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Place dossier plate
SheetKS-VALLEY-CENTER-KS · Valley Center, KS 8,937 pop · income 54th pct
Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.
Income neighbourhood around Valley Center
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Valley Center on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Coffeyville · lowest
41,901
Coffeyville · lowest
41,901 median HH income
27.9% of the leader · rank #1
Reece City · near
73,472
Reece City · near
73,472 median HH income
48.9% of the leader · rank #2
Detroit Beach · near
73,478
Detroit Beach · near
73,478 median HH income
48.9% of the leader · rank #3
Seneca · near
73,478
Seneca · near
73,478 median HH income
48.9% of the leader · rank #4
Valley Center · this city
73,480
Valley Center · this city
73,480 median HH income
48.9% of the leader · rank #5
Parkersburg · near
73,482
Parkersburg · near
73,482 median HH income
48.9% of the leader · rank #6
Rio del Mar · highest
150,313
Rio del Mar · highest
150,313 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Valley Center on ACS population and median household income
. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.
Similar population
Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 8,937.
Nationally, Valley Center sits in the 54th percentile for household income among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS.
54th
percentile, household income
47th
percentile, home value
6th
percentile, median rent
📝 How we sourced this
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
Data Snapshot: Valley Center, KS
Valley Center is a small town in Kansas, home to 8,937 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Valley Center households earn a median of $73,480 annually, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 1.8%. Valley Center's housing stock carries a median value of $214,300, and the median resident age is 33.5 years. 36.0% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 60.1% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Housing supply pressure shows in Census Building Permit Survey data: 126 residential units were authorized in 2024 (Building Boom), up 350% from five years earlier.
Living costs in Kansas run below the national norm: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts Kansas at 90.1 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Well Below Average). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $947 per month. Monthly utility costs average around $217 across Kansas, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. On FEMA's National Risk Index, this area rates 29.9 out of 100 for natural-hazard exposure (Very Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Valley Center's data
How this reading path is ordered
This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from schools and households to work and mobility to comparison shortlist to housing and income to population change; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Valley Center, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, matched public-school count, local building permits, commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles, FBI reported-crime rates; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
What does the education layer cover for Valley Center?
The NCES join finds 7 public schools within the city match. 36.0% of adults age 25+ hold a bachelor's degree or higher in the ACS estimate. These measures answer different questions: the school count describes local institutions, while adult attainment describes residents and cannot be used as a school-quality rating.
The city has a broader matched school footprint, but count alone does not describe performance, capacity, program availability, or attendance boundaries. This profile deliberately avoids converting it into an unsupported family-friendliness score.
What does the journey to work look like in Valley Center?
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. No single mode completely explains the work trip here. The mix is more useful than a one-number commute grade, especially when comparing places where transit, walking, and remote work divide the non-driving share differently.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 80.8%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Which cities make useful reference points for Valley Center?
Within Kansas, the closest population matches are Coffeyville (8,752 residents, $41,901 income); Spring Hill (8,691 residents, $108,007 income); Bel Aire (8,654 residents, $93,182 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Pulaski, VA (8,937 residents); Rio del Mar, CA (8,938 residents); Haledon, NJ (8,936 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching.
How far does income reach against housing in Valley Center?
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 2.9 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 1.8%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. Income and home value move within the same broad scale here. The useful next check is not a generic affordability label, but whether similar-size cities offer a materially different income, housing, or commute trade-off.
These joined records add useful context, but they do not need another full-size panel. Each remains a separate measure with its own geography and source boundary.
Population change
Is Valley Center growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Recent estimates point upward. Growth can increase housing demand and service needs, but the permit record must move in the same direction before calling it a supply response; the two series measure different things.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +324 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +4.4% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 126 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Period change
+4.4%
2025 estimate
7,685
2020 estimate
7,361
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians
(income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when
published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability
rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out
and redistribute weight.
How it is calculated.
Poverty rate A
1.8%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Cost of living A
90.1 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Bachelor's+ share B-
36.0%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income C-
$73,480
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Valley Center profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Poverty rate: 87/100 (A) · 1.8%
Cost of living: 85/100 (A) · 90.1 index
Bachelor's+ share: 68/100 (B-) · 36.0%
Household income: 53/100 (C-) · $73,480
How does Valley Center compare to other US cities?
Where Valley Center sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income54% higher than other cities
Home value47% pricier than other cities
Median rent6% pricier than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Valley Center against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Kansas only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Kansas-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Valley Center near the bottom of Kansas's cities
Among the 552 Kansas cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Valley Center ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Valley Center only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#121 of 527
77th percentile in Kansas
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 552
0th percentile in Kansas
Median Home Value
#48 of 527
91st percentile in Kansas
Poverty Rate
#454 of 552
17th percentile in Kansas
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#63 of 552
89th percentile in Kansas
How in-state ranks are ordered
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within Kansas only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
54th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Valley Center's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$214,300Among the most affordablemore affordable than 53% of 15,600 US cities
Show national distribution
Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023
Valley Center's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.9×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#6,236 of 15,516
More affordable than 60% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#5,332 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.9×, Valley Center sits in the affordable band:
national rank #6,236 of 15,516 and #5,332 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
The multiple is comparatively compact among tracked cities, but a low ratio can still coexist with slow demand or household-level hardship.
How this ratio is calculated
Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$73,480Valley Center, KS median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Valley Center, KS median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Valley Center, KS.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)36.0%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)1.8%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)60.1%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
8,937
Median Income
$73,480
Median Home Value
$214,300
Median Age
33.5
Poverty Rate
1.8%
Labor force participation
60.1%
Bachelor's Degree+
36.0%
Schools
Total Schools
7
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Valley Center's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
7,361 residents
2021
7,408 residents
2022
7,351 residents
2023
7,364 residents
2024
7,397 residents
2025
7,685 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Building Boom
Total Permits (2024)
126
housing units authorized
Single-Family
22
detached homes
Multifamily
104
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
14.1
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
28
22
6
$5.6M
2020
41
19
22
$5.1M
2021
0
0
0
-
2022
16
14
2
$3.7M
2023
20
20
0
$4.9M
2024
126
22
104
$21.0M
Permit volume increased 350% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
80.8%
Carpool
9.4%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
3.7%
Work from Home
5.2%
Other
0.9%
Based on 3,636 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Kansas statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $217
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Kansas at $217 (electricity about $110 , water and sewer about $42 ).
These are Kansas statewide averages, not a meter reading for Valley Center. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Kansas's BEA cost-of-living index is 90.1 (Well Below Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Valley Center is $947/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Kansas statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 29.9 / 100 (Very Low).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Kansas statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Valley Center sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Valley Center compares to similar-size Kansas cities
Same-state peer method
Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, NCES CCD, Census BPS 2024, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.