City · Sedgwick County, Kansas

Cheney, Kansas

Cheney is a city in Sedgwick County, Kansas, part of the Wichita, KS metro area. It has 2,580 residents. Cheney, Kansas has a quality-of-life score of 50 out of 100 (moderate), ranking #7,897 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Kansas it ranks #130 of 202 cities and towns. It ranks best on distance to an airport (low), unemployment rate (low) and rent as share of income (low). It ranks worst on property crime rate (high), violent crime rate (high) and drug overdose deaths (high).

50Moderate

Quality-of-life score: #7,897 of 15,651 cities and towns
Kansas: #130 of 202 in KS
Population: 2,580 (2020-2024)
Land area: 2 mi²
Density: 1,113.0 /mi²
FIPS code: 2012775

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 76 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.

Safety4#14,950/15,637
Economy88#1,899/15,631
Housing93#991/14,977
Health36#10,037/15,609
Healthcare65#5,442/15,650
Environment19#12,536/15,453
Education41#9,184/15,649
Infrastructure76#3,832/15,650
Community42#9,098/15,651
Leisure & amenities30#10,918/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Cheney, Kansas ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Sedgwick 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

Distance to an airport · low8 mi
97/100Kansas 51 miUnited States 33 mi2025Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauSedgwick County value
Unemployment rate · low0.6%
94/100Kansas 3.8%United States 4.3%2020-2024U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Census table B23025High uncertainty
Rent as share of income · low23.1%
94/100Kansas 27.1%United States 30.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25071
Home price to income ratio · low2.0×
92/100Kansas 2.9×United States 4.1×2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25077
Rent-burdened households · low36.3%
92/100Kansas 43.5%United States 51.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25070
Drinking water violations · low0
86/100Kansas 0United States 02024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteSedgwick County value

Weaknesses

Property crime rate · high3,972 /100k
0/100Kansas 1,797 /100kUnited States 1,535 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationSedgwick County value
Violent crime rate · high1,029 /100k
1/100Kansas 457 /100kUnited States 328 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationSedgwick County value
Drug overdose deaths · high27.8 /100k
12/100Kansas 15.3 /100kUnited States 18.4 /100kMar 2025–Feb 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataSedgwick County value
Homicide rate · high8.1 /100k
13/100Kansas 4.5 /100kUnited States 4.8 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataSedgwick County value
Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) · high8.9 µg/m³
14/100Kansas 8.1 µg/m³United States 8.0 µg/m³2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencySedgwick County value
Reading scores · low2.81
17/100Kansas 3.00United States 3.052019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteSedgwick County value

Trends

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

PopulationRising
2,014 (2015-2019) → 2,580 (2020-2024)
+28%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
82.2% (2015-2019) → 91.2% (2020-2024)
+8.9 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Median household incomeImproving
$62,823 (2015-2019) → $85,313 (2020-2024)
+36%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Uninsured residents (under 65)Improving
14.5% (2015-2019) → 9.8% (2020-2024)
−4.6 pts5 yearsCensus table B27010US 10.8% → 9.8%
Rent as share of incomeImproving
27.4% (2015-2019) → 23.1% (2020-2024)
−4.3 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
28.5% (2015-2019) → 32.8% (2020-2024)
+4.3 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%

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, Cheney, Kansas improved on 1 of 12 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 11 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

Household income+36%$62,823 → $85,313

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 12 measures

Change of every measure of Cheney, Kansas between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	21.4 min2015-2019	25.0 min2020-2024	+3.5 min	Within the margin of error	16%
Bachelor's degree or higher	28.5%2015-2019	32.8%2020-2024	+4.3 points	Within the margin of error	62%
Broadband subscriptions	82.2%2015-2019	91.2%2020-2024	+8.9 points	Within the margin of error	54%
Effective property tax rate	1.55%2015-2019	1.28%2020-2024	−0.3 points	Within the margin of error	71%
High school diploma or higher	92.4%2015-2019	94.2%2020-2024	+1.8 points	Within the margin of error	56%
Home price to income ratio	2.0×2015-2019	2.0×2020-2024	+0.0×	Within the margin of error	78%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4452015-2019	0.3982020-2024	−0.048	Within the margin of error	83%
Median household income	$62,8232015-2019	$85,3132020-2024	+36%	Improved	67%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	27.4%2015-2019	23.1%2020-2024	−4.3 points	Within the margin of error	80%
Rent-burdened households	37.4%2015-2019	36.3%2020-2024	−1 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	14.5%2015-2019	9.8%2020-2024	−4.6 points	Within the margin of error	85%

“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 Cheney, Kansas five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Cheney, 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, Cheney, Kansas itself moved +5.1 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

2,580 residents (±117)

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

862 households (±123)

Cheney, Kansas
Kansas share

Under $25k20%†173
$25k–50k9.0%†78
$50k–75k13%

Homes

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

Owners and renters

862 households (±123)

Cheney, Kansas
Kansas share

Own78%672
Rent22%†190

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

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

1,161 workers (±123)

Cheney, Kansas
Kansas share

Drive alone76%887
Carpool9.6%†112
Public transit0.0%0

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the Wichita, KS

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 Sedgwick County, the county holding most of Cheney's residents.

Sedgwick County has 12,710 employer establishments, 240 for every 10,000 residents (0.97× the US rate of 248; 0.93× Kansas's), with 237,173 paid employees at an average annual pay of $58,399. The Census Bureau also counts 39,790 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 12,710; 39,790 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 240; US 248 · Kansas 258
Paid employees: 237,173
Average annual pay: $58,399; US $68,342

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

Ambulatory health care services	1,258	23.8	1.14×About typical	16,087	$68,426	1,988
Restaurants and other eating places	1,005	19	1.03×About typical	22,304	$20,036	159
Specialty trade contractors	851	16.1	1.04×About typical	10,222	$61,836	2,505
Lessors of real estate	585	11	0.90×About typical	2,761	$45,925	4,684
Limited-service restaurants	491	9.3	1.16×About typical	10,525	$18,844	68
Offices of physicians	411	7.8	1.20×About typical	6,777	$92,204	440
Offices of other health practitioners	398	7.5	1.24×About typical	1,998	$46,925	1,129
Full-service restaurants	394	7.4	0.97×About typical	10,293	$21,104	66
Services to buildings and dwellings	365	6.9	1.02×About typical	3,735	$34,465	2,184
Religious organizations	343	6.5	1.17×About typical	3,644	$24,740	—
Insurance agencies and brokerages	329	6.2	1.41×More than typical	1,602	$71,079	693
Construction of buildings	323	6.1	0.81×About typical	3,583	$65,341	1,045

Rank places for an industry Open Sedgwick County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 529,452 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 $0 of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Cheney, Kansas: $0 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $0
Per resident: $0; US $1,994
Sole-source: —; US 30%
Single offer: —; 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

Top recipients

Spending by fiscal year

235.3FY2017
823.6FY2021

What was bought

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 Cheney, Kansas, so they do not add up across cities.

Cheney, Kansas's figures are part of those of Sedgwick County, KS ($258.1M in FY2026), never added to them: 0.0% of that total.

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

See federal money in Sedgwick 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.

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

House

Ron EstesR-KS-4 · 100% of residentsWith party 99%Missed 1.2%

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.

Sedgwick County54100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Wichita, KS54

Other cities and towns in Sedgwick 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/2012775

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends