county

Riley County, KS

Demographic and economic profile of Riley County, KS, sourced from the US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) via Data USA.

AI Overview

Riley County's economy is anchored by education and public administration, consistent with the presence of Kansas State University in Manhattan, and its workforce skews young, with a median age of 25.5 and 48.0% of residents holding a bachelor's degree or higher. The labor force of roughly 51,400 (70.9% participation) earns a median worker wage of $28,938, reflecting the prevalence of student and early-career workers, alongside a poverty rate of 22.0%. The county's population has contracted 4.8% over five years, while housing remains relatively accessible at a $231,200 median home value and $1,065 median monthly rent.

Claude Sonnet 4.6 · generated Jul 6, 2026 · derived from cached Census, BEA & ACS data on this page

Population

72,557

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Household Income

$61,098

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

25.5 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

-4.8% since 2018

Riley County lost population at this rate over the prior 5-year ACS5 window.

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone55,289 (76.8%)
  • Black or African American Alone4,714 (6.6%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races3,488 (4.8%)
  • Asian Alone2,995 (4.2%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race2,682 (3.7%)
  • Some Other Race Alone1,927 (2.7%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish2,878
  2. 2.Other Indo-European718
  3. 3.Chinese (incl. Mandarin, Cantonese)585
  4. 4.Arabic383
  5. 5.Korean226

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

16.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

74.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

9.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

6.7%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

4,099

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$40,815

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$34,583

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

4.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

22.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance13,021
  2. 2.Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation, & Accommodation & Food Services4,378
  3. 3.Retail Trade (Group)3,684
  4. 4.Professional, Scientific, & Management, & Administrative & Waste Management Services3,469
  5. 5.Construction (Group)2,017

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations16,092
  2. 2.Service Occupations7,246
  3. 3.Sales & Office Occupations6,607
  4. 4.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations3,175
  5. 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations2,658

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Educational Services & Health Care (LQ 1.54×)12,578
  2. 2.Arts, Entertainment, Recreation, & Accommodation (LQ 1.31×)4,030
  3. 3.Public Administration (LQ 1.10×)1,826
  4. 4.Information (LQ 1.08×)709
  5. 5.Retail Trade (LQ 1.01×)3,839

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$231,200

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$1,065/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

46.1%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $300,000 to $399,9992,390 (18.7%)
  • $200,000 to $249,9991,840 (14.4%)
  • $250,000 to $299,9991,403 (11.0%)
  • $175,000 to $199,9991,105 (8.7%)
  • $400,000 to $499,999968 (7.6%)
  • $150,000 to $174,999941 (7.4%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

48.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

96.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

70.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$28,938

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

16.3 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

5.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone27,014 (64.5%)
  • Walked5,677 (13.6%)
  • Worked At Home4,678 (11.2%)
  • Carpooled3,688 (8.8%)
  • Other253 (0.6%)
  • Bicycle226 (0.5%)

Data USA · as of 2024

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Data: US Census Bureau American Community Survey, served via Data USA and the Census Bureau API. See each metric tile for the specific dataset.