Butler County, KS

County Profile

68,287 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Butler County, KS.

Several figures AreaProfile publishes are measured by county and nowhere finer — death rates by intent among them. On this page those describe the geography they are printed on, which is not true of the city and ZIP pages that inherit them.

63out of 100
Area Score
Top 35% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
OpportunityTop 36% of 1,463 counties measured62
SchoolsTop 10% of 1,377 counties measured81
Growth1,047th of 1,453 counties measured38
Housing affordabilityTop 22% of 1,462 counties measured80
Climate878th of 1,463 counties measured64
Physical resilience943rd of 1,463 counties measured49
AccessTop 35% of 1,463 counties measured87
Economic stabilityTop 31% of 1,463 counties measured73
The quick read

Unemployment is 4.1% and median household income $81,610, putting employment conditions in the middle range of counties measured.

Public schools test above most of the state: 39% of students met the mathematics standard, placing the area in the top 10% of published profiles for schools.

Residential permitting has slowed: 176 units authorized over the past twelve months, 42% below the prior year.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
68,287
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$81,610
Top 16% nationally
Density
48/sq mi
1,429.7 sq mi of land
Median age
38.4
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Butler County
Kansas
Metro area
Nearest major airport
BEC
21 mi · Beech Factory
Median home value
$217,600
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.1%, lower than in 50% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment fell 0.9% over the past year, to 33,383 employed residents.

32% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 81% of measured US counties.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$73,97977th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$64,61166th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$3,4262024 ACS 5-Year$81,610Top 16%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,4912024 ACS 5-Year$38,711Top 31%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$57,754Top 43%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year8.5%Top 16%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.8 min2024 ACS 5-Year24.8 minTop 44%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year32.4%Top 19%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year80.9%75th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202633,383Bottom 49%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+0.8%Top 40%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−0.9%Bottom 43%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202634,82049th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year78.5%Top 35%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.1%2024 ACS 5-Year0.0%30th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.3%Top 39%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20264.1%Top 50%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year9.0%54th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/074.52.4
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.1% in July 2026. It has been holding roughly steady, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202482k72k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $81,610 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

Largest occupations — Wichita, KS

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Fast Food and Counter Workers11,580$27,420
Aircraft Structure, Surfaces, Rigging, and Systems Assemblers9,460$59,850
Retail Salespersons7,530$30,760
Registered Nurses7,460$76,540
Cashiers7,070$28,430
Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive6,290$41,480

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

39% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 41% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 13.8 students for every full-time teacher across 40 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
40
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
13.8
across all schools here
Math proficiency
38.8%
Top 10% in Kansas
Reading proficiency
41.3%
Top 21% in Kansas
The 12 largest of 40 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Andover HighAndover1,01816.445%40%
Andover Central High SchoolAndover88616.152%47%
Andover Middle SchoolAndover77314.651%56%
Andover Central Middle SchoolAndover64214.951%44%
Rose Hill HighRose Hill Public Schools60815.227%22%
Circle HighCircle60415.927%37%
Augusta Sr HighAugusta59412.622%17%
El Dorado HighEl Dorado54314.717%22%
Robert M. Martin ElementaryAndover48015.567%73%
Prairie Creek ElementaryAndover47414.867%77%
Rose Hill PrimaryRose Hill Public Schools45115.0——
Augusta Middle SchoolAugusta44512.027%30%

37.1% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against Kansas’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 11% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 89.4, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the Wichita, KS Metro Area is up 42% over five years, and up 4.5% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $3,177 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.46% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,099, some 15% above the $956 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,099 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $44,000 a year, about 54% of the median household income here of $81,610.

The typical renter household here spends 27% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $956 a month.

A median home at $217,600 costs 2.3 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $93,295, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Cost of living
89.4

Prices here run about 11% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Wichita, KS Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
26.7%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.3×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,099
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$956
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$217,600
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Butler County’s median household income of $81,610, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living indexthe Wichita, KS Metro Area’s figure202389.4Top 16%of 8872023
Home price change (1 year)the Wichita, KS Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+4.5%69th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Wichita, KS Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+42.1%34th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Wichita, KS Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+89.6%43rd percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.12024 ACS 5-Year2.3Top 40%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year77.6%68th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±1232024 ACS 5-Year27,48572nd percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$849Top 34%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,444Top 42%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,099Top 41%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$442024 ACS 5-Year$956Bottom 36%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$6,8492024 ACS 5-Year$217,60062nd percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1162024 ACS 5-Year$3,17787th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$3,0542024 ACS 5-Year$93,295Top 20%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.07%2024 ACS 5-Year1.46%88th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year26.7%Top 39%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±1012024 ACS 5-Year20637th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.7%19th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year7.1%33rd percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±3962024 ACS 5-Year2,14756th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

38/ 100
Ranks 1,047 of 1,453 published county profiles
Permitting has been falling for the last 2 years of a series running from 2022 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has grown 3% since 2020, reaching 69,158 in 2024.

Federal tax returns show Butler County gained about 0.5% of its residents through moves within the US in the most recent year, counting those who arrived against those who left. Households that moved in reported an average income of $73,979, above the $64,611 of households that moved out.

At 2.6 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
176
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.6
Bottom 46% nationally
Year over year
−42%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
—
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202469k67k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population. It has been rising for the last 4 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
+0.5%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
33%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$73,979
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$64,611
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Sedgwick County, KS 1,831 people · 49% of arrivals
  2. Harvey County, KS 79 people · 2.1% of arrivals
  3. Cowley County, KS 66 people · 1.8% of arrivals
  4. Johnson County, KS 59 people · 1.6% of arrivals
  5. Greenwood County, KS 43 people · 1.1% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Sedgwick County, KS 1,822 people · 52% of departures
  2. Johnson County, KS 71 people · 2.0% of departures
  3. Harvey County, KS 65 people · 1.9% of departures
  4. Sumner County, KS 53 people · 1.5% of departures
  5. Cowley County, KS 46 people · 1.3% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

2022202320242025611145
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2022 (+44%).

Weather & climate

6 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 92°F and January a low of 23°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 32.6 inches.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station WICHITA JABARA AP, 21.0 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND5.2"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals32.6"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals23°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals92°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals61991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals47°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

49 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, tornado and wildfire, with inland flooding alone responsible for 36% of it. Tornado is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

WildfireHigh
Winter weatherModerate
HailElevated
Strong windElevated
Heat waveModerate
Ice stormModerate
Inland floodingModerate
LightningModerate

Low or minimal exposure: tornado, cold wave, drought, landslide, earthquake, hurricane, coastal flooding, tsunami, volcanic activity, avalanche.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). These are FEMA’s own figures for this county rather than a value derived from surrounding geographies. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Butler County has a modeled homicide rate of about 3.0 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at about 14.4 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at about 14.0 per 100,000 residents in Butler County.

Homicide
3.0
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
14.4
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
14.0
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Suicide
14.6
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe Butler County as a whole. They are shown and not scored. How to read death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. City profiles inside this area carry their own figure where their department reported a full year. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Air quality
The EPA publishes an air-quality index only where a monitor sits. There is none in this county, and a modeled value would be a different kind of number from the measured ones everywhere else on this page.
Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

2 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Beech Factory at 21 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year90.3%Top 24%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle21 miTop 27%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle2Bottom 15%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year7.1%Top 25%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Beech FactoryBEC21 mi8,001 ft
Wichita Dwight D Eisenhower NtlICT34 mi10,302 ft
Topeka RgnlFOE103 mi12,803 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
63
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
Housing, IncomeU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology, or every source with how often each updates.

ZIP areas

Only ZIP areas whose income or home value differ from their city’s by at least ten percent get a profile of their own, so this is a selection rather than every ZIP code in the county.