Saline County, KS

County Profile

53,668 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Saline 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.

55out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 36% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
Opportunity951st of 1,463 counties measured47
Schools842nd of 1,377 counties measured42
Growth1,353rd of 1,453 counties measured22
Housing affordabilityTop 17% of 1,462 counties measured81
Climate1,248th of 1,463 counties measured57
Physical resilienceTop 26% of 1,463 counties measured76
Access1,321st of 1,463 counties measured50
Economic stabilityTop 24% of 1,463 counties measured77
The quick read

Unemployment is 3.7% and median household income $65,422, putting employment conditions in the middle range of counties measured.

In the public schools here, 24% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 13.0 students for every teacher.

Residential permitting has slowed: 74 units authorized over the past twelve months, 74% 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
53,668
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$65,422
Top 50% nationally
Density
75/sq mi
720.2 sq mi of land
Median age
39.9
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Saline County
Kansas
Micro area
Nearest major airport
BEC
79 mi · Beech Factory
Median home value
$179,600
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.7%, lower than in 65% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment fell 3.3% over the past year, to 27,692 employed residents.

29% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 74% of measured US counties.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$46,57413th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$52,27431st percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$3,5572024 ACS 5-Year$65,422Top 50%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,8982024 ACS 5-Year$36,745Top 40%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$59,729Top 38%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year10.7%Top 33%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.8 min2024 ACS 5-Year17.3 minTop 6%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year29.1%Top 26%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year77.1%47th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202627,692Bottom 43%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026−1.3%Bottom 33%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−3.3%Bottom 8%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202628,75543rd percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year83.1%Top 13%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.2%2024 ACS 5-Year0.2%49th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 20260.0%Bottom 40%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20263.7%Top 35%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year6.8%32nd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/074.22.2
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 3.7% 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

202120222023202465k55k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $65,422 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.

24% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 32% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 13.0 students for every full-time teacher across 16 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
16
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
13.0
across all schools here
Math proficiency
24.2%
Bottom 24% in Kansas
Reading proficiency
31.6%
Bottom 45% in Kansas
The 12 largest of 16 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Salina High SouthSalina1,04614.915%24%
Salina High CentralSalina93414.417%31%
Salina South MiddleSalina78213.525%29%
Lakewood Middle SchoolSalina64712.416%28%
Meadowlark Ridge ElemSalina43114.940%47%
Stewart ElemSalina40614.541%40%
Heusner ElemSalina39213.136%37%
Coronado ElemSalina38912.527%32%
Sunset ElemSalina38011.520%29%
Schilling ElemSalina37610.719%28%
Southeast Saline ElemSoutheast Of Saline37513.427%40%
Cottonwood Elementary SchoolSalina32610.924%28%

58.3% 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 $2,345 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.31% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,009, close to the $961 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,009 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $40,400 a year, about 62% of the median household income here of $65,422.

The typical renter household here spends 26% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $961 a month.

A median home at $179,600 costs 2.3 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $79,417, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
26.2%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.3×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,009
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$961
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$179,600
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Saline County’s median household income of $65,422, 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 ±0.12024 ACS 5-Year2.3Top 36%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year67.1%21st percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±412024 ACS 5-Year24,15769th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$770Top 19%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,222Top 14%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,009Top 28%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$322024 ACS 5-Year$961Bottom 35%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$6,2642024 ACS 5-Year$179,60049th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1312024 ACS 5-Year$2,34573rd percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$4,4072024 ACS 5-Year$79,417Top 43%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.09%2024 ACS 5-Year1.31%82nd percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year26.2%Top 34%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±2062024 ACS 5-Year32848th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year1.4%32nd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year5.4%20th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±3532024 ACS 5-Year1,63447th 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

22/ 100
Ranks 1,353 of 1,453 published county profiles
The most recent move in permitting was downward, in 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 fallen 1% since 2020, to 53,459 in 2024.

Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before: 109 units authorized in 2025, 63% below the prior year.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 74 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Saline County lost about 0.7% 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 $46,574, below the $52,274 of households that moved out.

At 1.4 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
74
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
1.4
Bottom 25% nationally
Year over year
−74%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202454k53k
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 holding roughly steady, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
−0.7%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
37%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$46,574
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$52,274
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. McPherson County, KS 152 people · 7.5% of arrivals
  2. Sedgwick County, KS 138 people · 6.8% of arrivals
  3. Dickinson County, KS 137 people · 6.8% of arrivals
  4. Ottawa County, KS 116 people · 5.7% of arrivals
  5. Shawnee County, KS 45 people · 2.2% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Sedgwick County, KS 201 people · 8.6% of departures
  2. Dickinson County, KS 182 people · 7.8% of departures
  3. Ottawa County, KS 125 people · 5.4% of departures
  4. McPherson County, KS 113 people · 4.9% of departures
  5. Johnson County, KS 98 people · 4.2% 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

202220232024202529385
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2022 (+28%).

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 93°F and January a low of 20°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 29.7 inches.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station SALINA MUNI AP, 0.6 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND5.0"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals29.7"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals20°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals93°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals50°F1991-2020 Normals

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

Physical risk

76 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, tornado and cold wave, with inland flooding alone responsible for 34% of it. Every one of these is independently rated low or minimal nationally — this describes how a small risk is composed, not a large one.

Overall hazard risk is lower than 74% of measured US counties.

Winter weatherModerate
Ice stormModerate
HailElevated
WildfireModerate
Heat waveElevated
Strong windModerate
LightningModerate

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

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.

Saline County has a modeled homicide rate of about 3.7 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 17.3 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 8.3 per 100,000 residents in Saline County.

Homicide
3.7
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
17.3
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
8.3
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Suicide
19.3
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 Saline 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

2 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Beech Factory at 79 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year90.0%Top 26%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle79 miBottom 10%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-Year8.2%Top 33%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Beech FactoryBEC79 mi8,001 ft
Wichita Dwight D Eisenhower NtlICT80 mi10,302 ft
Topeka RgnlFOE107 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
55
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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 Saline County, KS