Finney County, KS

County Profile

38,084 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Finney 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.

56out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 37% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
OpportunityTop 26% of 1,463 counties measured67
Schools1,147th of 1,377 counties measured24
GrowthTop 20% of 1,453 counties measured67
Housing affordabilityTop 1% of 1,462 counties measured96
Climate1,146th of 1,463 counties measured60
Physical resilience1,136th of 1,463 counties measured35
Access1,444th of 1,463 counties measured0
Economic stabilityTop 32% of 1,463 counties measured72
The quick read

Unemployment is 3.5% and median household income $73,009, putting employment conditions in the middle range of counties measured.

In the public schools here, 22% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 13.2 students for every teacher.

Housing is more affordable relative to local incomes than in most counties measured: rent takes 20% of renter income and the median home is 2.5 times what its owners earn.

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
38,084
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$73,009
Top 30% nationally
Density
29/sq mi
1,302 sq mi of land
Median age
31.9
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Finney County
Kansas
Micro area
Nearest major airport
ICT
183 mi · Wichita Dwight D Eisenhower Ntl
Median home value
$201,400
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.5%, lower than in 74% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment grew 0.2% over the past year, to 20,591 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$48,49217th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$48,28218th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$4,6682024 ACS 5-Year$73,009Top 30%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,1612024 ACS 5-Year$32,062Bottom 35%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$52,290Bottom 34%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year11.3%Top 37%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.7 min2024 ACS 5-Year16.2 minTop 4%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year19.0%Bottom 32%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year79.1%61st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202620,591Bottom 32%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+4.5%Top 11%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026+0.2%Top 36%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202621,33232nd percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year81.8%Top 18%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.2%2024 ACS 5-Year0.2%55th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.1%Bottom 45%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20263.5%Top 26%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±0.9%2024 ACS 5-Year3.9%9th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/073.62.0
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 3.5% 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

202120222023202473k61k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $73,009 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.

22% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 26% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 13.2 students for every full-time teacher across 20 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
21
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
13.2
across 20 of them
Math proficiency
21.9%
Bottom 10% in Kansas
Reading proficiency
26.5%
Bottom 10% in Kansas
The 12 largest of 21 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Garden City High SchoolGarden City1,94615.210%18%
Jennie Wilson ElemGarden City79649.847%47%
Horace J. Good Middle SchoolGarden City58311.417%14%
Kenneth Henderson MiddleGarden City42513.712%21%
Charles O Stones Intermediate CtrGarden City37711.118%25%
Florence Wilson ElemGarden City37616.342%42%
Bernadine Sitts Intermediate CtrGarden City36713.119%23%
Victor Ornelas ElemGarden City35113.522%17%
Alta Brown ElemGarden City33614.027%37%
Abe Hubert Elementary SchoolGarden City28512.412%22%
Holcomb HighHolcomb26510.25%15%
Holcomb MiddleHolcomb22712.621%21%

72.8% 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.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the non-metropolitan parts of Kansas is up 42% over five years, and up 3.4% 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 $2,900 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.44% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,041, close to the $1,048 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,041 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $41,600 a year, about 57% of the median household income here of $73,009.

The typical renter household here spends 20% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,048 a month.

A median home at $201,400 costs 2.5 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $80,616, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
19.7%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.5×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,041
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,048
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$201,400
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Finney County’s median household income of $73,009, 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
Home price change (1 year)the non-metropolitan parts of Kansas’s figure2026 Q2+3.4%43rd percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Kansas’s figure2026 Q2+42.4%35th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Kansas’s figure2026 Q2+72.7%19th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.32024 ACS 5-Year2.5Top 50%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year64.9%15th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±392024 ACS 5-Year14,35554th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$793Top 24%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,435Top 41%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,041Top 32%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$442024 ACS 5-Year$1,048Bottom 26%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$11,1562024 ACS 5-Year$201,40057th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1922024 ACS 5-Year$2,90084th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$7,4532024 ACS 5-Year$80,616Top 41%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.12%2024 ACS 5-Year1.44%87th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year19.7%Top 5%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±1192024 ACS 5-Year23940th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year1.7%37th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year6.2%26th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±2502024 ACS 5-Year1,12635th 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.

Development Momentum

67/ 100
Top 20% of 1,453 published county profiles
Permitting has been falling for the last 3 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 been broadly flat since 2020, at 38,354 in 2024.

Permit activity fell in each of the 3 calendar years through 2025. Over the twelve months since, it has turned the other way — against 26 the year before.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 150 units permitted over the past twelve months, only 5% are in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Finney County lost about 1.2% 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 $48,492, close to the $48,282 of households that moved out.

At 3.9 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
150
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
3.9
Top 37% nationally
Year over year
+477%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
4.7%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202438k38k
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 2 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
−1.2%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
52%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$48,492
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$48,282
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Ford County, KS 88 people · 7.1% of arrivals
  2. Sedgwick County, KS 69 people · 5.5% of arrivals
  3. Kearny County, KS 62 people · 5.0% of arrivals
  4. Grant County, KS 56 people · 4.5% of arrivals
  5. Seward County, KS 41 people · 3.3% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Sedgwick County, KS 140 people · 8.5% of departures
  2. Ford County, KS 73 people · 4.4% of departures
  3. Kearny County, KS 72 people · 4.4% of departures
  4. Johnson County, KS 34 people · 2.1% 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

202220232024202514536
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2022 (−75%).

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 18°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 18.9 inches.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station GARDEN CITY RGNL AP, 8.5 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND3.5"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals18.9"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals18°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

35 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are hail, drought and inland flooding, with hail alone responsible for 23% of it. Inland flooding is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

DroughtModerate
HailHigh
Winter weatherModerate
Strong windModerate
TornadoElevated
Cold waveElevated
Heat waveModerate

Low or minimal exposure: ice storm, lightning, wildfire, inland flooding, earthquake, landslide, tsunami, volcanic activity, coastal flooding, avalanche, hurricane.

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.

Finney County has a modeled homicide rate of about 3.6 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 13.4 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 9.6 per 100,000 residents in Finney County.

Homicide
3.6
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
13.4
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
9.6
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Suicide
18.1
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured

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 Finney 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.
Cost of living
Price parities are published for metropolitan areas, and this place lies outside one.
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. Cost of living is published where the Bureau of Economic Analysis measures it, though not for this place. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

No airport meeting the AreaProfile major-airport definition lies within 100 miles; the nearest is 183 miles away.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year91.6%Top 16%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle183 miBottom 1%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle0Bottom 1%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year7.4%Top 26%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Wichita Dwight D Eisenhower NtlICT183 mi10,302 ft
Beech FactoryBEC194 mi8,001 ft
Enid Woodring RgnlWDG199 mi8,613 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
56
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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
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.

Cities in Finney County, KS