Kansas cost of living
Prices in Kansas run at 90.1 against a national average of 100, which makes it the 41th most expensive of the 51 jurisdictions. Housing is the part that separates states: rents there sit at 71.2.
Where the difference actually is
Prices in Kansas run at 90.1 where the national average is 100, so about 9.9 per cent below the country as a whole. It ranks #41 of 51 states.
Housing is unusually cheap relative to everything else here. Rents sit at 71.2 against goods at 94.0 and other services at 88.4, so the overall figure of 90.1 understates how affordable the housing itself is. It is the opposite of the usual pattern, where housing is what makes a place expensive. Goods at 94.0 are themselves 6 points off national, which is a wide gap for a category that is mostly shipped in.
The number is most useful in reverse: a job here can pay less in cash and still leave a household better off, by roughly 9.9 per cent before anything else is considered.
The vertical line is the national average of 100. Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, SARPP, 2024.
What it costs, in actual money
Parities are ratios. These are the figures behind them for Kansas, drawn from the other datasets on this site.
| Kansas | |
|---|---|
| Median home value | $203,400 |
| Median gross rent | $1,029 a month |
| Median household income | $72,639 |
| Average electricity bill | $130 a month |
| Effective property tax | 1.30% |
Metro areas in Kansas
Within a state, cities and rural areas diverge sharply. A statewide parity averages over that.
| Metro area | All items | Goods | Rents | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kansas City | 92.5 | 94.1 | 86.6 | #230 |
| Lawrence | 90.2 | 94.0 | 71.6 | #286 |
| Manhattan | 90.2 | 94.0 | 72.0 | #287 |
| Wichita | 88.9 | 94.0 | 66.2 | #315 |
| Topeka | 88.8 | 94.0 | 65.0 | #318 |
| St. Joseph | 86.4 | 94.2 | 55.4 | #362 |
| Joplin | 85.7 | 94.2 | 54.0 | #376 |
Kansas cost of living: common questions
Is Kansas expensive to live in?
Prices overall are 9.9% below the national average, at a parity of 90.1 where 100 is the country as a whole. It ranks #41 of 51. Goods run at 94.0, rents at 71.2 and other services at 88.4.
What is a salary in Kansas really worth?
The median wage there is $46,850. Adjusted for local prices that buys what $51,998 buys nationally. A state that pays well and costs more can leave a household no better off, and this is the arithmetic that shows it.
What is a regional price parity?
An official measure from the Bureau of Economic Analysis of what a dollar buys in one place against the national average, set at 100. It is built from the same price collection that underlies the consumer price index, extended to compare places rather than time periods. It is the only government measure of cost of living differences between states.
Why is housing treated separately?
Because it carries most of the difference. In Kansas rents sit 18.9 points below the state's overall parity. Goods barely vary between states, since most of them are shipped nationally; services vary more; housing varies enormously. Any cost of living comparison that does not separate housing is mostly measuring housing anyway.