaning 30,419 $26,174.00 19,540 $17,860.00
Personal Care and Service 7,159 $21,080.00 30,200 $15,425.00
Sales 68,740 $49,413.00 64,871 $22,244.00
Office and Administrative Support 38,548 $37,526.00 121,801 $32,128.00
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 11,134 $34,551.00 2,234 $21,865.00
Construction and Extraction 68,580 $40,025.00 2,978 $28,600.00
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 49,526 $47,980.00 1,998 $38,766.00
Production 73,229 $43,253.00 26,315 $30,103.00
Transportation and Material Moving 43,992 $46,262.00 6,375 $20,721.00

Households and Family Size

A household defined bu the US Census Bureau is a group of people who occupy a housing unit. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, group of rooms, or single room occupied as separate living quarters.

There are currently 1,139,738 households in Kansas, with an average household size of 2.51 people.

A family is defined as a group of two or more people related by birth, marriage, or adoption who live together in the same household.

There are 732,385 families in Kansas with an average family size of 3.12 people.

Households by Marital Status

The four categories of household by marital status are:

  • Married-couple family
  • Male householder with no spouse present
  • Female household with no spouse present
  • Nonfamily household

The table below shows the total number of households and families, with the average sizes of each.

Married Male Female Nonfamily
Total Households 571,932 49,231 111,222 407,353
Average Household Size 3.17 3.29 3.35 1.25
Total Families 571,932 49,231 111,222 0
Average Household Size 3.14 2.89 3.1 0

Poverty

Of the 732,385 families in Kansas, 7.60% are considered to be below the poverty threshold.

The table below shows the latest poverty thresholds in Kansas:

Household Size Poverty Threshold
1 Person $14,580.00
2 People $19,720.00
3 People $24,860.00
4 People $30,000.00
5 People $35,140.00
6 People $40,280.00
7 People $45,420.00
8 People $50,560.00

Housing

There are 1,272,290 housing units in Kansas.

The table below shows the split between occupied and vacant units:

Total Percentage
Occupied 1,139,738 89.58%
Vacant 132,552 10.42%

28.34% of the total 1,272,290 housing units in Kansas are rental units. This is approximately 360,515 properties.

For owner-occupied housing units, a total of 759,042 are occupied by the owner - or 59.66% of the total.

Rental Rates

The median rent for a property in Kansas is $912.00.

In the chart below, we can look at the number of rental properties in Kansas that fall into a particular rent range. These can then be used to compare with other areas, or to see how they have changed over time.

  • No rent paid
    20,181
  • Less than $500
    35,564
  • $500 to $999
    180,348
  • $1,000 to $1,499
    105,311
  • $1,500 to $1,999
    27,823
  • $2,000 to $2,499
    6,761
  • $2,500 to $2,999
    1,770
  • $3,000 or more
    2,938

Property Value

The median value of a property in Kansas is $164,800.00.

Just like with rental rates, we can look at the number of properties in Kansas that fall into a particular value range.

  • Less than $50,000
    79,028
  • $50,000 to $99,999
    135,872
  • $100,000 to $149,999
    122,131
  • $150,000 to $199,999
    121,304
  • $200,000 to $299,999
    150,124
  • $300,000 to $499,999
    109,297
  • $500,000 to $999,999
    35,352
  • $1,000,000 or more
    5,934

Property Age

We can also look at the age of properties in Kansas. The chart below shows the number of properties in Kansas that fall into a particular age range.

  • 1939 or earlier
    200,713
  • 1940 to 1949
    69,146
  • 1950 to 1959
    156,722
  • 1960 to 1969
    129,094
  • 1970 to 1979
    184,769
  • 1980 to 1989
    147,778
  • 1990 to 1999
    161,328
  • 2000 to 2009
    140,605
  • 2010 to 2013
    80,273
  • 2014 or later
    1,862

Vehicles per Household

The number of vehicles available per household can be a good indicator of the level of affluence in an area. The chart below shows the number of households in Kansas that have a particular number of vehicles available.

  • No vehicles available
    58,298
  • 1 vehicle available
    338,787
  • 2 vehicles available
    438,803
  • 3 or more vehicles available
    303,850

Commuting to Work

In this section, we can also look at how people in Kansas get to work. The chart below shows the number of people in Kansas that commute to work in a particular way.

19.6 minutes is the average travel time to work for people in Kansas.

These commute times can be compared to other date like income and educational levels to see how they relate to each other and if there are any trends in the data that might suggest a correlation.

  • Less than 5 minutes
    78,884
  • 5 to 9 minutes
    216,768
  • 10 to 14 minutes
    234,792
  • 15 to 19 minutes
    233,939
  • 20 to 24 minutes
    192,797
  • 25 to 29 minutes
    80,292
  • 30 to 34 minutes
    130,939
  • 35 to 39 minutes
    28,564
  • 40 to 44 minutes
    31,072
  • 45 to 59 minutes
    50,794
  • 60 to 89 minutes
    28,237
  • 90 or more minutes
    17,626

Summary

We've covered a LOT of demographic and population data for Kansas in this article! Hopefully you have found it very useful in your research of the area.

If you use any of the data found on this page, please consider linking back to USPopulation.org as the source and if you have any feedback or data requests, click here to contact us.

Counties in Kansas

We have data for 105 counties in Kansas. Click on a county below to see more information about the demographics of that county, with links to cities and towns within that county.

Zip Codes in Kansas

If you want to find out more about the population and demographics of specific zip codes in Kansas, click on the links below.