Economy

How much do households in Kansas spend on rent?

Data updated September 16, 2024
In 2022, the median monthly rent in Kansas was about $975, which accounted for 27% of renters' income. This figure is derived by comparing the median rent to the median monthly income of renting households.
Showing data for
In 2022, median rent was

27.0%

of median income
In 2022,

$975

was the median rent per month
Comparing rent to renter income provides one measure of rental affordability. Dividing rent by income provides what is called a rent-to-income ratio. A higher ratio of rent-to-income indicates rent is less affordable while a lower ratio indicates it’s more affordable.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development considers households with a rent-to-income ratio of more than 30%, that is, households that spend more than 30% of their income on housing, to be cost-burdened. Cost-burdened households may have less money for other necessities such as food, healthcare, or savings. When median monthly rent is more than 30% of average monthly income, it means a typical household would meet the definition of housing cost-burdened.

Kansas's rent-to-income ratio was lower than in the US overall in 2022.

Ratio of median rent to median renter household income

Subscribe to get unbiased, data-driven insights sent to your inbox weekly.

The national rent-to-income ratio reached a high of 33.8% in 2011 following the Great Recession. In Kansas, the rent-to-income ratio reached 29.1% that year. Most recently, in 2022, Kansas’ rent-to-income ratio was 27.0%, 4.7 percentage points lower than the national rate.

Across metro areas, the average rent-to-income ratio was 30.8% in 2018–2022.

Ratio of median rent to median renter household income, 2018–2022

In 2018–2022, the average rent-to-income ratio across metro areas was 30.8%. The metro areas with the highest and lowest ratios were the Mayagüez, Puerto Rico area at 56.9% (highest) and Sheboygan, Wisconsin area at 21.7% (lowest). In Kansas, the highest and lowest were Manhattan, KS area at 30.8% and Wichita, KS area at 27.0%.
During that period, Manhattan, KS area had the highest median rent at $1.06K per month and Lawrence, KS area had the highest median monthly income at $3.48K out of four Kansas metro areas. Its rent-to-income ratio was the highest in the state.

Renter income and rent, Kansas metro areas (2018–2022)

Renter income and rent, Kansas metro areas (2018–2022)

Change location to see this data for other areas