Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Some subjects shine; others lag. The weak point is cost of living (D−): the typical home is worth about , years of the Manhattan metro’s $65K median household income. Where it does best is health: it is healthier than 82% of U.S. towns. Add walkability to its strengths: it is more walkable than 68% of U.S. towns. All told, that adds up to a C overall and a rank of 115th of 150 in Kansas. Set against the rest, it does better than a quarter of U.S. towns. Incomes are weaker too — the median household income is $54K, and 11% of residents live below the poverty line. Fort Riley’s average trip to work is 8 minutes, below both the Kansas town median (20 minutes) and the median of U.S. towns (25 minutes).
Figures: health, CDC PLACES · home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Kansas), ordered by how far Fort Riley is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Where Fort Riley beats most towns.
Its founding year, 1853, comes before those of 97% of the Kansas towns we grade with a known year.
The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1866 and 4 maps from 1947 on.
7,761 counted in 2010 and 9,230 in 2020.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts
Ordered by what stands out in Fort Riley.
Fort Riley has less cancer than most of Kansas, carries less natural-hazard risk than nearly all of Kansas (mostly tornadoes) and has more 90° days than most of the country, though not than most of Kansas.
3.2 miles of trail. Fort Riley’s trail density comes in at 0.5 miles per square mile.
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its widest gap with Kansas is cancer: 0.9% of its 7,550 adults have had cancer, against 8.1% statewide. Against the 7,229 U.S. towns with household incomes like Fort Riley’s, it is healthier than 99%, so its A− isn’t only a matter of income.
14% of Fort Riley adults say their health is fair or poor. No town among the 150 in Kansas we compare has a higher share of adults who feel lonely than Fort Riley. Of 32 CDC measures, Fort Riley beats the Kansas average on 13 and trails it on 15. Only 10 of the 150 Kansas towns we compare have a higher share of adults 18 to 64 who have no health insurance than Fort Riley.
| Fort Riley | Kansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 2.4% | 11% | 12% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 8% | 13% | 14% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 16% | 16% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 35% | 35% |
| What stands out | Fort Riley | KS |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 0.9% | 8.1% |
| Fewer adults with heart disease | 1.2% | 6.4% |
| More adults without reliable transportation | 12.2% | 7.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk lower than 99% of Kansas towns; that rating is what its A− for hazard risk is built on.
Of the losses FEMA expects in Fort Riley, 34% come from tornadoes and 26% from inland flooding.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Fort Riley has 243 jobs for its 843 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out. Jobs based here fell from 706 in 2013 to 243.
Fort Riley had 243 jobs in 2023, down 463 from 2013. Just 2% of the town’s working residents have a job in town. Also worth knowing: only one of the 151 Kansas towns we compare has a lower average trip to work than Fort Riley. Half of commuters travel less than 98 miles.
| Fort Riley | Kansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 8 minutes | 20 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 1.7% | 15% | 8% |
| Median household income | $54,000 | $73,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 11% | 9.1% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The Manhattan weather station, 14 miles away, records that about 59 days a year reach 90°: more than most of the country, but fewer than 82% of Kansas places with climate records.
July afternoons reach 90°, January nights drop to 19° and about 18 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Fort Riley. Close and well known come first.
25 mi MuseumDwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum and Boyhood Home
3 mi MuseumU.S. Cavalry Museum13 mi Zoo & aquariumSunset Zoo
14 mi MuseumFlint Hills Discovery CenterDwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum and Boyhood Home: Unknown, Public domain · U.S. Cavalry Museum: US Army, Public domain · Flint Hills Discovery Center: Kgwo1972, CC BY-SA 3.0
Fort Riley is unincorporated, so Geary County and regional agencies provide most services.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Where Fort Riley’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
3 within 15 miles of the center of Fort Riley
About 5 of every 100 Fort Riley residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across Kansas.
18 notable people were born in Fort Riley.
Army installation in Kansas, US
Fort Riley is a United States Army installation located in North Central Kansas, on the Kansas River, also known as the Kaw, between Junction City and Manhattan. The Fort Riley Military Reservation covers 101,733 acres (41,170 ha) in Geary and Riley counties. The Fort consists of six functional areas, including the Main Post, Camp Funston, Marshall Army Airfield (MAAF), Camp Whitside, Camp Forsyth, and Custer Hill. The portion of the fort that contains housing development is part of the Fort Riley census-designated place, with a residential population of 9,230 as of the 2020 census. The ZIP Code is 66442.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Fort Riley.
| Town | KS rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Riley | #115 | C | D− | — | B− | A− |
| Milford Township | — | — | C | — | B− | B− |
| Madison Township | — | — | C | — | B | — |
Milford Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Fort Riley, Milford Township and Madison Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Madison Township isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Fort Riley with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Fort Riley grades C overall, better than 25% of U.S. towns and #115 of 150 in Kansas. It grades A− for health and B− for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D−.
18 notable people were born here, including Barbara Babcock and Johnny Damon.
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