Garden Plain, Kansas

Population

Growing. Up 6.7% since 2020.

1,010

people, the 190th-largest of Kansas's cities and towns.

Census Population Estimates, 2025. Rank among Kansas's cities and towns computed by the Almanac. Sources: Census Population Estimates

The workday

Nearly every job here goes to someone who lives somewhere else.

96.5%

of 114 jobs located in Garden Plain are filled by in-commuters.

Census LEHD LODES, 2023. Sources: Census LEHD LODES

Rent

Median rent is up 69% since the 2005–2009 survey, before inflation.

$958

a month. Kansas's median is $1,060.

Census ACS 5-year, 2020-2024 (latest), with earlier 5-year windows. Survey estimates for a place this size carry wide margins of error. Sources: Census ACS 5-year

The seam

Cross one tract line and median rent doubles.

A $894 gap between neighbors, the sharpest rent edge between adjacent tracts in Sedgwick County.

• $761 Tract 4
• $1,655 Tract 81

Census ACS 5-year, 2020-2024, adjacent tracts compared by the Almanac. Tract estimates carry wide margins of error. Sources: Census ACS 5-year

Room to build

Local wages can carry more rent than the median charged today.

$1,000–$1,500

is the monthly rent range local workforce wages support.

• $958 median

Supportable rent computed by the Almanac from 2023 source wage data. Median rent: Census ACS 5-year, 2020-2024. Sources: Computed by the Almanac, Census ACS 5-year

Building

75% of the housing here was built before 2000.

• 34 homes permitted, 2022–2025
• 0% of those were in multifamily buildings
• 75% of all homes were built before 2000

Census Building Permits Survey, 2022–2025; Census ACS 5-year, 2020-2024. Survey estimates for a place this size carry wide margins of error. Sources: Census Building Permits Survey, Census ACS 5-year

Units needed

Closing the gap would add 0.3% to the 368 homes here.

1

is the estimated number of missing housing units; all three estimates agree.

Range computed by the Almanac from 2023 jobs and household data, using three demand models: 1% of jobs located here, 1% of renter households, and a rate by town size applied to renters. The low end is the lowest of the three and the high end the highest. It is an estimate, not a count. Sources: Computed by the Almanac

Home value

A median home costs 19% more than Kansas's.

$258,300

median home value in Garden Plain.

• $258,300 Garden Plain
• $217,200 Kansas
• $332,700 U.S.

Census ACS 5-year, 2020-2024. Survey estimates for a place this size carry wide margins of error. Sources: Census ACS 5-year