City · Coffey County, Kansas

Burlington, Kansas

Burlington is a city in Coffey County, Kansas. It has 2,605 residents. Burlington, Kansas has a quality-of-life score of 57 out of 100 (moderate), ranking #6,751 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Kansas it ranks #104 of 202 cities and towns. It ranks best on public libraries (high), child care cost burden (low) and time spent in the emergency room (low). It ranks worst on pharmacies (low), arts, entertainment and recreation (low) and gyms and fitness centers (low).

57Moderate

Quality-of-life score: #6,751 of 15,651 cities and towns
Kansas: #104 of 202 in KS
Population: 2,605 (2020-2024)
Land area: 2 mi²
Density: 1,157.2 /mi²
FIPS code: 2009400

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 74 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety45#8,608/15,637
Economy42#9,075/15,631
Housing83#2,574/14,977
Health37#9,784/15,609
Healthcare55#7,017/15,650
Environment30#10,755/15,453
Education67#5,234/15,649
Infrastructure79#3,331/15,650
Community63#5,741/15,651
Leisure & amenities34#10,282/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Burlington, Kansas ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Coffey County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Public libraries · high7.2 /10k
100/100Kansas 1.3 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesCoffey County value
Child care cost burden · low16.4%
99/100Kansas 18.9%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteCoffey County value
Time spent in the emergency room · low87 min
99/100Kansas 129 minUnited States 170 minOct 2024–Sep 2025Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesCoffey County value
Average commute time · low15.4 min
97/100Kansas 19.7 minUnited States 26.4 min2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08013
Students per teacher · low10.9×
94/100Kansas 13.3×United States 15.2×2024National Center for Education StatisticsCoffey County value
Homicide rate · low0.0 /100k
94/100Kansas 4.5 /100kUnited States 4.8 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataCoffey County value

Weaknesses

Pharmacies · low0.0 /10k
1/100Kansas 1.5 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsCoffey County value
Arts, entertainment and recreation · low1.2 /10k
4/100Kansas 3.4 /10kUnited States 5.5 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsCoffey County value
Gyms and fitness centers · low0.0 /10k
4/100Kansas 1.0 /10kUnited States 1.3 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsCoffey County value
Injury deaths · high131 /100k
9/100Kansas 88 /100kUnited States 87 /100k2019-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteCoffey County value
Access to exercise opportunities · low48.8%
10/100Kansas 80.3%United States 84.5%2022 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteCoffey County value
Distance to an airport · high91 mi
12/100Kansas 51 miUnited States 33 mi2025Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauCoffey County value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

New homes permittedImproving
0.4 /1k (2021) → 0.8 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
+102%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
82.8% (2015-2019) → 94.1% (2020-2024)
+11 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Home price to income ratioWorsening
2.1× (2015-2019) → 2.9× (2020-2024)
+43%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Child poverty rateImproving
21.5% (2015-2019) → 13.5% (2020-2024)
−8.1 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
43.7% (2015-2019) → 48.0% (2020-2024)
+4.3 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Uninsured residents (under 65)Improving
13.2% (2015-2019) → 9.3% (2020-2024)
−3.9 pts5 yearsCensus table B27010US 10.8% → 9.8%

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Burlington, Kansas improved on 1 of 13 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 12 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved1

Broadband+11 points82.8% → 94.1%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 13 measures

Change of every measure of Burlington, Kansas between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	16.7 min2015-2019	15.4 min2020-2024	−1.3 min	Within the margin of error	63%
Bachelor's degree or higher	20.6%2015-2019	20.1%2020-2024	−0.5 points	Within the margin of error	24%
Broadband subscriptions	82.8%2015-2019	94.1%2020-2024	+11 points	Improved	66%
Effective property tax rate	1.25%2015-2019	1.00%2020-2024	−0.2 points	Within the margin of error	66%
High school diploma or higher	91.2%2015-2019	91.0%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	31%
Home price to income ratio	2.1×2015-2019	2.9×2020-2024	+0.9×	Within the margin of error	27%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4142015-2019	0.4242020-2024	+0.010	Within the margin of error	42%
Median household income	$48,9712015-2019	$50,8822020-2024	+3.9%	Within the margin of error	10%
Poverty rate	16.2%2015-2019	16.8%2020-2024	+0.6 points	Within the margin of error	37%
Rent as share of income	24.9%2015-2019	27.6%2020-2024	+2.7 points	Within the margin of error	35%
Rent-burdened households	43.7%2015-2019	48.0%2020-2024	+4.3 points	Within the margin of error	40%
Unemployment rate	4.5%2015-2019	6.9%2020-2024	+2.4 points	Within the margin of error	13%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	13.2%2015-2019	9.3%2020-2024	−3.9 points	Within the margin of error	82%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Burlington, Kansas five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Burlington, Kansas in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Burlington, Kansas itself moved −6.7 points in standing on average over the same 10 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

2,605 residents (±30)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

1,104 households (±91)

Burlington, Kansas
Kansas share

Under $25k20%†223
$25k–50k29%†323
$50k–75k

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

1,104 households (±91)

Burlington, Kansas
Kansas share

Own59%646
Rent41%458

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

1,054 workers (±111)

Burlington, Kansas
Kansas share

Drive alone86%906
Carpool7.7%†81
Public transit1.0%†11

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Coffey County, the county holding most of Burlington's residents.

Coffey County has 203 employer establishments, 245 for every 10,000 residents (0.99× the US rate of 248; 0.95× Kansas's), with 2,514 paid employees at an average annual pay of $69,350. The Census Bureau also counts 654 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 203; 654 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 245; US 248 · Kansas 258
Paid employees: 2,514
Average annual pay: $69,350; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Coffey County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Specialty trade contractors	13	15.7	1.01×About typical	73	$44,904	79
Restaurants and other eating places	12	14.5	0.79×Fewer than typical	94	$15,213	7
Religious organizations	10	12.1	2.18×More than typical	32	$15,656	—
Banks and credit unions	9	10.9	3.36×Too few to compare	72	$104,306	—
Truck transportation	9	10.9	2.15×Too few to compare	97	$57,814	21
Ambulatory health care services	8	9.7	0.46×Too few to compare	56	$34,482	16
Building material and supplies dealers (hardware, home centers)	8	9.7	5.86×Too few to compare	13	$45,154	—
Gasoline stations	8	9.7	2.98×Too few to compare	129	$31,651	—
Other specialty trade contractors	7	8.5	3.37×Too few to compare	56	$47,946	31
Automotive repair and maintenance	5	6	1.20×Too few to compare	11	$34,636	11
Beer, wine and liquor stores	5	6	5.58×Too few to compare	14	$15,143	—
Full-service restaurants	5	6	0.79×Too few to compare	29	$16,241	—

Rank places for an industry Open Coffey County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 8,282 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $2,989 of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Burlington, Kansas: $1.15 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $2,989; +13% vs FY2025
Per resident: $1.15; US $1,994
Sole-source: 8.1%; US 30%
Single offer: 20%; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Department of the Army$2,989100%

Top recipients

Spending by fiscal year

5.3KFY2017
4.7KFY2018
3.6KFY2019
40.7KFY2020
5.2KFY2021
4KFY2022
4.1KFY2023
19.4KFY2024

Top industries (NAICS)

Services to buildings and dwellings · 5617$2,74892%
Justice, public order, and safety activities · 9221$2418.1%

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Burlington, Kansas, so they do not add up across cities.

Burlington, Kansas's figures are part of those of Coffey County, KS ($1M in FY2026), never added to them: 0.3% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Burlington is mostly in Coffey County.

See federal money in Coffey County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Burlington, Kansas is represented in the 119th Congress by these members.

House

Derek SchmidtR-KS-2 · 100% of residentsWith party 99%Missed 0.7%

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Coffey County67100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Coffey County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/2009400

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends