Map of Kansas

History

Before European colonization, Kansas was occupied by the Caddoan Wichita and later the Siouan Kaw people. The Indigenous people in the eastern part of the state generally lived in villages along the river valleys. Those in the western part of the state were semi-nomadic and hunted large herds of bison. The first European to set foot in present-day Kansas was the Spanish conquistador Francisco Vázquez de Coronado, who explored the area in 1541.

Between 1763 and 1803, the territory of Kansas was integrated into Spanish Louisiana. During that period, Governor Luis de Unzaga 'le Conciliateur' promoted expeditions and good relations with the Amerindians.

Geography

Kansas is bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. The state is divided into 105 counties with 628 cities, with its largest county by area being Butler County. Kansas is located equidistant from the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. The geographic center of the 48 contiguous states is in Smith County near Lebanon. Until 1989, the Meades Ranch Triangulation Station in Osborne County was the geodetic center of North America: the central reference point for all maps of North America. The geographic center of Kansas is in Barton County.

Kansas is underlain by a sequence of horizontal to gently westward dipping sedimentary rocks.

Economy

Kansas's total GDP (Gross Domestic Product) was $241.3 billion in 2025. The state's per capita personal income was $69,510 in 2025, which ranked 33rd among U.S. states, and median household income was measured at $68,925.

Total Employment of the metropolitan areas in the State of Kansas by total Non-farm Employment in 2016.

Kansas Portion of the Kansas City MO-KS MSA: 468,400 non-farm, accounting for 40.9% of state GDP in 2015.

As of 2023, Kansas had a total of 76,139 employer establishments. In 2025, small businesses made up 99.1% of all businesses in Kansas and employed 48.9% of the state's work force.

In 2015, the job growth rate was 0.8%, among the lowest rates in America with only "10,900 total nonfarm jobs" added that year. As of May 2025, the state's unemployment rate was 3.8%.

Demographics

The United States Census Bureau estimates that the population of Kansas was 2,913,314 on July 1, 2019, a 2.11% increase since the 2010 United States census and an increase of 58,387, or 2.05%, since 2010. This includes a natural increase since the last census of 93,899 (246,484 births minus 152,585 deaths) and a decrease due to net migration of 20,742 people out of the state. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 44,847 people, and migration within the country produced a net loss of 65,589 people. At the 2020 census, its population was 2,937,880.