Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
65% more library visits per person than the typical Kansas town.
Ottawa is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades C+ overall, ranked 88th of 150 in Kansas, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is incomes: the median household earns $72K. A typical home there costs about $240K, 3.1 years of the Ottawa area’s $77K median household income. 31% of working residents work locally in Ottawa, against 15% in Kansas’ towns and 8% across U.S. towns. Ottawa has 10 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Dietrich Cabin and Franklin County Courthouse. Ottawa's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) is stronger than in 93% of U.S. towns.
Where Ottawa beats most towns.
Dietrich Cabin| College | Students |
|---|---|
| Ottawa University-Ottawa | 1,033 |
Census counts: 2,941 in 1870, 12,625 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1859 and 3 maps from 1956 on.
10 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Kansas), ordered by how far Ottawa is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Ottawa, 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 Ottawa.
Ottawa fares better on crime within Kansas than nationally and has more 90° days than most of the country, though not than most of Kansas; it also is a long drive from an emergency room.
5.6 miles of trail in 8 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Forest Park, at 56 acres.
| Ottawa | Kansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.5 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 1.8% | 2.1% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Orlis Cox Sports Complex | 0.4 mi | 54 |
| 2. Heritage Park | 0.3 mi | 6 |
| 3. Forest Park | — | 56 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Ottawa school district. Two of its 7 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Ottawa Sr High, with 681 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ottawa Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 456 | C |
| Ottawa Sr HighLargest public high schoolGrades 6–12 | Grades 6–12 | 681 | D |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within KS on state tests and graduation
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 74% of U.S. communities. Since 1986, 4 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Ottawa.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The Ottawa weather station records that about 47 days a year reach 90°: more than most of the country, but fewer than 80% of Kansas places with climate records. July afternoons average 89.6°: hotter than most of the country, but cooler than 79% of Kansas places with climate records; January nights average 20.6°.
Ottawa has chilly winters and warm summers. Ottawa’s July high is 90°F. About 9 inches of snow falls in a winter.
| Ottawa | Kansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 90°F | 91°F | 85°F |
| January low | 21°F | 21°F | 22°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
About one in 3 of Ottawa’s working residents works in town. Jobs based in Ottawa grew to 6,145 in 2023, 1,070 more than in 2013. The average trip to work in Ottawa is 20 minutes.
| Ottawa | Kansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 20 minutes | 20 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 9.6% | 8.7% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the Kansas average. 26% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 36% across Kansas.
| Ottawa | Kansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 36.9 years | 38.2 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 26% | 30% | 29% |
| Under 18 | 23% | 24% | 22% |
50% women, 50% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±1.9 points. Across Kansas, 49.8% of residents are women.
| Ottawa | KS | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 11.8% | 12.5% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 11% | 11.3% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 12.5% | 10.2% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 12.8% | 12.9% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 11.2% | 12.9% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 13% | 11.2% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 12.9% | 12.2% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 9.3% | 10.1% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 5.6% | 6.9% | 7% |
| No diploma | 5.9% | 8% | 10.4% |
| High school | 36.8% | 25.4% | 26% |
| Some college | 23.1% | 21.8% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 8.4% | 9.1% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 16.6% | 22.2% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 9.2% | 13.4% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
At 22.2 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 57% of Kansas’s graded towns. Reported crimes fell from 287 to 166 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
The nearest emergency room, Anderson County Hospital, is 22 miles away in a straight line.
Ottawa beats the Kansas average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 40% of adults have obesity in Ottawa.
| Ottawa | Kansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 37% | 35% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 75% | 77% | 79% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 33% | 35% | 36% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 15% | 14% |
| What stands out | Ottawa | KS |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 14.8% | 11.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Typical home values rose 7.1% in the year to September 2026. 60% of Ottawa households own their home.
| Ottawa | Kansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 60% | 72% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,032 a month | $975 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
2 within 15 miles of the center of Ottawa
About 6 of every 100 Ottawa residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Kansas.
10 places in Ottawa on the National Register of Historic Places.
14 notable people were born in Ottawa.
City in Franklin County, Kansas
Ottawa (pronounced ) is a city in and the county seat of Franklin County, Kansas, United States. It is located on both banks of the Marais des Cygnes River near the center of Franklin County. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 12,625. It is the home of Ottawa University.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Ottawa.
| Town | KS rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ottawa · Ottawa Township | #88 | C+ | B | C+ | B− | B− |
| Harrison Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Lincoln Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Harrison Township and Lincoln Township aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Ottawa Township and Ottawa are one community, graded once. Compare Ottawa with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Ottawa grades C+ overall, better than 45% of U.S. towns and #88 of 150 in Kansas. It grades B− for health, C+ for safety and B− for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a C−.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B.
14 notable people were born here, including John G. Thompson and Steven Hawley.
