Topeka, KS
Topeka, KS Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Topeka, KS Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Topeka ranks 115th for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 163rd for income. A household earns $74,389 a year while median rent runs $990/mo, making it moderately affordable for what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 11% below the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is rent (38th of 300), while education is the soft spot (220th). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 38th and home prices 42nd among the 300 metros CityLedger tracks.
For your salary & household
Enter your pay and household size to see what it's really worth here — the numbers update live and the link stays shareable.
On $75,000 for just you in Topeka, your take-home is worth about $64,644 once local prices are factored in — local prices stretch it further than the U.S. average.
Take-home estimates a single filer taking the standard deduction (2025 federal brackets, FICA, and state income tax) and isn't tax advice. “Real value” rebases take-home to average U.S. prices using the BEA cost-of-living index; the per-person figure uses the OECD square-root equivalence scale.
The numbers
Income & cost
- Median income
- 163rd of 300↑24.9%$74,389
- Cost of living?The local price level vs. the U.S. average of 100 (BEA). Lower means cheaper. This is raw prices, not adjusted for income.
- 39th of 30089 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $83,753
- Per-capita income
- $39,297
- Full-time pay
- $45,881
Housing
- Median rent
- 38th of 300↑23.1%$990/mo
- Home value
- 42nd of 300↑52.8%$211,800
- Property tax
- $2,879/yr · 1.4%
- Sales tax
- 8.77%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 72nd of 3003.6%
- Bachelor's+
- 220th of 30028.2%
- Avg commute
- 49th of 30021.3 min
People
- Population
- 232,648
- Population change
- +0.3%
- Median age
- 40.4 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 3.1%
- Broadband
- 92.3%
Environment & risk
- Air quality (AQI)
- 141st of 30045
- Natural-hazard loss
- 172nd of 300$14/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 144th of 30018.3%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 9.7%
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (ACS), U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. EPA, FEMA, CDC, NOAA — every figure's source is listed on our methodology page. Data built 2026-06-14. ↑↓ mark the change since 2019.
How CityLedger scores it
Transparent weights — see our methodology.
Strengths
- + Cost of living
- + Rent
- + Home prices
- + Job market
- + Commute
Watch-outs
- – Education
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — topeka asos.
What jobs pay in Topeka
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- Financial managers
- $145,950
- IT managers
- $143,320
- Pharmacists
- $140,820
- Software developers
- $111,870
- Lawyers
- $102,500
- Civil engineers
- $93,740
- General & operations managers
- $85,080
- Registered nurses
- $81,820
- Web developers
- $77,570
- Accountants & auditors
- $76,280
- Plumbers
- $75,090
- Electricians
- $65,520
- Police officers
- $63,920
- Secondary school teachers
- $60,130
- Elementary school teachers
- $58,950
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $58,870
- Carpenters
- $51,210
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $46,610
- Construction laborers
- $46,070
- Customer service reps
- $43,180
- Waiters & waitresses
- $35,090
- Janitors
- $34,860
- Retail salespersons
- $32,820
- Cashiers
- $28,580
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS 2025 — annual median wage. Cross-industry, all experience levels.
Where new residents move from
The states sending the most people to the Topeka metro, by estimated movers (U.S. Census 2022 migration flows, 5-year). Moves from elsewhere in Kansas are excluded to show where out-of-state arrivals originate.
- Missouri794
- Iowa295
- Colorado255
- Texas232
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Topeka
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Topeka metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Topeka metro?
- Median gross rent across the Topeka, KS Metro Area is $990 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Topeka.
- What is the median household income in the Topeka metro?
- A typical household in the Topeka, KS Metro Area earns $74,389 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Topeka expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Topeka, KS Metro Area runs about 11% below the U.S. average (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024) — prices are lower than average, before accounting for local pay.
- Does a paycheck go far in the Topeka metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $83,753 (versus its face value of $74,389). CityLedger rates the Topeka, KS Metro Area moderately affordable for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Topeka metro?
- The median home value across the Topeka, KS Metro Area is $211,800 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Topeka metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Topeka, KS Metro Area is 3.6% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).