Kay County, OK

County Profile

43,625 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Kay County, OK.

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.

50out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 19% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
Opportunity1,308th of 1,463 counties measured31
Schools884th of 1,377 counties measured39
Growth926th of 1,453 counties measured43
Housing affordabilityTop 12% of 1,462 counties measured84
Climate1,148th of 1,463 counties measured60
Physical resilience814th of 1,463 counties measured55
Access909th of 1,463 counties measured75
Economic stability1,257th of 1,463 counties measured30
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable counties measured: unemployment is 4.5% and the Opportunity signal places Kay County in the bottom 11%.

In the public schools here, 34% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 16.4 students for every teacher.

32 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 7% of the prior year — steady rather than turning.

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
43,625
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$58,423
Bottom 31% nationally
Density
47/sq mi
919.6 sq mi of land
Median age
38.5
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Kay County
Oklahoma
Micro area
Nearest major airport
WDG
47 mi · Enid Woodring Rgnl
Median home value
$124,700
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.5% — higher than in all but 35% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment fell 2.8% over the past year, to 18,944 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$41,9805th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$47,01614th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$3,0142024 ACS 5-Year$58,423Bottom 31%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,1192024 ACS 5-Year$31,071Bottom 30%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$49,638Bottom 22%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year15.8%Bottom 32%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.9 min2024 ACS 5-Year19.5 minTop 13%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year19.2%Bottom 34%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year80.8%74th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202618,944Bottom 29%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026−0.1%Bottom 48%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−2.8%Bottom 11%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202619,83629th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year73.9%Bottom 42%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.1%2024 ACS 5-Year0.0%1st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026+0.9%Bottom 5%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20264.5%Bottom 35%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±0.9%2024 ACS 5-Year3.7%8th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/074.52.6
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.5% 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

202120222023202458k50k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $58,423 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.

34% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 31% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 16.4 students for every full-time teacher across 22 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
22
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
16.4
across all schools here
Math proficiency
34.0%
Top 44% in Oklahoma
Reading proficiency
31.4%
Bottom 25% in Oklahoma
The 12 largest of 22 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Ponca City HSPONCA CITY1,49819.727%30%
Ponca City West MSPONCA CITY60715.639%33%
Blackwell ESBLACKWELL50714.552%42%
Tonkawa ESTONKAWA40214.952%42%
Blackwell HSBLACKWELL35316.817%22%
Ponca City East MSPONCA CITY32016.028%31%
Newkirk ESNEWKIRK31715.152%42%
Lincoln ESPONCA CITY31616.632%17%
Union ESPONCA CITY27216.022%27%
E. M. Trout ESPONCA CITY26719.147%42%
Woodlands ESPONCA CITY25818.457%52%
Roosevelt ESPONCA CITY25216.847%37%

75.7% 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 Oklahoma’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 Oklahoma is up 39% over five years, and up 1.5% 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 $821 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.66% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $937, some 11% above the $842 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $937 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $37,500 a year, about 64% of the median household income here of $58,423.

The typical renter household here spends 25% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $842 a month.

A median home at $124,700 costs 1.8 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $70,024, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
25.2%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
1.8×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$937
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$842
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$124,700
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Kay County’s median household income of $58,423, 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 Oklahoma’s figure2026 Q2+1.5%17th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Oklahoma’s figure2026 Q2+38.9%24th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Oklahoma’s figure2026 Q2+72.0%17th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.12024 ACS 5-Year1.8Top 13%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year69.2%26th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±1042024 ACS 5-Year20,91366th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$714Top 8%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,250Top 17%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$937Top 12%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$272024 ACS 5-Year$842Top 44%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$6,8162024 ACS 5-Year$124,70020th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$492024 ACS 5-Year$82116th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$4,2062024 ACS 5-Year$70,024Bottom 34%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.05%2024 ACS 5-Year0.66%36th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year25.2%Top 27%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±1202024 ACS 5-Year65265th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year3.1%53rd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year16.7%90th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±2842024 ACS 5-Year4,13775th 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

43/ 100
Ranks 926 of 1,453 published county profiles
Permitting has been rising 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 been broadly flat since 2020, at 43,437 in 2024.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 32 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Kay County lost about 0.4% 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 $41,980, below the $47,016 of households that moved out.

At 0.7 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
32
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
0.7
Bottom 13% nationally
Year over year
+7%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202444k43k
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 falling for the last 3 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
−0.4%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
46%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$41,980
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$47,016
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Osage County, OK 175 people · 10% of arrivals
  2. Cowley County, KS 108 people · 6.5% of arrivals
  3. Payne County, OK 93 people · 5.6% of arrivals
  4. Oklahoma County, OK 83 people · 5.0% of arrivals
  5. Sedgwick County, KS 67 people · 4.0% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Oklahoma County, OK 148 people · 8.2% of departures
  2. Osage County, OK 137 people · 7.6% of departures
  3. Payne County, OK 130 people · 7.2% of departures
  4. Sedgwick County, KS 90 people · 5.0% of departures
  5. Cowley County, KS 79 people · 4.4% 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

2022202320242025319.0
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2022 (+244%).

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 25°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 33.6 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 42, in the Good band, and about 5 days a year pass 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station PONCA CITY MUNI AP, 5.9 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND5.1"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year612024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals33.6"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals25°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals93°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year52024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year422024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals46°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
42
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
61
90th percentile index
Days above 100
5
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. Air quality is measured by EPA monitors and published by county only where a monitor sits; a county without one shows nothing rather than an estimate, and a county reading is still the county’s. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

55 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, cold wave and tornado, with inland flooding alone responsible for 31% 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.

Ice stormElevated
Cold waveModerate
TornadoModerate
HailHigh
WildfireModerate
DroughtModerate
Strong windModerate

Low or minimal exposure: heat wave, winter weather, inland flooding, lightning, earthquake, landslide, 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.

Kay County has a modeled homicide rate of about 4.9 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 14.3 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 11.1 per 100,000 residents in Kay County.

Homicide
4.9
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
14.3
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
11.1
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Suicide
18.5
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 Kay 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.
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

4 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Enid Woodring Rgnl at 47 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year84.4%Bottom 32%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle47 miBottom 34%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle4Top 43%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year11.4%Bottom 41%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Enid Woodring RgnlWDG47 mi8,613 ft
Wichita Dwight D Eisenhower NtlICT60 mi10,302 ft
Beech FactoryBEC61 mi8,001 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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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
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar year
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 Kay County, OK

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.