The 10 Most Expensive Places To Live In Kansas For 2023


We used science and data to determine which cities in Kansas that will put a big dent in your wallet.

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Editor’s Note: We updated this article for 2023. This is our tenth time ranking the most expensive places to live in Kansas.

Everyone wants a home that mixes affordability with comfort and Kansas does this very well. Families love the Sunflower State's beaches, midlands, and mountains as tourists before moving here and calling it home.

But before you decide to relocate, you have to do some research into the exact cost of living around the state -- and that's how we're going to help you.

These are the places in Kansas that cost a pretty penny -- the most expensive cities in the state.

After we saved up for months and could finally afford it, we landed on this list of the ten most expensive cities in Kansas for 2023.

So where is the most expensive place to live in Kansas? That would be Manhattan.
the 2017-2021 American Community Survey for the 62 places in Kansas with more than 5,000 people.

Here are the 10 most expensive places to live in Kansas for 2023:

  1. Manhattan
  2. Prairie Village
  3. Lawrence
  4. Maize
  5. Roeland Park
  6. Merriam
  7. Mission
  8. Hays
  9. Overland Park
  10. Lenexa

What's the most expensive place to live in Kansas? Well, HomeSnacks crunched the numbers and discovered that Manhattan is the most expensive place to live in Kansas.

So hopefully Chanute (the cheapest place to live in Kansas) can show these guys how to live on a budget in the coming years. Read on for how these places had costs rise faster than inflation.

And if you already knew these places were expensive, check out some more reading about Kansas and the most expensive cities in the country:

The 10 Most Expensive Places To Live In Kansas For 2023

1. Manhattan

Manhattan, KS

Overall SnackAbility

7.5
/10

Population: 54,794
Rank Last Year: 1 (No Change)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 4.2x (most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 56.6x (5th most expensive)
More on Manhattan: Real Estate | Data | Photos

The median income in Manhattan comes in at $52,747 and the median home value is $222,300 for 2023.

2. Prairie Village

Prairie Village, KS

Overall SnackAbility

10
/10

Population: 22,812
Rank Last Year: 2 (No Change)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 3.6x (4th most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 62.9x (15th most expensive)
More on Prairie Village: Real Estate | Data | Photos

The median income in Prairie Village comes in at $92,753 and the median home value is $333,300 for 2023.

3. Lawrence

Lawrence, KS

Overall SnackAbility

7.5
/10

Population: 94,745
Rank Last Year: 3 (No Change)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 3.8x (2nd most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 57.3x (7th most expensive)
More on Lawrence: Real Estate | Data | Photos

The median income in Lawrence comes in at $56,536 and the median home value is $216,700 for 2023.

4. Maize

Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 5,469
Rank Last Year: 11 (Up 7)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 3.4x (6th most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 57.0x (6th most expensive)
More on Maize: Real Estate | Data

The median income in Maize comes in at $54,870 and the median home value is $184,100 for 2023.

5. Roeland Park

Overall SnackAbility

8.5
/10

Population: 6,871
Rank Last Year: 7 (Up 2)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 2.9x (12th most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 62.8x (13th most expensive)
More on Roeland Park: Real Estate | Data

The median income in Roeland Park comes in at $73,984 and the median home value is $211,900 for 2023.

6. Merriam

Merriam, KS

Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 11,110
Rank Last Year: 5 (Down 1)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 3.0x (10th most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 64.0x (17th most expensive)
More on Merriam: Real Estate | Data | Photos

The median income in Merriam comes in at $64,703 and the median home value is $196,100 for 2023.

7. Mission

Overall SnackAbility

7.5
/10

Population: 9,884
Rank Last Year: 4 (Down 3)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 3.3x (7th most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 65.9x (26th most expensive)
More on Mission: Real Estate | Data

The median income in Mission comes in at $68,859 and the median home value is $225,200 for 2023.

8. Hays

Hays, KS

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 20,870
Rank Last Year: 13 (Up 5)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 3.6x (3rd most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 65.6x (23rd most expensive)
More on Hays: Real Estate | Data | Photos

The median income in Hays comes in at $50,941 and the median home value is $185,700 for 2023.

9. Overland Park

Overland Park, KS

Overall SnackAbility

9
/10

Population: 195,249
Rank Last Year: 6 (Down 3)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 3.4x (5th most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 74.3x (46th most expensive)
More on Overland Park: Real Estate | Data | Photos

The median income in Overland Park comes in at $92,769 and the median home value is $314,500 for 2023.

10. Lenexa

Lenexa, KS

Overall SnackAbility

9
/10

Population: 56,755
Rank Last Year: 12 (Up 2)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 3.1x (9th most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 75.5x (49th most expensive)
More on Lenexa: Real Estate | Data | Photos

The median income in Lenexa comes in at $96,477 and the median home value is $299,400 for 2023.

Methodology: How We Determined The Most Expensive Places To Live In The Sunflower State For 2023

Map Of The Cheapest Places To Live In Kansas
The two most important things to think about when it comes to being able to afford if you can live comes down to:

  1. How much do money do I make?
  2. How much do I have spend to live there?

You need to understand your costs in the context of how much money you make.

For example, if the median household earns $100,000 and spends $40,000 on housing it's actually cheaper to live there than a place with a median income of $50,000 and housing costs of $21,000. You might spend more on housing, but you have more money overall to play with.

With that example in mind, we derived several statistics from the latest Census American Community Survey 2017-2021 around incomes and costs. They are:

  • Median Home Price / Median Income (lower is better)
  • Median Income / Median Rent (Higher is better)
  • Median Home Price

We added simply median home price because high home prices generally correlate with higher expenses for all costs related to homes (heating, electricity, etc).

You can then compare these metrics in each of the places in Kansas to figure out which is the most expensive.

What you are left with is a "Cost of Living Index" by taking the average rank of each of these metrics for each city.

So we used that cost of living index in order to rank all of the 62 places in Kansas that have more than 5,000 people.

The place with the highest cost of living in Kansas according to the data is Manhattan. You can download the data here.

Summary: Taking A Chunk Out Of Your Paycheck In Kansas For 2023

Well there you have it, the places in Kansas that have the highest cost of living, with Manhattan ranking as the most expensive city in the Sunflower State.

Here's a look at the most affordable cities in Kansas according to the data:

  1. Chanute
  2. Pratt
  3. Arkansas City

For more Kansas reading, check out:

Detailed List Of The Most Expensive Cities In Kansas

Rank City ExpensiveScore Population Home/Income Ratio Income/Rent Ratio
1 Manhattan 6.0 54,794 4.2x 56.6x
2 Prairie Village 7.0 22,812 3.6x 62.9x
3 Lawrence 7.33 94,745 3.8x 57.3x
4 Maize 10.67 5,469 3.4x 57.0x
5 Roeland Park 13.33 6,871 2.9x 62.8x
6 Merriam 14.33 11,110 3.0x 64.0x
7 Mission 14.67 9,884 3.3x 65.9x
8 Hays 15.0 20,870 3.6x 65.6x
9 Overland Park 18.0 195,249 3.4x 74.3x
10 Lenexa 20.67 56,755 3.1x 75.5x
11 Leawood 21.67 33,748 3.1x 88.1x
12 Junction City 22.0 23,033 2.5x 60.7x
13 Augusta 24.0 9,299 2.7x 65.4x
14 Garden City 24.67 28,022 2.7x 66.7x
15 Salina 25.0 46,896 2.6x 65.5x
16 Gardner 25.0 23,065 2.6x 70.7x
17 Wichita 25.33 394,574 2.6x 65.9x
18 De Soto 26.0 6,160 3.0x 103.7x
19 Kansas City 26.33 155,745 2.2x 53.9x
20 Shawnee 26.67 67,021 2.8x 90.1x
21 Spring Hill 26.67 7,883 2.7x 86.9x
22 Olathe 27.0 140,339 2.7x 88.6x
23 Basehor 27.0 6,717 2.9x 93.0x
24 Tonganoxie 27.67 5,383 2.3x 68.4x
25 Pittsburg 27.67 20,667 2.3x 47.2x
26 Andover 27.67 15,162 2.3x 71.9x
27 Leavenworth 27.67 37,216 2.2x 65.1x
28 Mcpherson 28.33 13,916 2.7x 73.1x
29 Bonner Springs 29.33 7,858 2.4x 71.5x
30 Paola 30.33 5,733 2.6x 73.4x
31 Topeka 30.83 126,802 2.1x 58.8x
32 Derby 31.33 25,365 2.4x 74.4x
33 Liberal 32.33 19,340 2.1x 63.4x
34 Valley Center 32.33 8,365 2.6x 74.6x
35 Ottawa 33.0 12,592 2.4x 70.1x
36 Emporia 33.5 24,220 2.3x 65.7x
37 Bel Aire 35.0 8,148 1.9x 68.6x
38 El Dorado 35.67 12,855 2.0x 61.1x
39 Hutchinson 37.33 40,202 2.0x 65.3x
40 Iola 37.33 5,378 1.8x 55.8x
41 Haysville 37.67 10,887 2.1x 69.8x
42 Fort Scott 39.0 7,579 1.7x 54.9x
43 Eudora 39.0 6,457 1.9x 79.0x
44 Park City 39.0 7,817 1.9x 69.1x
45 Lansing 39.33 11,321 2.0x 82.7x
46 Mulvane 41.0 5,676 2.2x 79.4x
47 Ulysses 42.0 5,812 2.3x 88.4x
48 Abilene 42.67 6,507 2.2x 78.0x
49 Winfield 42.83 11,817 2.0x 70.4x
50 Independence 43.0 8,584 1.7x 62.9x
51 Great Bend 43.0 14,864 2.0x 70.2x
52 Dodge City 43.17 27,899 1.8x 67.6x
53 Colby 43.67 5,434 2.2x 99.8x
54 Coffeyville 44.0 9,032 1.4x 60.2x
55 Atchison 44.33 10,773 2.0x 72.2x
56 Wellington 44.33 7,745 1.6x 65.0x
57 Parsons 45.0 9,652 1.3x 61.5x
58 Newton 45.33 18,576 1.8x 72.1x
59 Concordia 48.0 5,096 1.7x 70.1x
60 Arkansas City 48.67 12,028 1.5x 65.9x
61 Pratt 51.0 6,618 1.7x 73.9x
62 Chanute 55.33 8,737 1.6x 81.2x

How Is The Area In ?

About Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

You can find out more about him on LinkedIn or his website.