Kansas rental market data

Median rent growth across 11 measured metros is 5.3%, compared with 4.0% median home-value growth across 12 metros. The supplied difference is 1.3 percentage points. The distributions still overlap substantially: rent growth runs from 3.5% at the 10th percentile to 5.8% at the 90th, while price growth spans 1.7% to 6.8%.

Emporia shows 7.7% rent growth against 5.4% price growth, a calculated 2.3 percentage-point gap. Lawrence shows 5.8% against 3.6%, a calculated 2.2-point gap. These examples support screening current rents against entry values, but index growth does not establish achievable lease renewals, occupancy or net operating income.

Measured county migration is a counterweight to the rent signal: net migration totals -3,096 across 103 counties, or -1.1 per 1,000 residents. Metro job growth is positive but limited at the median, 0.35%, with a 10th-to-90th percentile range from -0.86% to 1.30%.

Local positives prevent the aggregate result from becoming a blanket demand conclusion. Salina records 1.45% job growth and Topeka 1.33%. Screening should therefore require locality-level employment and renter evidence rather than treating either statewide net out-migration or a positive metro job figure as conclusive.

The median measured metro has 2.1 months of supply and an 18-day marketing time, yet 31.4% of listings show price drops. Among the 10 metros with sale-to-list data, the median is 98.5%. Fast turnover therefore does not eliminate price negotiation.

Wichita combines 4,380 permitted units, or 6.71 per 1,000 residents, with 1.8 months of supply and 17 days on market. Pittsburg takes 36 days, has 2.4 months of supply and records a 94.9% sale-to-list ratio. Current resale tightness, permitting activity and seller pricing should be screened separately rather than collapsed into a single supply conclusion.

Across 12 measured metros, the median value is $224,539.5, median monthly rent is $1,145 and median gross yield is 6.1%. The gross-yield range from the 10th to 90th percentile is 5.0% to 6.9%. Median rent-to-income is 20.8%, while measured rent is 109.6% of the two-bedroom fair-market-rent standard, a calculated 9.6% premium.

Pittsburg has the strongest listed gross yield at 7.9%, based on a $141,880 value and $931 monthly rent; its rent-to-income measure is 21.2%. Topeka shows a 6.9% gross yield and 22.0% rent-to-income. These are revenue-to-value screens before vacancy, maintenance, taxes, insurance, management and financing, so they cannot be read as net returns.

County value growth is widely dispersed. Across 105 counties, the median annual change is 4.7%, with a 10th-to-90th percentile range from -1.7% to 10.0%. The median five-year FHFA increase is 49.4% across 64 measured counties. Listing evidence is thinner and slower: only 48 counties are covered, with a median of 60.5 days on market and a 90th percentile of 110.5 days.

Wichita County records 217 days on market, but that figure rests on only one active listing and should not be treated as a stable liquidity estimate. Haskell County shows 133 days with 11 listings, while Ness County shows 121 days and a 16.7% pending ratio. Appreciation history and an executable resale path are separate screens.

Across all 105 counties, the median broad housing vacancy rate is 14.9%, rising to 24.8% at the 90th percentile. The median stock is 84.3% single-family, while large multifamily represents only 1.5%; the median year built is 1962. Renters account for a median 23.8% of households, and 39.6% of renters are cost-burdened at the median county.

Elk County combines 33.0% broad vacancy with an 83.3% single-family share. Thomas County has a 59.2% renter-burden rate, while Ellis County combines 7.8% vacancy with a 36.8% renter share. These contrasts make county-level occupancy and property condition important checks. The ACS vacancy measure covers all housing and does not identify units that are available, rentable or suitable for a target tenant.