Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Public schools that outperform most of Kansas. A town of 5,036 in Kansas.
A strong record with one exception. Its best grade is for schools (A−): its schools outperform 78% of the state's. Add health to its strengths — residents are healthier than three quarters of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. The trade-off is walkability. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 78% of U.S. towns. At about $217K, a typical home costs 3.1 years of the Wichita metro’s $71K median household income. Put together, the subjects come to an A− overall, ranking 35th of 150 in Kansas. On that grade it does better than just over three quarters of U.S. towns.
Figures: schools, state test and graduation results · health, CDC PLACES · home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24.
Where Valley Center Township beats most towns.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Valley Center Intermediate School | 4–5 | 443 |
| Wheatland Elem | K–3 | 325 |
| West Elem | K–3 | 264 |
| Widest gap | Valley Center Township | KS |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 9.6% | 13% |
Where Valley Center Township’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Kansas), ordered by how far Valley Center Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 71 in 1880, 7,340 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1909 and 5 maps from 1941 on.
Explore the history →Who provides power, water and the rest in Valley Center Township, 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 Valley Center Township.
Valley Center Township is healthier than towns with similar incomes, but it has little public open land and has commutes longer than most of Kansas.
Two of its 3 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed. 3 public schools serve Valley Center Township, with 1,032 students in all.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Valley Center Intermediate SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades 4–5 | Grades 4–5 | 443 | A− |
| Wheatland ElemTop results in townGrades K–3 | Grades K–3 | 325 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within KS on state tests and graduation
Against the 9,186 U.S. towns with household incomes like Valley Center Township’s, it is healthier than 95%, so that grade isn’t only a matter of income.
The share of adults in Valley Center Township who have diabetes: 10%. Just over a tenth of Valley Center Township adults report frequent physical distress, where Kansas’ towns sit at 13% and U.S. towns at 14%.
| Valley Center Township | Kansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 75% | 77% | 79% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 13% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 26% | 25% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 18% | 19% |
| What stands out | Valley Center Township | KS |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 9.6% | 13% |
| Fewer uninsured adults | 7.6% | 9.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The average commute for its 2,181 working residents takes 33.6 minutes, against 19.7 across Kansas.
The top destinations are Wichita (55%), Valley Center (10%) and Newton (3%). Commuting out is the norm in Valley Center Township: 8% of working residents work locally. The average commute for Valley Center Township comes to 34 minutes. Since 2013, Valley Center Township has lost 106 jobs, to 1,472 in 2023.
| Valley Center Township | Kansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 34 minutes | 20 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 5.6% | 8.8% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 6.1% | 9.2% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $61,000 | $73,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Valley Center Township’s midsummer high is 93°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Kansas has 36% of adults 25 and older with a bachelor’s degree or more; here it is 26%. Adults 18 to 34 are 15% of residents (23% statewide); children under 18 are 28% of residents (24% statewide). Valley Center Township is growing: up 4.8% since 2020, to 5,036 residents (2025 estimate).
| Valley Center Township | Kansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 26% | 30% | 29% |
| Median age | 38.9 years | 38.1 years | 40.5 years |
48% women, 52% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±5.4 points. Across Kansas, 49.8% of residents are women.
| Valley Center Township | KS | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 11.8% | 12.5% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 16.2% | 11.3% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 6% | 10.2% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 9.1% | 12.9% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 16.7% | 12.9% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 12.8% | 11.2% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 6.4% | 12.2% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 8% | 10.1% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 12.9% | 6.9% | 7% |
| No diploma | 8.8% | 8% | 10.4% |
| High school | 26.9% | 25.4% | 26% |
| Some college | 24.4% | 21.8% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 13.9% | 9.1% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 17.6% | 22.2% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 8.5% | 13.4% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Just 21 of its 23,098 acres are conserved, so there is little public open land in Valley Center Township itself; its outdoors grade is C−.
0.4 miles of trail wind through 2 parks and preserves.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Wetland Park | — | 16 |
| 2. Ridgefield Park | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
FEMA puts 36% of Valley Center Township’s expected hazard losses down to inland flooding, and 21% to tornadoes. Compared with half of U.S. communities, expected storm and flood damage locally is higher. Federal disaster aid has reached households in Valley Center Township after 2 declared disasters, most recently in 2016.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Valley Center Township. Close and well known come first.
30 mi MuseumKansas Cosmosphere and Space Center150K visitors a year
10 mi Zoo & aquariumSedgwick County Zoo15 mi Zoo & aquariumTanganyika Wildlife Park
13 mi MuseumExploration Place
18 mi MuseumKansas Aviation Museum
12 mi MuseumWichita Art MuseumKansas Cosmosphere and Space Center: Patrick Pelletier (Ppelleti (talk)), CC BY-SA 3.0 · Sedgwick County Zoo: Patrick Pelletier, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Exploration Place: 04stx, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Kansas Aviation Museum: David G. Keith, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wichita Art Museum: FUBAR007, CC BY-SA 3.0
5 within 15 miles of the center of Valley Center Township
About 4 of every 100 Valley Center Township residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across Kansas.
4 towns share a border with Valley Center Township.
| Town | KS rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valley Center Township | #35 | A− | B | — | A− | A− |
| Park Township | #48 | B+ | D | — | A− | A− |
| Sedgwick Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Eagle Township | — | — | B | — | A | B+ |
| Grant Township | #8 | A | B | — | A− | A− |
Eagle Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Valley Center Township, Park Township, Eagle Township and Grant Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Sedgwick Township isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Valley Center Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Valley Center Township grades A− overall, better than 76% of U.S. towns and #35 of 150 in Kansas. It grades A− for health and A− for schools. Walkability 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.
