Top Cities in Kansas

Kansas at a Glance

Amber waves of grain, expansive blue skies and lots of friendly folks await you in Kansas. With 82,2770 square miles of land but a population of just under 3 million, the Sunflower State is rather sparsely populated. You'll have plenty of room to stretch your legs since that equates to only 53 people in every square mile. Much of the western half of Kansas is devoted to agriculture, though there are a few smaller towns like Garden City, Liberal, Hayes and Dodge City. Agriculture is also important in the east where cattle graze year-round in the beautiful rolling Flint Hills. Much of the population lives in the northeast corner and central swath of the state. More than 20 percent of the state's population live in Wichita, Kansas's largest city with 636,000 in its metropolitan statistical area. Cities in the Kansas portion of the Kansas City metro area are also popular places to live given its proximity to jobs and amenities. Overland Park, Lenexa, Olathe, Shawnee and Leawood are located within 20 minutes of downtown Kansas City, MO. Other population centers can be found in the center of the state. Towns like Salina, Topeka, Lawrence, and Manhattan have populations of anywhere from 50,000 to 125,000.

Top Cities in Kansas

• Atchison  
• Bonner Springs  Basehor  
• Bucyrus  
• Clearview City  
• Edwardsville  
• Elwood  
• Fort Leavenworth  
• Gardner  
• Garnett  
• Kansas City  
• Lacygne  
• Lansing  
• Lawrence  
• Leavenworth  

Why You'll Love Living in Kansas

You'll get more bang for your buck in Kansas, especially when it comes to housing. Overall, the cost of living in Kansas is 8.74 percent lower than the national average, making it the sixth lowest cost state in the nation. For housing specifically, the median home value is more 200 percent lower than the national average. Even though the Wichita metro area is rather large, the average home price was $146,000 in 2014. It's more expensive to buy property in the Kansas City Metro area. For example, in Overland Park, the average listing price is higher at $425,000 and it's even higher in nearby Leawood. Even so, the median income is also high in these areas. Overland Park's median household income is $72,000 compared to Wichita's $45,000. In the smaller cities, houses' median prices are more in line with Wichita's market. In Manhattan, the median listing price is around $200,000 while it's $113,000 in Salina.

Many people flock to Wichita due to the availability of jobs in the aviation industry. Several airplane manufacturers, including Cessna, Learjet, Beechcraft and Spirit AeroSystems, are located in Wichita. Other big employees include Koch Industries, Wichita State University, Wesley Healthcare and the city's public school systems. The state's two biggest universities are located in Manhattan and Lawrence so lots of jobs there are related to higher education or the service industry. In the Kansas City metro area, job opportunities are much more varied. The largest employers in Overland Park itself are in the telecom industry, transportation and education. Elsewhere in the Kansas City metro area, jobs are abundant with opportunities in agriculture, freight, manufacturing, healthcare and engineering.