county

Shawnee County, KS

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

AI Overview

Shawnee County, home to Topeka (Kansas's state capital), has a workforce of roughly 178,000 residents with 32.3% holding a bachelor's degree or higher and a median worker earnings figure of $43,198, below the county's GDP per capita of $63,674. The labor force participation rate sits at 62.5% with a 4.2% unemployment rate, and housing costs remain low—median home values of $170,400 and median gross rent of $970 per month. Population growth was flat over the past five years, and a poverty rate of 12.4% alongside a median household income of $67,104 reflect a mid-tier income profile typical of government-centered county economies.

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

Population

177,942

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Household Income

$67,104

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

39.4 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

+0.0% since 2018

Shawnee County added population at this rate over the prior 5-year ACS5 window.

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone132,921 (74.7%)
  • Black or African American Alone12,180 (6.8%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races11,230 (6.3%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race9,042 (5.1%)
  • Some Other Race Alone8,798 (4.9%)
  • Asian Alone2,576 (1.4%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish8,894
  2. 2.Other Indo-European684
  3. 3.Other Asian and Pacific Island536
  4. 4.Chinese (incl. Mandarin, Cantonese)446
  5. 5.German or other West Germanic249

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

23.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

57.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

19.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

4.1%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

10,878

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$63,674

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$37,072

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

4.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

12.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance21,497
  2. 2.Public Administration (Group)8,369
  3. 3.Manufacturing (Group)8,021
  4. 4.Retail Trade (Group)7,771
  5. 5.Professional, Scientific, & Management, & Administrative & Waste Management Services7,226

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations34,143
  2. 2.Sales & Office Occupations16,114
  3. 3.Service Occupations14,553
  4. 4.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations11,847
  5. 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations7,007

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Public Administration (LQ 1.99×)7,958
  2. 2.Finance, Insurance, & Real Estate (LQ 1.18×)6,652
  3. 3.Transportation, Warehousing, & Utilities (LQ 1.12×)5,545
  4. 4.Educational Services & Health Care (LQ 1.10×)21,801
  5. 5.Manufacturing (LQ 0.98×)8,216

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$170,400

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$970/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

66.8%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $200,000 to $249,9997,000 (13.9%)
  • $300,000 to $399,9995,732 (11.4%)
  • $150,000 to $174,9995,086 (10.1%)
  • $250,000 to $299,9994,388 (8.7%)
  • $100,000 to $124,9994,072 (8.1%)
  • $175,000 to $199,9993,669 (7.3%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

32.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

93.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

62.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$43,198

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

17.9 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

7.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone63,708 (77.1%)
  • Worked At Home9,263 (11.2%)
  • Carpooled7,250 (8.8%)
  • Walked1,326 (1.6%)
  • Other695 (0.8%)
  • Public Transit278 (0.3%)

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.