City · Allen County, Kansas

Humboldt, Kansas

Humboldt is a city in Allen County, Kansas. It has 1,793 residents. Humboldt, Kansas has a quality-of-life score of 40 out of 100 (moderate), ranking #9,369 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Kansas it ranks #156 of 202 cities and towns. It ranks best on rent as share of income (low), public libraries (high) and rent-burdened households (low). It ranks worst on unemployment rate (high), job growth (low) and average weekly wage (low).

40Moderate

Quality-of-life score: #9,369 of 15,651 cities and towns
Kansas: #156 of 202 in KS
Population: 1,793 (2020-2024)
Land area: 2 mi²
Density: 1,174.2 /mi²
FIPS code: 2033450

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.

Safety50#7,832/15,637
Economy10#14,003/15,631
Housing98#278/14,977
Health21#12,263/15,609
Healthcare31#10,829/15,650
Environment41#9,151/15,453
Education38#9,768/15,649
Infrastructure42#9,039/15,650
Community70#4,679/15,651
Leisure & amenities45#8,611/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Rent as share of income · low19.7%
97/100Kansas 27.1%United States 30.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25071
Public libraries · high3.2 /10k
97/100Kansas 1.3 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesAllen County value
Rent-burdened households · low13.9%
96/100Kansas 43.5%United States 51.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25070High uncertainty
Average commute time · low15.1 min
96/100Kansas 19.7 minUnited States 26.4 min2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08013
Child care cost burden · low20.3%
94/100Kansas 18.9%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteAllen County value
Homicide rate · low0.0 /100k
94/100Kansas 4.5 /100kUnited States 4.8 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataAllen County value

Weaknesses

Unemployment rate · high19.0%
1/100Kansas 3.8%United States 4.3%2020-2024U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Census table B23025
Job growth · low-4.3%
3/100Kansas 0.0%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataAllen County value
Average weekly wage · low$912
7/100Kansas $1,216United States $1,5142025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsAllen County value
Suicide rate · high25.5 /100k
8/100Kansas 18.4 /100kUnited States 14.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimateProvisional dataAllen County value
Pharmacies · low0.8 /10k
8/100Kansas 1.5 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsAllen County value
Distance to an airport · high103 mi
9/100Kansas 51 miUnited States 33 mi2025Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauAllen County value

Trends

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

Rent-burdened householdsImproving
71.8% (2015-2019) → 13.9% (2020-2024)
−58 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Rent as share of incomeImproving
44.9% (2015-2019) → 19.7% (2020-2024)
−25 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
Child poverty rateWorsening
25.9% (2015-2019) → 47.5% (2020-2024)
+22 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Uninsured residents (under 65)Worsening
3.4% (2015-2019) → 19.2% (2020-2024)
+16 pts5 yearsCensus table B27010US 10.8% → 9.8%
Unemployment rateWorsening
4.8% (2015-2019) → 19.0% (2020-2024)
+14 pts5 yearsCensus table B23025US 3.7% → 4.0%
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
14.6% (2015-2019) → 21.3% (2020-2024)
+6.7 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, Humboldt, Kansas improved on 1 of 12 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 10 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

Rent / income−25 points44.9% → 19.7%

Declined1

Uninsured+16 points3.4% → 19.2%

All 12 measures

Change of every measure of Humboldt, Kansas between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	17.1 min2015-2019	15.1 min2020-2024	−2.1 min	Within the margin of error	71%
Bachelor's degree or higher	14.6%2015-2019	21.3%2020-2024	+6.7 points	Within the margin of error	78%
Broadband subscriptions	76.7%2015-2019	81.3%2020-2024	+4.6 points	Within the margin of error	29%
Child poverty rate	25.9%2015-2019	47.5%2020-2024	+22 points	Within the margin of error	4%
Effective property tax rate	1.87%2015-2019	1.35%2020-2024	−0.5 points	Within the margin of error	92%
High school diploma or higher	92.9%2015-2019	94.2%2020-2024	+1.3 points	Within the margin of error	50%
Home price to income ratio	1.5×2015-2019	1.9×2020-2024	+0.4×	Within the margin of error	53%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.3812015-2019	0.4222020-2024	+0.041	Within the margin of error	21%
Median household income	$42,0772015-2019	$47,5602020-2024	+13%	Within the margin of error	21%
Poverty rate	18.4%2015-2019	24.0%2020-2024	+5.6 points	Within the margin of error	11%
Rent as share of income	44.9%2015-2019	19.7%2020-2024	−25 points	Improved	99%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	3.4%2015-2019	19.2%2020-2024	+16 points	Declined	1%

“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 Humboldt, Kansas five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Humboldt, 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, Humboldt, Kansas itself moved +6.4 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

1,793 residents (±288)

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

738 households (±120)

Humboldt, Kansas
Kansas share

Under $25k24%†176
$25k–50k32%†234
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

738 households (±120)

Humboldt, Kansas
Kansas share

Own80%591
Rent20%†147

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

674 workers (±151)

Humboldt, Kansas
Kansas share

Drive alone87%584
Carpool6.1%†41
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 Allen County, the county holding most of Humboldt's residents.

Allen County has 353 employer establishments, 283 for every 10,000 residents (1.14× the US rate of 248; 1.10× Kansas's), with 3,981 paid employees at an average annual pay of $48,853. The Census Bureau also counts 827 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 353; 827 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 283; US 248 · Kansas 258
Paid employees: 3,981
Average annual pay: $48,853; US $68,342

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

Ambulatory health care services	26	20.9	1.00×About typical	250	$63,364	24
Restaurants and other eating places	23	18.5	1.01×About typical	325	$15,788	4
Specialty trade contractors	23	18.5	1.19×About typical	80	$44,588	100
Lessors of real estate	16	12.8	1.04×About typical	43	$17,395	80
Offices of other health practitioners	14	11.2	1.85×More than typical	35	$32,943	9
Full-service restaurants	13	10.4	1.36×More than typical	147	$16,163	—
Religious organizations	13	10.4	1.88×More than typical	33	$13,576	—
Building equipment contractors	12	9.6	1.60×More than typical	46	$51,630	9
Insurance agencies and brokerages	11	8.8	2.01×More than typical	28	$48,500	19
Truck transportation	11	8.8	1.75×More than typical	34	$60,324	33
Automotive repair and maintenance	9	7.2	1.44×Too few to compare	34	$44,912	20
Gasoline stations	9	7.2	2.23×Too few to compare	116	$27,440	—

Rank places for an industry Open Allen County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 12,454 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: Humboldt is mostly in Allen County.

See federal money in Allen 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.

Humboldt, 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.

Allen County57100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Allen 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/2033450

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends