Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Today 5,489 people live in this town, first settled in 1881. 2.7 times the library visits per person than the typical Kansas town.
Trash day: look up yoursOn health it is strong: it is healthier than 68% of U.S. towns. Walkability is another plus (B+) — it is more walkable than 71% of U.S. towns. A typical home there costs about $182K, 2.6 years of the county’s $71K median household income. Put together, the subjects come to a B+ overall, ranking 42nd of 150 in Kansas. Set against the rest, it does better than 73% of U.S. towns. Colby is home to Colby Community College. Colby's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) is stronger than in 93% of U.S. towns. The biggest park or preserve is Young Park, at 25 acres.
Figures: health, CDC PLACES · home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · OpenStreetMap.
Where Colby beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Kansas), ordered by how far Colby is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 516 in 1890, 5,570 in 2020. The archive holds 9 old photos and papers going back to 1907 and 2 maps from 1943 on.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Colby, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Colby.
Colby is healthier than towns with similar incomes and has commutes shorter than most of Kansas, but it has many renters stretched by housing costs.
1.2 miles of trail wind through 4 parks and preserves. Parks and preserves in Colby: 4, covering 47 acres. The town’s trail density stands at 0.3 miles per square mile, near both the Kansas town median (0.3) and the median of U.S. towns (0.4).
| Colby | Kansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 1.9% | 2.1% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.3 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Villa High Park | 0.3 mi | 11 |
| 2. Fike Park | 0.3 mi | 9 |
| 3. Young Park | 0.1 mi | 25 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Public schools: the Colby Public Schools. Of its 6 schools, two are listed below, each with the reason. 3 public schools serve Colby, with 958 students in all.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colby ElemLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–4 | Grades PK–4 | 369 | B+ |
| Colby Senior HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 296 | C− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within KS on state tests and graduation
On expected storm and flood damage, Colby sits below 80% of U.S. communities. Expected losses in Colby break down as 26% from inland flooding and 25% from tornadoes.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
62% of renter households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, against 43.5% across Kansas.
Colby’s rent at the middle of the market stands at $750 a month, where Kansas’ towns sit at $977 a month and U.S. towns at $1,185 a month. In the year to September 2026, typical home values climbed 1.3%. Two thirds of households are owner-occupiers in the town.
| Colby | Kansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $750 a month | $977 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 67% | 72% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Against the 9,643 U.S. towns with household incomes like Colby’s, it is healthier than 90%, so that grade isn’t only a matter of income.
Colby tracks Kansas closely on all 32 CDC measures. The share of adults in Colby who have diabetes: 9.9%.
| Colby | Kansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 75% | 77% | 79% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 35% | 35% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 9.9% | 11% | 12% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 13% | 14% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The average commute for its 2,590 working residents takes 9.7 minutes, against 19.7 across Kansas.
Colby’s middle household income comes in at $63,000. Only 5 of the 151 Kansas towns we compare have a lower average trip to work than Colby. The top destinations are Morgan Township (5%), Oakley (3%) and Hays (3%). Half of commuters travel less than 2 miles.
| Colby | Kansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 10 minutes | 20 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $63,000 | $73,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 8% | 9.2% | 9.6% |
| Work from home | 10% | 8.7% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Adults 35 to 64 are 30% of residents (36% statewide); adults 18 to 34 are 28% of residents (23% statewide). Colby’s age of the median resident stands at 32.3 years. The Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate puts Colby at 5,489 residents, down 2% since 2020. 27% of Colby residents are under 18.
| Colby | Kansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 32.3 years | 38.2 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 27% | 24% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 37% | 29% | 29% |
| Aged 65 or older | 15% | 17% | 18% |
50% women, 50% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±2.3 points. Across Kansas, 49.8% of residents are women. Median age: women 32.5, men 32.2.
| Colby | KS | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 15.5% | 12.5% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 11.2% | 11.3% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 13.7% | 10.2% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 14.5% | 12.9% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 9.2% | 12.9% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 8.7% | 11.2% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 12.2% | 12.2% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 7.1% | 10.1% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 8% | 6.9% | 7% |
| No diploma | 6.3% | 8% | 10.4% |
| High school | 16.7% | 25.4% | 26% |
| Some college | 22.4% | 21.8% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 17.5% | 9.1% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 27.3% | 22.2% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 9.8% | 13.4% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Most reported incidents are property crimes, mainly thefts. The level of property crime in Colby is 5.4 per 1,000 residents. Colby's reported crime rate is well below Kansas's.
| Colby | Kansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.5 per 1,000 residents | 2.5 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 5.4 per 1,000 residents | 11.1 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
1 within 15 miles of the center of Colby
About 10 of every 100 Colby residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across Kansas.
3 places in Colby on the National Register of Historic Places.
9 notable people were born in Colby.
City in Thomas County, Kansas
Colby is a city in and the county seat of Thomas County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 5,570. It is located on the north side of Interstate 70.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Colby grades B+ overall, better than 73% of U.S. towns and #42 of 150 in Kansas. It grades B+ for health and B− for schools.
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B+.
9 notable people were born here, including Samuel Ramey and Sheila Frahm.
