Also known as: Wichita Metro Authority
Wichita is a middle-income mid-sized city of 397,945.
Wichita is the largest city in Kansas, which is a distinction it holds with a certain quiet confidence, the way a city does when it has been the largest city in Kansas for a very long time. It sits in Sedgwick County, on the Arkansas River, and its population of 397,945, according to Census ACS 5-Year 2024 data, makes it a genuinely mid-sized American city — large enough to have a symphony and a university research program, compact enough that the airport is only 6.3 miles from the city's weather station.
Population and Demographics
The Census ACS 5-Year 2024 estimates place Wichita's total population at 397,945. The city's median age is 35.7 years, and 24.1 percent of residents are under 18, a figure that gives the city what the derived Census data characterizes as a family-oriented demographic character. There are 95,808 residents under 18 and 98,859 between 18 and 34.
The city's racial and ethnic composition, per Census ACS 5-Year 2023, includes 264,127 white residents, 38,530 Black residents, 19,264 Asian residents, and 73,094 Hispanic or Latino residents. Total households number 157,646, of which 94,450 are family households.
Housing and Affordability
Wichita's housing market is, by the measures that matter most to people who have to live somewhere, genuinely affordable. The home-price-to-income ratio sits at 3.0, according to figures derived from Census income and housing data, which places it well below the thresholds that housing economists typically associate with affordability stress. Renters pay, on average, 17.8 percent of income toward rent — a figure that, in the context of American cities in 2024, is low enough to be notable. Both metrics are classified as affordable in the derived Census analysis.
Education
Wichita hosts 11 colleges and universities, per NCES IPEDS 2022 data. The most prominent is Wichita State University, which the College Scorecard data describes in some detail: enrollment of 10,780 students, an admission rate of 93.95 percent, in-state tuition of $9,684, and a median earnings figure for graduates that reflects the city's manufacturing and aviation economy. The average SAT score among enrollees is 1,092, and the completion rate is 51.22 percent.
The breadth of the higher education landscape — 11 institutions in a single city — means that Wichita functions as a regional educational hub for south-central Kansas, drawing students from communities that have no four-year institution of their own.
Air Quality
The EPA's AQI Annual Summary for 2024 recorded 366 days of air quality monitoring in Wichita. Of those, 275 were classified as good days and 88 as moderate. Two days fell into the unhealthy-for-sensitive-groups category, and one day was classified as unhealthy. No very unhealthy or hazardous days were recorded. The maximum AQI recorded during the year was 180; the median AQI was 40. These figures suggest an air quality profile that is, by the standards of American cities, relatively clean — though the two sensitive-group days are worth knowing about for residents with respiratory conditions.
Climate
The nearest weather station, at Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport, 6.3 miles from the city center, records an average annual temperature of 58.9 degrees Fahrenheit and annual precipitation of 34.8 inches, according to NOAA ACIS data. Kansas weather has a reputation for variety, and Wichita's position on the southern Great Plains means it experiences the full range of that variety — hot summers, cold winters, and a spring tornado season that is not merely a regional cliché.
Broadband Access
According to FCC Broadband Data Collection figures as of June 2025, broadband coverage in Wichita is essentially universal at the lower speed tiers. One hundred percent of the city's 201,189 housing units have access to service at 25/3 Mbps, 100/20 Mbps, and 250/25 Mbps. At the gigabit tier — 1,000/100 Mbps — coverage reaches 86.09 percent of units. That remaining 13.91 percent represents a meaningful gap at the highest speeds, though the baseline connectivity picture is strong.
Civic and Community Organizations
The IRS Exempt Organizations BMF identifies 210 religious congregations in Wichita, ranging from long-established mainline churches to newer ministries and an Islamic center. The city's civic service landscape, also drawn from IRS BMF data, includes 22 organizations, among them Kansas Big Brothers Big Sisters and several animal welfare groups. Four animal shelter organizations operate in the city, including the Kansas Humane Society of Wichita.
The arts sector, per IRS EO BMF, includes 15 organizations — among them Ballet Wichita, the Great Plains Jazz Orchestra, and the Shirley Opera House Foundation. This is a reasonably dense arts infrastructure for a city of Wichita's size, and it reflects a civic investment in cultural life that goes back several decades.
The Wichita Regional Chamber of Commerce, identified through the IRS Exempt Organizations BMF, serves as the city's primary business advocacy organization.
Childcare
The Kansas childcare licensing data identifies 133 licensed childcare centers in Wichita. A partial list includes facilities distributed across the city's geography, from Adventure Planet on West Central to Agape Day Care Center on North Oliver. For a city with 95,808 residents under 18, the density of licensed childcare options is a practical consideration for working families.
Banking
FDIC branch data identifies multiple banking institutions operating in Wichita, including Southwest National Bank's Tyler Crossing Branch at 8760 W 21st St N and Vintage Bank Kansas's Berkeley Square Branch, among others. The presence of both community banks and larger institutions reflects a financial services market of some depth.
Municipal Governance
Wichita's municipal code is maintained and publicly accessible through Municode at https://library.municode.com/ks/wichita. The city operates under Kansas state law, which, like most Kansas municipalities, incorporates various League of Kansas Municipalities model codes by reference — a common practice in the state, as seen in the Uniform Public Offense Code adoptions documented in cities like Hays and Winfield. The city lists one official in the ANA officials aggregate.
Further Reading
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (data.census.gov)
- National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data / IPEDS (nces.ed.gov/ccd/)
- City of Wichita, Municipal Code (library.municode.com/ks/wichita)