The 10 Poorest Cities In Kansas For 2024


The poorest places in Kansas are Pittsburg and Coffeyville for 2024 based on Saturday Night Science.

Like all states, Kansas has certain places that are going on hard times. These Kansas places have an above-average percentage of people living in poverty, out of work, or not making as much as they should be.

Even as the economy continues to improve, it’s worthwhile to look at the places in each state struggling to make ends meet. So we set our sites on locating the poorest places in Kansas.

To do so, we used Saturday Night Science to analyze the newest Census data from the American Community Survey for the 63 cities in Kansas with more than 5,000 people.


Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table


Poorest Places In Kansas Map

What’s the poorest city in Kansas? According to the facts, Pittsburg is the poorest place in Kansas for 2024.

This isn’t a commentary on the people that live there or the vibrant culture and traditions of these places. Instead, it’s just a look at the facts.

For more Kansas reading, check out:

The 10 Poorest Cities In Kansas For 2024

1. Pittsburg

Pittsburg, KS

Source: Wikipedia User Ichabod | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 20,610
Rank Last Year: 1 (No Change)
Median Income: $42,371 (2nd lowest)
Poverty Rate: 29.4% (highest)
People In Poverty: 6,057
More on Pittsburg: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

Pittsburg, unfortunately, ranks as the poorest place in Kansas thanks to combination of low pay and and a lack of jobs.

The city of 20,610 people averages the 2nd lowest median household income in Kansas and the highest poverty rate. At the very least, the cost of living ranks in the bottom 15% of place in the state, so things like housing are relatively affordable.

2. Coffeyville

Coffeyville, KS

Source: Wikipedia User City of Coffeyville | CC BY-SA 4.0
Overall SnackAbility

3
/10

Population: 8,842
Rank Last Year: 2 (No Change)
Median Income: $41,220 (lowest)
Poverty Rate: 22.6% (3rd highest)
People In Poverty: 1,995
More on Coffeyville: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

The second poorest city in Kansas is Coffeyville.

The city ranks as having the 3rd highest incidence of poverty and lowest median household income. However, the unemployment rate ‘only’ ranks as the 6th highest in the Sunflower State.

3. Iola

Iola, KS

Source: Wikipedia User Gordon Huggins | CC BY 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 5,395
Rank Last Year: 3 (No Change)
Median Income: $46,351 (5th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 19.5% (4th highest)
People In Poverty: 1,050
More on Iola: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

Placing as the third poorest city, Iola’s median income ranks as the 5th lowest.

And that’s a sign that there’s a relatively substantial jump in the quality of the economy from second to third place on our list. The poverty rate is 19.48% and ranks near the bottom of places in the state.

But what makes up for the relatively low incomes of the city is its low cost of living. The income you do make here goes further than in most parts of the Sunflower State.

4. Emporia

Emporia, KS

Source: Wikipedia User Ethan James Scherrer | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 24,118
Rank Last Year: 6 (Up 2)
Median Income: $49,661 (10th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 19.4% (5th highest)
People In Poverty: 4,678
More on Emporia: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

Emporia ranks as the fourth poorest place in Kansas.

The town ranks as having the 10th lowest median household income and the 5th highest incidence of poverty in the state.

That being said, there’s still a ton of cultural diversity in the city as it hosts many events throughout the year.

5. Parsons

Parsons, KS

Source: Wikipedia User Kaethesson | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 9,564
Rank Last Year: 4 (Down 1)
Median Income: $48,990 (8th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 18.7% (8th highest)
People In Poverty: 1,786
More on Parsons: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

The fifth poorest city in Kansas is Parsons.

The city ranks as having the 8th lowest median income in the state. However, an extremely low cost of living prevents a good number of folks from living in poverty as the poverty rate only ranks as the 8th highest in Kansas.

Still not the best news for Parsons.

6. Independence

Independence, KS

Source: Wikipedia User 25or6to4 | CC BY-SA 4.0
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 8,556
Rank Last Year: 7 (Up 1)
Median Income: $48,514 (7th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 17.6% (9th highest)
People In Poverty: 1,506
More on Independence: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

Independence ranks as the sixth poorest place in the Sunflower State.

It ranks as having the 9th highest incidence of poverty and the 50th highest unemployment rate.

7. Concordia

Concordia, KS

Source: Wikipedia User Paul McDonald (talk) | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 5,080
Rank Last Year: 15 (Up 8)
Median Income: $45,000 (3rd lowest)
Poverty Rate: 15.8% (16th highest)
People In Poverty: 802
More on Concordia: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

Concordia places as the seventh poorest city in Kansas.

The city of over 5,080 ranks as having the 16th highest incidence of poverty in the state. However, it has a very low cost of living which helps to pay the bills each month.

8. Chanute

Chanute, KS

Source: Wikipedia User Ichabod | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 8,713
Rank Last Year: 9 (Up 1)
Median Income: $52,608 (12th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 18.8% (7th highest)
People In Poverty: 1,635
More on Chanute: Data | Cost Of Living

Chanute ranks as the eighth poorest city in Kansas.

The big issue for the town is the unemployment rate which ranks as one of the highest in the state.

9. Manhattan

Manhattan, KS

Source: Wikipedia User Kevin Zollman Kzollman 22:00, 4 May 2006 (UTC) | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility

7.5
/10

Population: 54,287
Rank Last Year: 13 (Up 4)
Median Income: $55,316 (18th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 26.4% (2nd highest)
People In Poverty: 14,358
More on Manhattan: Data | Cost Of Living

Manhattan couldn’t stay out of the top ten poorest places in Kansas; it ranks number 9.

While the median income is the 18th lowest, there are a substantial number of people that live below the poverty line. Overall, Manhattan ranks as having the 2nd most people living in poverty of all the places we analyzed in Kansas.

10. Atchison

Atchison, KS

Source: Wikipedia User Tim Kiser (w:User:Malepheasant) | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 10,834
Rank Last Year: 14 (Up 4)
Median Income: $50,344 (11th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 17.3% (11th highest)
People In Poverty: 1,876
More on Atchison: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

And rounding out the top ten poorest cities in Kansas is Atchison.

The city of 10,834 people ranks in the bottom 20% for both median income and poverty rate in the Sunflower State.

Methodology: How We Determined The Poorest Places In Kansas for 2024

The first thing that comes to most people’s minds when they think about determining the poorest places is to simply the poverty rate. That is, the number of people living below a federally established level of income for a household of a certain size.

However, we don’t think that one statistic wholly encompasses what it means to be one of the “poorest places”. So we used Saturday Night Science to look at this set of criteria from the newly released 2018-2022 American Community Survey:

  • Poverty Level
  • Median Household Income

After we collected the data for all 63 places with more than 5,000 people in Kansas, we ranked each place from 1 to 63 for each of the criteria, with 1 being the poorest.

We then averaged all the rankings for a place into a “Poor Score” with the place having the lowest overall Poor Score, Pittsburg, crowned the “Poorest Place In Kansas For 2024”.

This report has been updated for 2024, which is our tenth time ranking the poorest places in Kansas.

Summary: The Poorest Cities In Kansas For 2024

Like we said earlier, when we set out to identify the poorest 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 bottom of the income ladder for everyone that lives there.

If you’re curious enough, here are the richest cities in Kansas, according to data:

    Richest: Leawood
    2nd Richest: Andover
    3rd Richest: Overland Park

For more Kansas reading, check out:

Detailed List Of The Poorest Places To Live In Kansas

Rank City Population Poverty Rate Median Income People In Poverty
1 Pittsburg 20,610 29.4% $42,371 6,057
2 Coffeyville 8,842 22.6% $41,220 1,995
3 Iola 5,395 19.5% $46,351 1,050
4 Emporia 24,118 19.4% $49,661 4,678
5 Parsons 9,564 18.7% $48,990 1,786
6 Independence 8,556 17.6% $48,514 1,506
7 Concordia 5,080 15.8% $45,000 802
8 Chanute 8,713 18.8% $52,608 1,635
9 Manhattan 54,287 26.4% $55,316 14,358
10 Atchison 10,834 17.3% $50,344 1,876
11 Fort Scott 7,569 15.5% $45,206 1,171
12 Arkansas City 11,997 15.7% $49,177 1,882
13 Great Bend 14,725 16.3% $53,885 2,398
14 Wellington 7,710 14.8% $48,333 1,144
15 Topeka 126,431 16.0% $54,052 20,279
16 Lawrence 95,103 18.8% $59,834 17,898
17 Hays 21,111 17.1% $55,349 3,616
18 Kansas City 155,438 17.4% $56,120 26,999
19 El Dorado 12,882 15.0% $52,921 1,937
20 Junction City 22,738 17.3% $60,709 3,926
21 Hutchinson 39,995 14.8% $55,265 5,927
22 Wichita 395,951 15.5% $60,712 61,372
23 Liberal 19,099 14.8% $55,602 2,820
24 Winfield 11,804 14.7% $55,850 1,739
25 Mulvane 6,003 15.3% $67,766 917
26 Salina 46,734 12.7% $56,945 5,921
27 Pratt 6,588 13.8% $61,117 906
28 Abilene 6,489 8.5% $54,948 552
29 McPherson 13,955 15.1% $69,807 2,103
30 Leavenworth 37,193 14.6% $67,360 5,433
31 Augusta 9,253 11.0% $59,536 1,015
32 Tonganoxie 5,484 15.1% $71,333 825
33 Garden City 27,933 13.0% $67,500 3,631
34 Dodge City 27,721 12.8% $66,932 3,537
35 Haysville 10,891 12.3% $66,382 1,339
36 Ottawa 12,615 9.7% $61,927 1,221
37 Newton 18,527 11.7% $66,528 2,173
38 Park City 7,703 14.4% $70,583 1,106
39 Colby 5,403 7.6% $62,937 410
40 Roeland Park 6,848 12.9% $84,848 882
41 Bonner Springs 7,770 12.5% $82,208 972
42 Ulysses 5,834 5.9% $62,138 345
43 Mission 9,894 10.0% $78,915 988
44 Merriam 11,070 7.3% $69,414 810
45 Maize 6,071 12.1% $88,075 735
46 Paola 5,742 6.1% $69,420 350
47 Bel Aire 8,341 9.6% $91,979 798
48 Derby 25,551 6.8% $79,581 1,727
49 Basehor 7,004 7.8% $100,608 545
50 Gardner 23,488 6.2% $91,232 1,456
51 Valley Center 8,448 2.3% $70,531 197
52 Spring Hill 8,279 8.0% $105,194 665
53 Eudora 6,025 7.5% $111,840 453
54 Shawnee 67,671 5.9% $100,649 4,006
55 Prairie Village 22,922 4.8% $99,691 1,111
56 Goddard 5,119 1.2% $87,385 62
57 Olathe 142,114 6.1% $108,077 8,640
58 De Soto 6,248 5.9% $102,685 366
59 Lenexa 57,497 5.8% $101,074 3,352
60 Lansing 11,254 4.6% $100,863 519
61 Overland Park 196,676 4.2% $100,876 8,358
62 Andover 15,460 2.5% $113,538 386
63 Leawood 33,784 2.4% $174,779 793
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.

One thought on “The 10 Poorest Cities In Kansas For 2024

  1. I think you totally missed Manchester Kansas on this list. Either that, or you’re only looking at towns with names people would recognize. Some of the places on your list are tourist traps or college towns and only have income during those seasons. So yes I can understand where you are coming from but they should not be making the poorest list by any means.

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