Most African American cities in Kansas research summary. We used Saturday Night Science to analyze Kansas’s most recent Census data to determine the cities with the largest Black population, based on the percentage of Black residents.
The city with the largest African American population in Kansas is Kansas City (19.2% Black); the least is Augusta (0.1%). Statewide, Kansas is 5.2% Black — the 30th blackest state in the country.
Roughly 42 million people identifying as Black or African American live in the United States, about 12% of the total population. In Kansas, the Black population is 151,797, at 5.2% of the state total.
We broke down the most recent Census data to determine the cities in Kansas with the largest African American population in 2026.
#1 most African American in Kansas
Located in
Wyandotte County, KansasKansas City is the third-largest city in the state of Kansas, the county seat of Wyandotte County, and the third-largest city of the Kansas City metropolitan area. Kansas City, Kansas is abbreviated as “KCK” to differentiate it from Kansas City, Missouri. It is part of a consolidated city-county government known as the “Unified Government”. Wyandotte County also includes the independent cities of Bonner Springs and Edwardsville. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 145,786 residents. It is situated at Kaw Point, which is the junction of the Missouri and Kansas rivers.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#2 most African American in Kansas
Junction City is a city and county seat of Geary County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 23,353. Fort Riley, a major U.S. Army post, is nearby.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#3 most African American in Kansas
Located in
Leavenworth County, KansasLeavenworth is the largest city in and the county seat of Leavenworth County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 35,251. Located on the west bank of the Missouri River 25mi northwest of Kansas City, Missouri, it is part of the Kansas City metropolitan area.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#4 most African American in Kansas
Located in
Sedgwick County, KansasBel Aire is a city in Sedgwick County, Kansas, United States, and a suburb of Wichita. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 6,769.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#5 most African American in Kansas
Located in
Montgomery County, KansasCoffeyville is a city in southeastern Montgomery County, Kansas, United States, located along the Verdigris River in the state’s southeastern region. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 10,295. It is the most populous city of Montgomery County and with its southeast Kansas location is located in the Tulsa, Oklahoma media market. The town of South Coffeyville, Oklahoma is located approximately 1 mile south of the city, existing as a separate political entity immediately south of the state line.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#6 most African American in Kansas
Located in
Leavenworth County, KansasLansing is a city situated along the Missouri River in the eastern part of Leavenworth County, located in northeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 11,265. It is the second most populous city of Leavenworth County and is a part of the Kansas City metropolitan area.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#7 most African American in Kansas
Located in
Sedgwick County, KansasWichita is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas. Located in south-central Kansas on the Arkansas River, Wichita is the county seat of Sedgwick County and the principal city of the Wichita metropolitan area whose estimated population in 2015 was 644,610. As of 2016, the city of Wichita had an estimated population of 389,902.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers | Compare
#8 most African American in Kansas
Located in
Shawnee County, KansasTopeka is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the seat of Shawnee County. It is situated along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 127,473. The Topeka Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes Shawnee, Jackson, Jefferson, Osage, and Wabaunsee counties, had a population of 233,870 in the 2010 census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers | Compare
#9 most African American in Kansas
Located in
Johnson County, KansasMerriam is a city in Johnson County, Kansas, United States, and part of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 11,003. It is bordered by the cities of Overland Park to the east and south, Shawnee to the west, and Kansas City, Kansas to the north ; the city of Lenexa is less than a mile to the southwest. Merriam is included in the Shawnee Mission postal designation.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#10 most African American in Kansas
Located in
Johnson County, KansasLenexa is a city in Johnson County, Kansas, United States, and part of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 48,190. It is bordered by the cities of Shawnee to the north, Overland Park to the east, De Soto to the west and Olathe to the south.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Kansas’s statewide median.
On the map
Where Kansas’s Black communities live
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How We Determined The Cities In Kansas With The Largest Black Population For 2026
We still believe in the accuracy of data — especially from the Census. So that’s where we went to get the race breakdown across Kansas.
That leads us to the Census’s most recently available data, the 2020-2024 American Community Survey data from the US Census.
Specifically, we looked at table B03002: Hispanic OR LATINO ORIGIN BY RACE. Here are the category names as defined by the Census:
- Hispanic or Latino
- White alone*
- Black or African American alone*
- American Indian and Alaska Native alone*
- Asian alone*
- Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone*
- Some other race alone*
- Two or more races*
Our particular column of interest was the number of people who identified as Black or African American.
We limited our analysis to non-CDPs with a population greater than 5,000 people in Kansas. That left us with 58 cities.
We then calculated the percentage of residents that are Black or African American. The percentages ranked from 19.2% to 0.1%.
Finally, we ranked each city based on the percentage of the Black population, with a higher score being more Black than a lower score. Kansas City took the distinction of being the most Black, while Augusta was the least African American city.
We updated this article for 2026. This is our eleventh time ranking the cities in Kansas with the largest African American population.
The full plate
African American Population By City In Kansas
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Population | African American Population | % African American |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kansas City | 155,135 | 29,794 | 19.2% |
| 2 | Junction City | 22,331 | 3,555 | 15.9% |
| 3 | Leavenworth | 37,195 | 4,291 | 11.5% |
| 4 | Bel Aire | 9,043 | 1,026 | 11.3% |
| 5 | Coffeyville | 8,662 | 886 | 10.2% |
| 6 | Lansing | 11,246 | 1,085 | 9.6% |
| 7 | Wichita | 397,945 | 37,128 | 9.3% |
| 8 | Topeka | 125,786 | 10,713 | 8.5% |
| 9 | Merriam | 11,085 | 822 | 7.4% |
| 10 | Lenexa | 58,384 | 4,219 | 7.2% |
| 11 | Gardner | 24,526 | 1,597 | 6.5% |
| 12 | Iola | 5,348 | 342 | 6.4% |
| 13 | Shawnee | 68,542 | 4,129 | 6.0% |
| 14 | Garden City | 27,819 | 1,641 | 5.9% |
| 15 | Park City | 7,673 | 421 | 5.5% |
| 16 | Olathe | 145,057 | 7,688 | 5.3% |
| 17 | Atchison | 10,785 | 567 | 5.3% |
| 18 | Manhattan | 54,239 | 2,691 | 5.0% |
| 19 | Parsons | 9,425 | 465 | 4.9% |
| 20 | Overland Park | 200,306 | 9,835 | 4.9% |
| 21 | Lawrence | 96,051 | 4,586 | 4.8% |
| 22 | Hutchinson | 39,709 | 1,558 | 3.9% |
| 23 | Salina | 46,307 | 1,757 | 3.8% |
| 24 | Arkansas City | 11,884 | 437 | 3.7% |
| 25 | Mission | 9,915 | 347 | 3.5% |
| 26 | Liberal | 19,316 | 624 | 3.2% |
| 27 | Winfield | 11,711 | 353 | 3.0% |
| 28 | Dodge City | 27,613 | 802 | 2.9% |
| 29 | Bonner Springs | 7,839 | 223 | 2.8% |
| 30 | Fort Scott | 7,555 | 193 | 2.6% |
| 31 | Pittsburg | 20,637 | 513 | 2.5% |
| 32 | McPherson | 13,995 | 340 | 2.4% |
| 33 | De Soto | 6,414 | 140 | 2.2% |
| 34 | Wellington | 7,615 | 161 | 2.1% |
| 35 | Independence | 8,422 | 163 | 1.9% |
| 36 | Emporia | 24,131 | 443 | 1.8% |
| 37 | Chanute | 8,598 | 146 | 1.7% |
| 38 | Ottawa | 12,678 | 213 | 1.7% |
| 39 | Andover | 15,965 | 266 | 1.7% |
| 40 | Newton | 18,397 | 305 | 1.7% |
| 41 | Paola | 5,770 | 95 | 1.6% |
| 42 | Roeland Park | 6,763 | 108 | 1.6% |
| 43 | Leawood | 33,809 | 512 | 1.5% |
| 44 | Concordia | 5,015 | 71 | 1.4% |
| 45 | Haysville | 11,117 | 149 | 1.3% |
| 46 | Derby | 26,062 | 345 | 1.3% |
| 47 | Hays | 21,143 | 277 | 1.3% |
| 48 | El Dorado | 12,769 | 132 | 1.0% |
| 49 | Mulvane | 6,171 | 58 | 0.9% |
| 50 | Pratt | 6,577 | 51 | 0.8% |
| 51 | Valley Center | 8,590 | 51 | 0.6% |
| 52 | Colby | 5,387 | 31 | 0.6% |
| 53 | Great Bend | 14,479 | 78 | 0.5% |
| 54 | Prairie Village | 22,874 | 91 | 0.4% |
| 55 | Eudora | 6,119 | 22 | 0.4% |
| 56 | Ulysses | 5,476 | 13 | 0.2% |
| 57 | Abilene | 6,449 | 11 | 0.2% |
| 58 | Augusta | 9,216 | 8 | 0.1% |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024. 58 cities with more than 5,000 residents.
Summary
Summary: Black Populations Across Kansas
If you’re looking for a breakdown of African American populations across Kansas according to the most recent data, this is an accurate list.
The blackest cities in Kansas are Kansas City, Junction City, Leavenworth, Bel Aire, Coffeyville, Lansing, Wichita, Topeka, Merriam, and Lenexa. Not sold on Kansas? Take the two-minute Find Your Place quiz and see which state actually fits you.
