Kansas City, Kansas
Cost of living, housing, income, commute, climate, and safety — compiled for relocators researching Kansas City.
Key figures
Each metric shows how Kansas City compares with the U.S. baseline (ACS/BLS nationals where available; catalog-city averages for crime, climate, and commute). Income, housing, population, and crime are for the incorporated city (city limits), not the broader metro/MSA — unemployment is county-level (BLS LAUS).
- Population
- 154,776City limits · not metro/MSA
- Median household income
- $59,183Incorporated place (ACS)25% below U.S. avgU.S. $78,538
- Housing cost index
- 64ACS home+rent vs U.S. (100 = avg)36% below U.S. avgU.S. 100
- Median home value
- $147,100City limits (ACS)52% below U.S. avgU.S. $303,400
- Median rent
- $1,073City limits (ACS)20% below U.S. avgU.S. $1,348
- Unemployment
- 4.4%County LAUS · not city-onlyNear U.S. avg (4.2 pts)U.S. 4.2 pts
- Avg commute
- 20 min20% below U.S. avgU.S. 25 min
- Walk Score
- 4011% below U.S. avgU.S. 45
- Violent crime rate
- UnavailableFBI CDE gap
- Property crime rate
- UnavailableFBI CDE gap
- Summer high
- 88°FNear U.S. avg (87°F)U.S. 87°F
- Winter low
- 25°F9.0°F below U.S. avgU.S. 34°F
- Annual rainfall
- 38.1 in16% above U.S. avgU.S. 32.9 in
- Sunny days
- 279Near U.S. avg (266)U.S. 266
Compare Kansas City with another city
Wide-open plains weather — wind, heat, and tornado season — is a planning factor. Roughly 279 sunny days a year give outdoor routines unusual calendar reliability. Average one-way commute time is about 20 minutes, and Walk Score estimates land around 40/100. Labor-market readings near 4.4% unemployment are neither boom nor bust by national standards. Crime rates are marked unavailable for this municipality in our FBI CDE pull; do not rely on a citywide index.
Relocators eyeing Kansas City, Kansas will find roughly 154,776 residents within city limits. With median income around $59,183 and a cost index of 64, the market reads among the more affordable large markets in this catalog on housing costs. Entry home prices around $147,100 still look attainable compared with coastal metros.
Kansas City is compact enough that a single wrong neighborhood choice is easy to feel day to day — visit at commute hour before signing. Figures on this page are merged from Census ACS, BLS LAUS, FBI Crime Data Explorer, and NOAA Climate Normals — use them to compare Kansas City with nearby alternatives before you relocate.
Nearby & similar cities
Continue researching with these internal links — each page is a full data profile.
Sources
- Census / ACS: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 5-year (Kansas City city, 1600000US2036000)
- BLS: BLS LAUS LAUCN202090000000003 (Wyandotte County, May 2026)
- Crime: data unavailable
- Climate: NOAA 1991–2020 Monthly Normals (USW00013988 KANSAS CITY DOWNTOWN AP)
Last updated 2026-07-28