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Prairie Village, Bel Aire, Leawood: These cities aren't just some of the best places to live in Kansas. They are also home to some of the richest people in the Sunflower State.
Prairie Village in particular houses the richest residents in the state thanks, in part, to a median household income of $91,136 and a ridiculously low poverty rate of 3.3239615454380558%.
If you're thinking of moving to one of these towns, you'll probably need to start saving. The richest places in Kansas share common characteristics such as having a genius level populous, sky high home prices, and a Pleasantville level of married couples.
How did we come up with these mega wealthy cities? We analyzed Census data from the 2015-2019 American Community Survey for the 61 places in Kansas with more than 5,000 people.
Here are the 10 richest places in Kansas for 2021:
For more on how we calculated the top ten, read on or skip to the end for the full list of the richest cities in Kansas.
Rich people not your cup of tea? Feel free to check out some more reading about Kansas:
The 10 Richest Cities In Kansas For 2021
1. Prairie Village
/10
Population: 22,170
Rank Last Year: 3 (Up 2)
Median Income: $91,136
Unemployment Rate: 2.5%
Poverty Rate: 3.3%
More on Prairie Village: Real Estate | Photos
2. Bel Aire
/10
Population: 7,858
Rank Last Year: 1 (Down 1)
Median Income: $90,795
Unemployment Rate: 0.6%
Poverty Rate: 5.3%
More on Bel Aire: Real Estate
3. Leawood
/10
Population: 34,670
Rank Last Year: 2 (Down 1)
Median Income: $157,515
Unemployment Rate: 2.7%
Poverty Rate: 1.4%
More on Leawood: Real Estate | Photos
4. Andover
/10
Population: 13,062
Rank Last Year: 6 (Up 2)
Median Income: $89,302
Unemployment Rate: 2.5%
Poverty Rate: 6.6%
More on Andover: Real Estate | Photos
5. Lenexa
/10
Population: 54,011
Rank Last Year: 5 (No Change)
Median Income: $87,102
Unemployment Rate: 2.6%
Poverty Rate: 5.2%
More on Lenexa: Real Estate | Photos
6. Olathe
/10
Population: 137,618
Rank Last Year: 9 (Up 3)
Median Income: $90,435
Unemployment Rate: 2.8%
Poverty Rate: 5.8%
More on Olathe: Real Estate | Photos
7. Overland Park
/10
Population: 191,011
Rank Last Year: 12 (Up 5)
Median Income: $86,487
Unemployment Rate: 3.0%
Poverty Rate: 4.9%
More on Overland Park: Real Estate | Photos
8. Park City
/10
Population: 8,138
Rank Last Year: 14 (Up 6)
Median Income: $72,708
Unemployment Rate: 1.6%
Poverty Rate: 8.7%
More on Park City: Real Estate
9. Shawnee
/10
Population: 65,540
Rank Last Year: 15 (Up 6)
Median Income: $87,120
Unemployment Rate: 2.9%
Poverty Rate: 7.4%
More on Shawnee: Real Estate | Photos
10. Tonganoxie
/10
Population: 5,359
Rank Last Year: 13 (Up 3)
Median Income: $72,469
Unemployment Rate: 3.3%
Poverty Rate: 2.6%
More on Tonganoxie: Real Estate
How We Determined The Richest Places In Kansas For 2021
The first thing that comes to most people's minds when they think about determining the richest places is to simply identify personal incomes. After all, rich people have really high salaries.
However, we don't believe that one statistic wholly encompasses what it means to be one of the "richest places". So we looked at this set of criteria from the newly released 2015-2019 American Community Survey:
- Poverty Level
- Median Household Income
- Unemployment Rate
Median household income is the most digestible way to understand how rich a place really is. The unemployment rate tries to capture the prospects for more people to become rich. If more people are employed, the richer the future looks.
After we collected the data for all 61 places with more than 5,000 people in Kansas, we ranked each place from 1 to 61 for each of the criteria, with 1 being the richest.
We then averaged all the rankings for a place into a "Rich Score" with the place having the lowest overall Rich Score, Prairie Village, crowned the "Richest City In Kansas For 2021". You can download the data here.
You can learn more about the top ten below or skip to the end to see the rankings for all 61 places.
There You Have It - The Wealthiest Places In Kansas For 2021
Like we said earlier, when we set out to identify the richest places in Kansas, we weren't sure what we'd encounter, but it ended up being some of the best places to live in Kansas.
When you look at the data, the cities and places mentioned above meet the criteria for being at the very top of the income ladder for everyone that lives there.
If you're curious enough, here are the poorest cities in Kansas, according to data:
Poorest: Coffeyville
2nd Poorest: Chanute
3rd Poorest: Pittsburg
For more Kansas reading, check out:
Detailed List Of The Richest Cities In Kansas
| Rank | City | RichScore |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Prairie Village | 4.33 |
| 2 | Bel Aire | 4.33 |
| 3 | Leawood | 4.33 |
| 4 | Andover | 7.33 |
| 5 | Lenexa | 8.33 |
| 6 | Olathe | 9.33 |
| 7 | Overland Park | 10.67 |
| 8 | Park City | 13.0 |
| 9 | Shawnee | 13.0 |
| 10 | Tonganoxie | 13.33 |
| 11 | Mulvane | 14.33 |
| 12 | Roeland Park | 14.67 |
| 13 | Lansing | 14.67 |
| 14 | Derby | 15.33 |
| 15 | Mission | 15.33 |
| 16 | De Soto | 16.0 |
| 17 | Gardner | 16.67 |
| 18 | Paola | 17.67 |
| 19 | Mcpherson | 17.67 |
| 20 | Spring Hill | 21.33 |
| 21 | Eudora | 22.0 |
| 22 | Basehor | 23.33 |
| 23 | Newton | 23.67 |
| 24 | Valley Center | 23.67 |
| 25 | Colby | 24.0 |
| 26 | Merriam | 24.67 |
| 27 | Haysville | 25.67 |
| 28 | Abilene | 28.67 |
| 29 | Salina | 29.67 |
| 30 | Garden City | 30.67 |
| 31 | Junction City | 32.67 |
| 32 | Leavenworth | 34.33 |
| 33 | Pratt | 35.33 |
| 34 | Hays | 36.0 |
| 35 | Bonner Springs | 37.0 |
| 36 | Augusta | 37.0 |
| 37 | Independence | 40.0 |
| 38 | Wichita | 40.67 |
| 39 | Topeka | 41.0 |
| 40 | Ulysses | 41.0 |
| 41 | Wellington | 41.0 |
| 42 | Lawrence | 41.0 |
| 43 | Hutchinson | 41.0 |
| 44 | Great Bend | 41.67 |
| 45 | Fort Scott | 42.67 |
| 46 | Ottawa | 43.0 |
| 47 | Atchison | 43.33 |
| 48 | Liberal | 43.67 |
| 49 | Dodge City | 44.67 |
| 50 | Winfield | 44.67 |
| 51 | Concordia | 45.67 |
| 52 | Manhattan | 46.33 |
| 53 | Parsons | 49.0 |
| 54 | El Dorado | 50.67 |
| 55 | Arkansas City | 52.0 |
| 56 | Kansas City | 53.33 |
| 57 | Emporia | 55.33 |
| 58 | Iola | 56.0 |
| 59 | Pittsburg | 56.67 |
| 60 | Chanute | 57.67 |
| 61 | Coffeyville | 59.0 |
In your riches cities in Kansas please check out one other site that I believe you will find rather interesting. Westphalia KS. population I guess12 to 18 people. Houses (if livable) probably average $10,000. But check out the bank. You will be amazed at it’s size. The history behind it would give you an interesting read.