Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Wichita grades D overall, better than 7% of U.S. towns, mostly because of safety and schools. It reports more crime per resident than 97% of U.S. towns, including 4,834 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. Its schools rank behind 95% of the state's. One bright spot: it is more walkable than 74% of U.S. towns. 67% of working residents work locally in Wichita, above both the Kansas town median (15%) and the median of U.S. towns (8%). Its National Register listings include Carey House and Scottish Rite Temple. No town among the 80 in Kansas we compare has a higher violent crime rate than Wichita.
Where Wichita beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
University Hall, Friends University| College | Students |
|---|---|
| Wichita State University | 12,533 |
| Wichita State University-Campus of Applied Sciences and Technology | 4,841 |
| Newman University | 2,532 |
Its 140 National Register listings are more than in any other Kansas town with a listing.
Census counts: 689 in 1870, 397,532 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1868 and 5 maps from 1943 on.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Kansas), ordered by how far Wichita is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Wichita, 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 Wichita.
Wichita reports violent crime at about twice the Kansas rate, but it has a long record of flood insurance claims.
Violent crime runs at 12 per 1,000 residents, about twice the Kansas rate; the Safety Grade counts each violent crime four times, so this weighs most on its D−. Property crime runs at 45.9 per 1,000 residents, about twice the Kansas rate, most of it theft.
The property crime rate in Wichita is 45.9 per 1,000 residents. Wichita reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 97% report less.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Its public schools are run by the Wichita school district. Three of its 122 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Truesdell Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 924 | D− |
| East HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 2,435 | C− |
| Wheatland ElementaryTop results in townGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 443 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within KS on state tests and graduation
103 miles of trail in 103 parks and preserves. Pawnee Prairie Park, at 454 acres with 11.7 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. Wichita’s trail density is 0.6 miles per square mile.
| Wichita | Kansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.6 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 4.2% | 2% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Pawnee Prairie Park | 11.7 mi | 454 |
| 2. Clapp Memorial Park | 4 mi | 87 |
| 3. North Chisholm Creek Park | 2.8 mi | 58 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Wichita has chilly winters and hot summers. July afternoons reach 93°, January nights drop to 22° and about 13 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Wichita beats the Kansas average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 17. 73% of adults had a checkup this year in Wichita.
| Wichita | Kansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 73% | 77% | 79% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 8.9% | 8.1% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 35% | 31% | 33% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 12% | 14% |
| What stands out | Wichita | KS |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 7.2% | 8.1% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 18.9% | 13% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The typical Wichita home is worth about $205,000, up 2.3% in a year, 17% below the Kansas typical home. 59% of Wichita households own their home.
| Wichita | Kansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 59% | 72% | 73% |
| Median rent | $975 a month | $977 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
The top destinations are Riverside Township (4%), Waco Township (3%) and Overland Park (2%). Half commute less than 6 miles.
| Wichita | Kansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 16% | 9.1% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 18 minutes | 20 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $65,000 | $73,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 7.7% | 8.8% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the Kansas average. 31% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 36% across Kansas.
| Wichita | Kansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 35.7 years | 38.2 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 16% | 17% | 18% |
| Under 18 | 24% | 24% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 31% | 29% | 29% |
50.3% women, 49.7% men
About 99 men for every 100 women. Across Kansas, 49.8% of residents are women. Median age: women 36.8, men 34.9.
| Wichita | KS | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 12.5% | 12.5% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 11.6% | 11.3% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 10% | 10.2% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 14.9% | 12.9% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12.9% | 12.9% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 10.9% | 11.2% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 11.5% | 12.2% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 9.6% | 10.1% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 6.1% | 6.9% | 7% |
| No diploma | 12% | 8% | 10.4% |
| High school | 25.9% | 25.4% | 26% |
| Some college | 22.6% | 21.8% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 8.4% | 9.1% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 19.4% | 22.2% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 11.7% | 13.4% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
389 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 40 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 55% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 389 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Wichita.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Wichita. Close and well known come first.
in town MuseumExploration Place
4 mi Zoo & aquariumSedgwick County Zoo
in town MuseumKansas Aviation Museum
in town MuseumWichita Art Museum12 mi Zoo & aquariumTanganyika Wildlife Park
in town MuseumGreat Plains Transportation MuseumExploration Place: 04stx, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Sedgwick County Zoo: Patrick Pelletier, 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 · Great Plains Transportation Museum: Atsf3768 at English Wikipedia, Public domain
5 within 15 miles of the center of Wichita
About 7 of every 100 Wichita residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Kansas.
5 colleges in town.
140 places in Wichita on the National Register of Historic Places.
34 notable people were born in Wichita.
City in Kansas, U.S.
Wichita ( , WITCH-ih-taw) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 397,532, and the Wichita metropolitan area had a population of 647,610. It is located in south-central Kansas along the Arkansas River. Wichita began as a trading post on the Chisholm Trail in the 1860s and was incorporated as a city in 1870. It became a destination for cattle drives traveling north from Texas to Kansas railroads, earning it the nickname "Cowtown". In 1875, Wyatt Earp served as a police officer in Wichita for about one year before going to Dodge City. In the 1920s and 1930s, businessmen and aeronautical…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
10 towns share a border with Wichita.
All 6 graded towns on its borders grade higher than its D; Riverside Township (C) is closest. Attica Township next door grades higher for schools (A to Wichita’s D) and lower for cost of living (C to B).
| Town | KS rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wichita | #149 | D | B | D− | D | C+ |
| Minneha Township | #95 | C+ | C | — | D | A |
| Riverside Township | #109 | C | B+ | — | C+ | C |
| Waco Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Attica Township | #39 | A− | C | — | A | A− |
| Park Township | #48 | B+ | D | — | A− | A− |
| Kechi Township | #98 | C+ | B | — | D | B− |
| Gypsum Township | #92 | C+ | C− | — | B− | B |
Minneha Township, Riverside Township, Attica Township, Park Township, Kechi Township and Gypsum Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Waco Township isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Wichita with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Wichita grades D overall, better than 7% of U.S. towns. It grades C+ for health, D− for safety and D for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a D−.
That is 2.9 years of the area's median household income ($70,655 across the Wichita, KS metro 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.
34 notable people were born here, including MrBeast and Kirstie Alley.
