City · Thomas County, Kansas

Colby, Kansas

Colby is a city in Thomas County, Kansas. It has 5,387 residents. Colby, Kansas has a quality-of-life score of 76 out of 100 (high), ranking #3,780 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Kansas it ranks #34 of 202 cities and towns. It ranks best on average commute time (low), distance to an emergency room (low) and child care cost burden (low). It ranks worst on flu vaccinations (low), distance to an airport (high) and pharmacies (low).

76High

Quality-of-life score: #3,780 of 15,651 cities and towns
Kansas: #34 of 202 in KS
Population: 5,387 (2020-2024)
Land area: 4 mi²
Density: 1,449.3 /mi²
FIPS code: 2014650

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.

Safety81#3,009/15,637
Economy63#5,731/15,631
Housing65#5,182/14,977
Health59#6,347/15,609
Healthcare27#11,459/15,650
Environment96#591/15,453
Education69#4,808/15,649
Infrastructure59#6,486/15,650
Community81#2,909/15,651
Leisure & amenities41#9,168/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Average commute time · low9.7 min
100/100Kansas 19.7 minUnited States 26.4 min2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08013
Distance to an emergency room · low0.7 mi
100/100Kansas 5.2 miUnited States 5.5 miJul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesThomas County value
Child care cost burden · low15.9%
99/100Kansas 18.9%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteThomas County value
Social associations · high21.6 /10k
99/100Kansas 13.1 /10kUnited States 9.1 /10k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteThomas County value
Public EV charging ports · high28.5 /10k
99/100Kansas 4.7 /10kUnited States 7.6 /10kOct 2026U.S. Department of EnergyThomas County value
Drug overdose deaths · low0.0 /100k
99/100Kansas 15.3 /100kUnited States 18.4 /100kMar 2025–Feb 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataThomas County value

Weaknesses

Flu vaccinations · low14.0%
0/100Kansas 46.0%United States 44.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteThomas County value
Distance to an airport · high196 mi
1/100Kansas 51 miUnited States 33 mi2025Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauThomas County value
Pharmacies · low0.0 /10k
1/100Kansas 1.5 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsThomas County value
Gyms and fitness centers · low0.0 /10k
4/100Kansas 1.0 /10kUnited States 1.3 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsThomas County value
Arts, entertainment and recreation · low1.3 /10k
4/100Kansas 3.4 /10kUnited States 5.5 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsThomas County value
Traffic deaths · high35.6 /100k
5/100Kansas 13.5 /100kUnited States 12.3 /100k2020-2024National Highway Traffic Safety AdministrationProvisional dataThomas County value

Trends

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

Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
42.7% (2015-2019) → 62.0% (2020-2024)
+19 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
New homes permittedWorsening
2.9 /1k (2021) → 0.2 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−94%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
19.5% (2015-2019) → 37.0% (2020-2024)
+18 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
78.7% (2015-2019) → 89.3% (2020-2024)
+11 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Rent as share of incomeWorsening
24.4% (2015-2019) → 33.2% (2020-2024)
+8.8 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
Child poverty rateWorsening
2.6% (2015-2019) → 8.5% (2020-2024)
+5.9 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%

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, Colby, Kansas improved on 2 of 13 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.

Improved2

Bachelor's++18 points19.5% → 37.0%
Broadband+11 points78.7% → 89.3%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 13 measures

Change of every measure of Colby, Kansas between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	10.0 min2015-2019	9.7 min2020-2024	−0.3 min	Within the margin of error	51%
Bachelor's degree or higher	19.5%2015-2019	37.0%2020-2024	+18 points	Improved	98%
Broadband subscriptions	78.7%2015-2019	89.3%2020-2024	+11 points	Improved	62%
Effective property tax rate	1.65%2015-2019	1.58%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	30%
High school diploma or higher	91.5%2015-2019	93.7%2020-2024	+2.2 points	Within the margin of error	61%
Home price to income ratio	2.2×2015-2019	2.6×2020-2024	+0.3×	Within the margin of error	59%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4882015-2019	0.4312020-2024	−0.057	Within the margin of error	87%
Median household income	$56,3582015-2019	$63,4942020-2024	+13%	Within the margin of error	20%
Poverty rate	13.3%2015-2019	8.0%2020-2024	−5.3 points	Within the margin of error	82%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	24.4%2015-2019	33.2%2020-2024	+8.8 points	Within the margin of error	11%
Rent-burdened households	42.7%2015-2019	62.0%2020-2024	+19 points	Within the margin of error	9%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	9.3%2015-2019	10.0%2020-2024	+0.7 points	Within the margin of error	38%

“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 Colby, Kansas five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Colby, 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, Colby, Kansas itself moved −5.8 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

5,387 residents (±340)

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

2,131 households (±171)

Colby, Kansas
Kansas share

Under $25k23%†490
$25k–50k17%†367
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

2,131 households (±171)

Colby, Kansas
Kansas share

Own67%1,430
Rent33%701

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

2,972 workers (±244)

Colby, Kansas
Kansas share

Drive alone83%2,462
Carpool4.1%†123
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 Thomas County, the county holding most of Colby's residents.

Thomas County has 332 employer establishments, 425 for every 10,000 residents (1.71× the US rate of 248; 1.65× Kansas's), with 2,870 paid employees at an average annual pay of $47,668. The Census Bureau also counts 764 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 332; 764 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 425; US 248 · Kansas 258
Paid employees: 2,870
Average annual pay: $47,668; US $68,342

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

Ambulatory health care services	18	23.1	1.11×About typical	90	$42,144	26
Restaurants and other eating places	18	23.1	1.26×More than typical	272	$18,982	—
Religious organizations	17	21.8	3.92×More than typical	81	$19,741	—
Truck transportation	15	19.2	3.80×More than typical	61	$74,295	23
Specialty trade contractors	13	16.6	1.08×About typical	54	$45,593	46
Insurance agencies and brokerages	10	12.8	2.92×More than typical	30	$50,133	19
Offices of other health practitioners	10	12.8	2.11×More than typical	37	$39,405	13
Banks and credit unions	9	11.5	3.57×Too few to compare	95	$70,768	—
Construction of buildings	9	11.5	1.52×Too few to compare	55	$67,491	23
Full-service restaurants	9	11.5	1.50×Too few to compare	109	$17,578	—
Automotive repair and maintenance	8	10.2	2.03×Too few to compare	22	$39,636	19
Lessors of real estate	8	10.2	0.83×Too few to compare	49	$54,673	74

Rank places for an industry Open Thomas County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 7,809 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: Colby is mostly in Thomas County.

See federal money in Thomas 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.

Colby, 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.

Thomas County87100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Thomas 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/2014650

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends