All-items parity
90.1
US = 100.0
Kansas (KS) | All-items parity 90.1
Kansas Cost of Living 2026
Kansas reads 90.1 on the BEA all-items price parity for 2024, tenth-cheapest in the country, with housing rents at 71.2 and a median home of $238,700. The recent legislative record is quietly consumer-friendly: the state sales tax on groceries was phased to zero, the 2024 reform moved income tax to two brackets (5.2-5.58%) and made the Social Security exemption universal regardless of income. The structural costs are a 1.28% property tax that leans on homeowners and a two-speed economy split between the Kansas City suburbs and everywhere else.
State grocery tax now 0%Social Security fully exemptMedian home $238,700
Median Home
$238,700
2BR rent $1,082/mo
Median Income
$75,514
Household, Census ACS
Category breakdown
The four BEA price parities vs the nation
| Category | KS index | National avg | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| All items | 90.1 | 100.0 | -9.9% |
| Services: housing rents | 71.2 | 100.6 | -29.2% |
| Goods | 94.0 | 99.6 | -5.6% |
| Services: utilities | 88.4 | 98.4 | -10.2% |
| Services: other | 93.8 | 100.1 | -6.3% |
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis publishes these four component parities and no others. There is no federal grocery, healthcare or transportation price parity, so this table shows none. Food at home sits inside Goods; medical and transport services sit inside Services: other.
Sources: BEA Regional Price Parities by State (table SARPP), 2024 reference year, U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Census ACS 2024 1-year (median income, home value), Kansas Department of Revenue (income tax, food sales tax), Tax Foundation (effective property tax), EIA (electricity rates), KFF (uninsured rate).
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Pros / offsets
What works in Kansas.
The grocery tax is gone. Kansas phased its state sales tax on food to zero, completing the cut in 2025; on household grocery spending averaging $376 a month that is real recurring relief, though city and county sales taxes can still apply to food.
Social Security became exempt for everyone. The 2024 tax law scrapped the old $75,000 income cliff, under which one extra dollar of income could make all benefits taxable, and exempted Social Security entirely. The same law consolidated brackets to 5.2-5.58% and raised exemptions.
Johnson County value is a genuine arbitrage. The Kansas-side Kansas City suburbs (Overland Park, Olathe, Lenexa) pair some of the best public schools in the Midwest with family homes in the $300,000s, below equivalent school-district pricing in most major metros, and no city earnings tax, unlike Missouri's Kansas City a few minutes east.
Ownership comes early. A $238,700 median home against a $75,514 median income keeps the price-to-income ratio around three, and Wichita sells solid mid-century family houses under $250,000.
Cons / drivers
Where Kansas costs more.
Property tax does the heavy lifting. At 1.28% effective, Kansas property taxes are the highest-impact tax most households pay, roughly $2,700 a year on the median home, and rural counties with shrinking tax bases lean on mill levies hardest.
No Medicaid expansion. Kansas remains one of the holdout states, leaving a coverage gap that shows up in the 7.8% uninsured rate and in the finances of rural hospitals, several of which have closed or cut services.
Two-speed geography. Johnson County's prosperity is not the state's: western Kansas runs on agriculture and meatpacking with long distances to specialist care, and many small counties are losing population, which thins services even as housing stays ultra-cheap.
Weather has a price. Hail and tornado exposure keeps homeowners premiums elevated (auto averages $405 in our data), and hot-summer, cold-winter swings make utilities (14.15 cents per kWh, $78 average gas) a bigger line than the mild parity of 88.4 suggests.
Tax + benefit signals
Kansas tax and access overview
State income tax
5.2-5.58%
Graduated or flat
Property tax effective
1.28%
Of assessed value, annual
Sales tax (state)
6.50%
Local can add 1-4% more
Uninsured rate
7.8%
Medicaid: not expanded
Your take-home pay in Kansas
Federal, Kansas and any local income tax on your salary, per paycheck.
The mortgage on a $238,700 home
Monthly payment at today’s rates with Kansas property tax (1.28%) and average home insurance.
Metro variation
State averages mask city variation.
Kansas averages 90.1 on the BEA all-items parity, split sharply by geography:
Johnson County (KC suburbs): The premium market: Overland Park, Leawood and Olathe price 30 to 50% above the state median on the strength of schools and corporate employment, yet still undercut comparable suburbs of Denver, Chicago or Dallas.
Wichita: The largest city proper, an aviation-manufacturing capital (Spirit, Textron, Bombardier) where ordinary family homes sell in the low $200,000s, one of the cheapest 300,000-plus metros in America.
Lawrence and Manhattan: The university towns run firmer rents than their size suggests, KU and K-State demand against limited stock, while Topeka sells capital-city stability below the state median.
Western Kansas: Housing from $80,000 in county-seat towns, with the longest service distances; cheap in price, costly in drive time.
Most movers are choosing between Johnson County's school premium and Wichita's raw affordability; both sit below national equivalents.
Frequently Asked
Kansas cost of living, answered
Is there still sales tax on groceries in Kansas?
Not at state level: the phase-down legislated in 2022 took the state rate on food from 6.5% to zero, completing in 2025. City and county sales taxes can still apply to groceries, so the till in Wichita or Overland Park may show a small local percentage rather than zero. Prepared food (restaurant and hot deli) remains fully taxable at the ordinary combined rate.
How does Kansas tax Social Security and retirement now?
Social Security is fully exempt from Kansas income tax regardless of income, since the 2024 law removed the old $75,000 AGI cliff. Public pensions (KPERS, federal, military) are exempt too; private pensions, 401(k) and IRA withdrawals are taxed as ordinary income under the 5.2-5.58% brackets. Property tax relief for seniors runs through the homestead refund and the SAFESR program for lower-income owners.
Why do people choose the Kansas side of Kansas City?
Schools and taxes. The Johnson County districts (Blue Valley, Olathe, Shawnee Mission) are the metro's academic draw, and Kansas-side residents working remotely or locally avoid Kansas City, Missouri's 1% earnings tax. Missouri counters with cheaper urban housing and lower property-tax rates. Households with school-age children overwhelmingly tilt Kansas; the premium over the Missouri side is the price of that tilt.
What is the catch in Kansas's low cost of living?
Property tax and coverage. The 1.28% effective property tax is the region's high end, costing more per year on a cheap Kansas home than lower-rate states charge on dearer ones, and Kansas has not expanded Medicaid, so the uninsured rate (7.8%) and rural hospital strain run higher than its Midwest neighbors. Severe-weather insurance rounds out the honest list.
How cheap is Wichita really?
Among big cities, very: solid three-bedroom homes in the low $200,000s, median two-bedroom rents near $1,082, and twenty-minute commutes. The aviation cluster pays skilled manufacturing and engineering wages that stretch far at those prices. The trade-offs are a cyclical aerospace economy, summer heat, and a smaller professional-services job market than Kansas City's; many Wichitans bank the difference happily.
Is Kansas a good retirement state?
The 2024 reforms moved it up the table: Social Security untaxed at any income, public pensions exempt, groceries free of state tax, and a median home near $200,000. Against that, property tax around 1.28% effective needs budgeting, private retirement withdrawals are taxed, and rural healthcare is thinning. For a Midwest-rooted retiree choosing between Kansas and Missouri or Nebraska, the Social Security treatment now tips the arithmetic toward Kansas.