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Place dossier plate
SheetKS-WHITING-KS · Whiting, KS 316 pop · income 32nd 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 Whiting
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Whiting on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Delight · lowest
32,396
Delight · lowest
32,396 median HH income
32.2% of the leader · rank #1
Whiting · this city
58,125
Whiting · this city
58,125 median HH income
57.8% of the leader · rank #2
Horn Hill · near
58,125
Horn Hill · near
58,125 median HH income
57.8% of the leader · rank #3
Manokotak · near
58,125
Manokotak · near
58,125 median HH income
57.8% of the leader · rank #4
Pinal · near
58,125
Pinal · near
58,125 median HH income
57.8% of the leader · rank #5
Lewiston · near
58,125
Lewiston · near
58,125 median HH income
57.8% of the leader · rank #6
Grand Lake · highest
100,625
Grand Lake · highest
100,625 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 Whiting 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: 316.
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Whiting lands in the 32nd percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
32nd
percentile, household income
7th
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: Whiting, KS
Whiting is a small town in Kansas, home to 316 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Whiting households earn a median of $58,125 annually, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 2.6%. Home values in Whiting run a median of $92,500, and the median resident age is 48.5 years. 29.5% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 71.8% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Living costs in Kansas run below the national norm: on BEA's 100-equals-national-average cost index, Kansas scores 90.1 (Well Below Average), per the 2024 Regional Price Parities release. A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $947 per month statewide. Monthly utility costs average around $217 across Kansas, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. Workers in Whiting report an average commute of 21.5 minutes, with 76.8% driving alone and 10.1% working from home. 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 Whiting'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 comparison shortlist to work and mobility to population change to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Whiting, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for FBI reported-crime rates, within-city Census tract profiles, local building permits, matched public-school count; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Comparison shortlist
Which cities make useful reference points for Whiting?
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.
Within Kansas, the closest population matches are Greenleaf (315 residents, $57,500 income); Linwood (317 residents, $63,902 income); Delphos (314 residents, $55,417 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Nelson, AZ (316 residents); Delight, AR (316 residents); Grand Lake, CO (316 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.
What does the journey to work look like in Whiting?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 76.8%. The reported mean trip to work is 21.5 minutes.
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.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +5 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +2.6% change. No comparable local building-permit series is available here, so population change should not be read as a housing-supply measure. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
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.
How far does income reach against housing in Whiting?
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. The ratio makes housing the clearest place to start this profile, but a low multiple can coexist with slow demand, older stock, or household-level hardship. Compare the home-value distribution and same-state peer table before treating it as an advantage.
The home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 1.6 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 2.6%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
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.
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.
Poverty rate A-
2.6%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share C
29.5%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income F
$58,125
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).
Whiting profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 85/100 (A) · 90.1 index
Poverty rate: 81/100 (A-) · 2.6%
Bachelor's+ share: 57/100 (C) · 29.5%
Household income: 32/100 (F) · $58,125
How does Whiting compare to other US cities?
Whiting measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income32% higher than other cities
Home value7% 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 Whiting 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 Whiting near the bottom of Kansas's cities
Among the 552 Kansas cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Whiting ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Whiting only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#293 of 527
44th percentile in Kansas
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 552
0th percentile in Kansas
Median Home Value
#272 of 527
48th percentile in Kansas
Poverty Rate
#432 of 552
21st percentile in Kansas
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#117 of 552
79th 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
32nd percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Whiting's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$92,500Among the most affordablemore affordable than 93% 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
Whiting's home-value-to-income ratio: 1.6×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#548 of 15,516
More affordable than 96% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#536 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 1.6×, Whiting sits in the affordable band:
national rank #548 of 15,516 and #536 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
$58,125Whiting, KS median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Whiting, 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 Whiting, KS.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)29.5%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)2.6%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)71.8%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
316
Median Income
$58,125
Median Home Value
$92,500
Median Age
48.5
Poverty Rate
2.6%
Labor force participation
71.8%
Bachelor's Degree+
29.5%
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Whiting's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
192 residents
2021
194 residents
2022
195 residents
2023
196 residents
2024
198 residents
2025
197 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
21.5 minutes
Drive Alone
76.8%
Carpool
8.3%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
4.8%
Work from Home
10.1%
Based on 168 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 Whiting. 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 Whiting 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 Whiting sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Whiting 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, 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.