Kansas by Numbers

Population of Kansas:

    • 1860 : 107,206
    • 1998 : 2,629,067

Population of Kansas is growing older:
Median age:

    • 1960: 26.9
    • 1970: 28.7
    • 1980: 30.1
    • 1990: 32.9
    • 1998: 35.2

The number of people living in Kansas who are of Hispanic origin increased by 41.58% from 1990 - 1997; in the U.S. the increase was 31.18%.

Kansas is becoming more densely populated:
People per square mile:

    • 1930: 23.0
    • 1940: 22.0
    • 1950: 23.2
    • 1960: 26.6
    • 1970: 27.5
    • 1980: 28.9
    • 1990: 30.3
    • 1998: 32.1

Fewer people per household in Kansas:
Persons per household:

    • 1970: 3.42
    • 1990: 3.08

More public library books per capita in Kansas than in the United States:
Public library books per capita, in 1996:

    • Kansas - 4.6
    • U.S. - 2.8

Public library books circulated per capita, in 1996:

    • Kansas - 9.6
    • U.S. - 6.5

Kansas' 26,622 acres of state parks were visited by 6,538,614 people in 1998.

Fewer, but larger, farms in Kansas:

1900: number of farms: 173,000; average size of each farm: 241 acres

1997: number of farms: 64,000; average size of each farm: 747 acres.

Value of the land and buildings on farms:

    • 1920: $62.00 per acre
    • 1997: $575.00 per acre

In 1930 there were 780,000 milk cows on Kansas farms; by 1998 there were 79,000.

In 1989 there were 37,000 colonies of bees on farms in Kansas, each yielding, on average, 46 pounds of honey per colony; in 1997 there were 17,000 colonies, each yielding 71 pounds of honey, on average.

There are 22 television stations in Kansas, up from 14 in 1980.

In 1980 there were 133 radio stations in Kansas: 63 AM and 70 FM.

In 1998 there were 193 radio stations in Kansas: 62 AM and 131 FM.

Kansas ranks 24th in the nation for per capita personal income, at $24,981.

Connecticut is first, at $37,598.

Average for the U.S. is $26,412.

50th is Mississippi, at $18,958.

33,295 children under age 5 in Kansas, or 18%, live in poverty.

Total revenues in Kansas for FY 1998 come to $4,090,256,000.

Total tax revenues in Kansas for FY 1998 come to $3,962,072,000.

Kansas has

  • 133,541 public road miles (4th in the nation).
  • 26,081 bridges (3rd in the nation) .
  • 6,374 railroad crossings.

Land area of Kansas is 81,823 square miles (13th in the nation).

These data were provided by Thelma Helyar, research assistant at the Institute for Public Policy and Business Research at the University of Kansas.