Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Wellington earns a D, 138th among Kansas's 150 graded towns, mostly because of safety and incomes. Its crime rate is higher than 87% of U.S. towns, with 33 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. The median household income is $50K, and 16% of residents live below the poverty line. What it does well: homes are within reach, about $112K for a typical one, or 1.6 years of the Wichita metro’s $71K median household income. 36% of working residents work locally in Wellington, against 15% in Kansas’ towns and 8% across U.S. towns. On health, just 15 of Kansas’ 371 towns do worse. Wellington has 4 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Wellington Carnegie Library and Edwin Smith House.
Where Wellington beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Kansas), ordered by how far Wellington is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 2,094 in 1880, 7,715 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1880 and 2 maps from 1890 on.
4 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Wellington, 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 Wellington.
Wellington trades lower home prices for longer drives to work and is healthier than towns with similar incomes.
5.9 miles of trail in 3 parks and preserves. Wellington’s trail density is 0.7 miles per square mile. Worden Park, at 53 acres with 1 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
| Wellington | Kansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.7 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 2.1% | 2% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Worden Park | 1 mi | 53 |
| 2. Hargis Creek Watershed | — | 14 |
| 3. Rock Island Softball Fields | — | 7 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Wellington school district. Three of its 8 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wellington Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 349 | D |
| Wellington High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 463 | D |
| Eisenhower ElemTop results in townGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 277 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within KS on state tests and graduation
Homes are within reach (about $112K for the typical one, A for cost of living), but half of working residents commute more than 25 miles. At 1.6 years of the Wichita metro’s $71K median household income, the typical home (about $112K) costs less against local pay than in 97% of Kansas towns; that ratio is one input to its A for cost of living.
The median rent in Wellington is $733 a month. The typical Wellington home is worth about $112,000, up 1.9% in a year, 55% below the Kansas typical home. 62% of Wellington households own their home.
| Wellington | Kansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 62% | 72% | 73% |
| Median rent | $733 a month | $977 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Only 6 of the 80 Kansas towns we compare have a higher property crime rate than Wellington. Wellington reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 87% report less.
| Wellington | Kansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 29.6 per 1,000 residents | 10.9 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 4.4 per 1,000 residents | 2.5 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Against the 5,908 U.S. towns with household incomes like Wellington’s, it is less healthy than 58%, so its C− isn’t only a matter of income.
40% of adults sleep under 7 hours in Wellington. Only 5 of the 150 Kansas towns we compare have a higher share of adults who smoke cigarettes than Wellington. 31% of adults get no exercise outside work in Wellington.
| Wellington | Kansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 15% | 14% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 35% | 36% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 26% | 25% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 42% | 37% | 35% |
| What stands out | Wellington | KS |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 20% | 11.3% |
| More adults with COPD | 9.8% | 6.7% |
| More smokers | 19.4% | 14% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Wellington has chilly winters and hot summers. July afternoons reach 93°, January nights drop to 23° and about 9 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
About one in 3 of Wellington’s working residents works in town. Since 2013, Wellington has lost 565 jobs, to 2,453 in 2023. Among 151 Kansas towns, just 7 have a lower median household income than Wellington.
| Wellington | Kansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 17 minutes | 20 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $50,000 | $73,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 53% of U.S. communities. Since 1980, 9 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Wellington.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
None within 15 miles of Wellington; the nearest are
About 5 of every 100 Wellington residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across Kansas.
4 places in Wellington on the National Register of Historic Places.
10 notable people were born in Wellington.
City in Sumner County
Wellington is a city in and the county seat of Sumner County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 7,715.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Wellington.
| Town | KS rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wellington · Wellington Township | #138 | D | A | D | C | C− |
| Osborne Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Downs Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Avon Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Osborne Township, Downs Township and Avon Township aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Wellington Township and Wellington are one community, graded once. Compare Wellington with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Wellington grades D overall, better than 15% of U.S. towns and #138 of 150 in Kansas. It grades C− for health, D for safety and C for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a D.
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 A.
10 notable people were born here, including Phil Ferguson and Nate Cornejo.
