City · Gray County, Kansas

Cimarron, Kansas

Cimarron is a city in Gray County, Kansas. It has 1,949 residents. Cimarron, Kansas has a quality-of-life score of 64 out of 100 (high), ranking #5,591 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Kansas it ranks #71 of 202 cities and towns. It ranks best on child care cost burden (low), social associations (high) and pharmacies (high). It ranks worst on arts, entertainment and recreation (low), mental health providers (low) and traffic deaths (high).

64High

Quality-of-life score: #5,591 of 15,651 cities and towns
Kansas: #71 of 202 in KS
Population: 1,949 (2020-2024)
Land area: 1 mi²
Density: 1,691.6 /mi²
FIPS code: 2013275

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 71 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.

Safety46#8,405/15,637
Economy55#7,000/15,631
Housing97#396/14,977
Health52#7,480/15,609
Healthcare20#12,557/15,650
Environment58#6,554/15,453
Education79#3,292/15,649
Infrastructure54#7,238/15,650
Community82#2,782/15,651
Leisure & amenities33#10,434/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Child care cost burden · low14.3%
100/100Kansas 18.9%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteGray County value
Social associations · high29.6 /10k
100/100Kansas 13.1 /10kUnited States 9.1 /10k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteGray County value
Pharmacies · high5.3 /10k
100/100Kansas 1.5 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsGray County value
Public libraries · high7.0 /10k
100/100Kansas 1.3 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesGray County value
Rent as share of income · low21.0%
99/100Kansas 27.1%United States 30.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25071
Drug overdose deaths · low0.0 /100k
99/100Kansas 15.3 /100kUnited States 18.4 /100kMar 2025–Feb 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataGray County value

Weaknesses

Arts, entertainment and recreation · low0.0 /10k
1/100Kansas 3.4 /10kUnited States 5.5 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsGray County value
Mental health providers · low18 /100k
1/100Kansas 266 /100kUnited States 348 /100k2025University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteGray County value
Traffic deaths · high52.7 /100k
1/100Kansas 13.5 /100kUnited States 12.3 /100k2020-2024National Highway Traffic Safety AdministrationProvisional dataGray County value
Distance to an airport · high163 mi
2/100Kansas 51 miUnited States 33 mi2025Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauGray County value
Distance to an emergency room · high20.4 mi
3/100Kansas 5.2 miUnited States 5.5 miJul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesGray County value
Primary care physicians · low18 /100k
3/100Kansas 79 /100kUnited States 76 /100k2022University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteGray County value

Trends

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

PopulationFalling
2,293 (2015-2019) → 1,949 (2020-2024)
−15%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
New homes permittedImproving
1.5 /1k (2021) → 6.2 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
+324%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Child poverty rateWorsening
7.1% (2015-2019) → 34.7% (2020-2024)
+28 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
33.3% (2015-2019) → 17.6% (2020-2024)
−16 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
22.2% (2015-2019) → 35.8% (2020-2024)
+14 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
80.1% (2015-2019) → 91.1% (2020-2024)
+11 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%

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, Cimarron, Kansas improved on 3 of 10 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 7 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.

Improved3

Bachelor's++14 points22.2% → 35.8%
Broadband+11 points80.1% → 91.1%
Household income+20%$68,901 → $82,422

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 10 measures

Change of every measure of Cimarron, Kansas between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	17.1 min2015-2019	19.1 min2020-2024	+2.0 min	Within the margin of error	27%
Bachelor's degree or higher	22.2%2015-2019	35.8%2020-2024	+14 points	Improved	96%
Broadband subscriptions	80.1%2015-2019	91.1%2020-2024	+11 points	Improved	65%
Effective property tax rate	1.47%2015-2019	1.56%2020-2024	+0.1 points	Within the margin of error	7%
High school diploma or higher	89.8%2015-2019	96.2%2020-2024	+6.4 points	Within the margin of error	88%
Home price to income ratio	2.0×2015-2019	2.5×2020-2024	+0.4×	Within the margin of error	52%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.3272015-2019	0.3242020-2024	−0.003	Within the margin of error	54%
Median household income	$68,9012015-2019	$82,4222020-2024	+20%	Improved	32%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	22.3%2015-2019	21.0%2020-2024	−1.3 points	Within the margin of error	65%

“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 Cimarron, Kansas five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Cimarron, 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, Cimarron, Kansas itself moved +3.4 points in standing on average over the same 9 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

1,949 residents (±273)

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

755 households (±113)

Cimarron, Kansas
Kansas share

Under $25k7.7%†58
$25k–50k18%†134
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

755 households (±113)

Cimarron, Kansas
Kansas share

Own67%507
Rent33%†248

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

1,035 workers (±173)

Cimarron, Kansas
Kansas share

Drive alone85%880
Carpool9.4%†97
Public transit0.0%0

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 Gray County, the county holding most of Cimarron's residents.

Gray County has 228 employer establishments, 396 for every 10,000 residents (1.60× the US rate of 248; 1.53× Kansas's), with 1,592 paid employees at an average annual pay of $51,242. The Census Bureau also counts 651 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 228; 651 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 396; US 248 · Kansas 258
Paid employees: 1,592
Average annual pay: $51,242; US $68,342

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

Specialty trade contractors	24	41.7	2.69×More than typical	327	$73,141	34
Religious organizations	17	29.5	5.33×More than typical	48	$27,771	—
Truck transportation	15	26.1	5.15×More than typical	80	$52,975	80
Building equipment contractors	13	22.6	3.75×More than typical	111	$69,279	11
Restaurants and other eating places	12	20.9	1.14×About typical	84	$16,060	3
Accounting, tax preparation and payroll services	10	17.4	4.27×More than typical	34	$55,088	11
Plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors	9	15.6	4.74×Too few to compare	26	$57,769	5
Foundation, structure and building exterior contractors	8	13.9	4.41×Too few to compare	33	$43,758	6
Banks and credit unions	7	12.2	3.77×Too few to compare	41	$52,463	—
Insurance agencies and brokerages	7	12.2	2.77×Too few to compare	19	$70,842	7
Services to buildings and dwellings	7	12.2	1.80×Too few to compare	66	$41,167	40
Automotive repair and maintenance	6	10.4	2.07×Too few to compare	30	$47,800	20

Rank places for an industry Open Gray County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 5,755 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

No federal contract obligations recorded here in FY2026.

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

See federal money in Gray 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.

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

House

Tracey MannR-KS-1 · 100% of residentsWith party 100%Missed 0.3%

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.

Gray County66100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Gray 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/2013275

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends