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How affordable is Wichita?

Wichita is consistently ranked as one of the most affordable places to live.

This does have me wondering though, what all goes into these rankings?

Home costs? Job availability? The price of red slippers?

For those of you with friends (or kids) that moved away from Wichita, maybe forward them this email as a carrot on a string to lure them back. The grass may be greener on the other side, but your wallet will be packed with more green if you live here in Wichita.

Rankings

Looking back at the last year or two, here are a few of the lists we’ve been included in:

• 1st Most Affordable U.S. City for Single Renters in December 2023 per RentHop

• 3rd Most Affordable Place to Live in US in June 2024 per U.S. News and World Report

• 7th Most Affordable U.S. City to Retire in January 2025

House / Rent

Let’s kick it off with one of the largest expenses in life - where you live.

Single Renters

According to RentHop in December 2023, Wichita was the most affordable U.S. city for single renters based on a few number:

• Median studio rent of $565

• Median nonfamily income of $38,412

This means a single renter can estimate their spending at ~17.65% of their annual income on rent. Wichita ranks just ahead of Minneapolis, Colorado Springs, Seattle, and Columbus (Ohio).

Single-Family Home Renters

If we look at single families who are renting, Wichita comes in at #2 for most affordable (in cities with 250k+), just behind Toledo, Ohio and just ahead of Detroit, Fort Wayne, and Memphis.

The average price for a 3-bedroom single-family rental in Wichita is ~$1339 according to Rentometer.

Home Buying

For overall “most affordable places to live”, Wichita came in #3 with an overall score of 6.3, 6.0 quality of life and 8.0 for value according to US News and Report.

• “Quality of life” = how satisfied residents are with their daily lives

• “Value” = How comfortably the average resident of each city can afford to live within their means

• “Desirability” = Where ranked cities people would most like to live

• “Job Market” = The Strength of each city’s job market

Each index is scored from 1 - 10.

Here are a few of the numbers that went into this for consideration:

• Median Home price of $173,799 (compared to National Average of $281,900)

• Median Monthly Rent of $1,097

• Median Household Income of $71,484

• Unemployment Rate of 5.86%

For a full breakdown, check it out here.

I did want to just take a look and compare what a $500,000 house looks like in a couple different markets:

• Wichita: 5 bed, 6 bath, 4298 sq-ft for $499,900

• Dallas: 3 bed, 3 bath, 1442 sq-ft for $509,850

• San Francisco: 2 bed, 1 bath, 627 sq-ft for $499,998

*I filtered and grabbed the first ~$500k house I saw, but it is cut and dry where you get the best bang for your buck.

Business Journal Breakdown

There seem to be 1,000 different sources that all have differing numbers, but a lot of them tell a relatively similar story: Wichita is pretty cheap.

The Business Journal breakdown that compares the 100 largest metro areas also ranked Wichita as the #3 affordable city only behind Little Rock, Arkansas and McAllen, Texas.

Here are a few rankings for Wichita that roll up into our ranking:

• #5 in housing affordability

• #20 for affordability of goods

• #14 for other services

• #73 for affordability of utilities

You boil all the numbers into a score that they call the price parity index score where Wichita has a score of 89.166.

As Wichita has historically seen a “brain drain” in recent years where talent is leaving Wichita to go to other cities, affordability is something Wichita can offer people of all ages, even retirees. Kansas was the 5th worst state for retaining college graduates where only about 50% of graduates stick around.

Another comparison for fun, from Choose Wichita:

Dating in Wichita

As we approach Valentine’s Day, you might recall where Wichita falls in the dating sphere.

• #2 Worst City for Dating in April 2022 per Sperling’s Best Places

At least we weren’t #1 like our brethren to the north (KC). This is based on percentage of singles between 18-24, population density and dating venues like bars and concerts.

• #8 Worst City for Singles in November 2023 per Zumper

This is based on weighted data from single population, one-bedroom rent price, restaurants per capita, non-family median income and some other metrics.

If you are shaking your head right now agreeing with the negative aspects of Wichita dating, then maybe you should check out the upcoming event where you can pitch a single friend to the crowd at Vorshay’s on Thursday, February 13th, just in time for you to get a significant other for Valentine’s Day!

What do you want to see us go deep on in a future deep dive?

Let us know!