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Over 2.7 million people call Kansas their home. The Sunflower State’s major cities include Wichita, with over 350,000 residents; Overland Park; Kansas City; Lawrence
and Topeka, the state capital.
Kansas’s economy relies upon both industry and agriculture. Kansas is the nation’s top producer of
wheat, and also produces grain sorghum, corn, hay, soybeans, and sunflowers. Cattle, hogs, and dairy,
with their related industries, are major agricultural commodities. Food processing is consequently of
great importance to the Sunflower State.
Kansas also boasts mineral wealth such as substantial crude petroleum, natural gas, coal products,
zinc, lead, and salt deposits. Kansas is also the nation’s largest producer of helium.
Important industries in Kansas include manufacturing of transportation equipment, computers, metal
fabrication chemical products, printing, and apparel. Wichita also boasts 70 percent of the world’s
general aviation aircraft manufacturing.
In 2005, Kansas ranked 32nd in the U.S. in median household income at $42,920 and 23rd in per
capita income (PCPI) at $32,948. The average annual growth rate of PCPI between 1995 and 2005 was 4.3
percent, compared to the average annual growth rate for the nation at 4.1 percent. The Sunflower
State boasts a home ownership rate of nearly 69.5 percent. Its unemployment rate is 4.1 percent.
Kansas’s top bracket of personal income tax is 6.45 percent; the state levies a sales tax of 5.3
percent, exempting prescription drugs. Kansas’s cost of living is lower than the national average.
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