City · Johnson County, Kansas

Merriam, Kansas

Merriam is a city in Johnson County, Kansas, part of the Kansas City, MO-KS metro area. It has 11,085 residents. Merriam, Kansas has a quality-of-life score of 95 out of 100 (very high), ranking #842 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Kansas it ranks #15 of 202 cities and towns. It ranks best on traffic deaths (low), flu vaccinations (high) and loneliness (low). It ranks worst on new homes permitted (low), public libraries (low) and high ozone days (high).

95Very high

Quality-of-life score: #842 of 15,651 cities and towns
Kansas: #15 of 202 in KS
Population: 11,085 (2020-2024)
Land area: 4 mi²
Density: 2,567.5 /mi²
FIPS code: 2046000

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.

Safety73#4,234/15,637
Economy82#2,889/15,631
Housing68#4,764/14,977
Health87#1,972/15,609
Healthcare95#832/15,650
Environment37#9,732/15,453
Education96#641/15,649
Infrastructure98#369/15,650
Community97#412/15,651
Leisure & amenities58#6,497/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Traffic deaths · low3.9 /100k
99/100Kansas 13.5 /100kUnited States 12.3 /100k2020-2024National Highway Traffic Safety AdministrationProvisional dataJohnson County value
Flu vaccinations · high59.0%
98/100Kansas 46.0%United States 44.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteJohnson County value
Loneliness · low29.8%
98/100Kansas 31.5%United States 33.2%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
Reading scores · high3.40
95/100Kansas 3.00United States 3.052019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteJohnson County value
Mammography screening · high56.0%
94/100Kansas 50.0%United States 46.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteJohnson County value
Premature death · low4,910 /100k
94/100Kansas 8,407 /100kUnited States 8,123 /100k2021-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteJohnson County value

Weaknesses

New homes permitted · low0.0 /1k
13/100Kansas 4.2 /1kUnited States 4.2 /1kSep 2025–Aug 2026U.S. Census BureauProvisional data
Public libraries · low0.3 /10k
15/100Kansas 1.3 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesJohnson County value
High ozone days · high2 days
28/100Kansas 1 daysUnited States 7 days2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyJohnson County value
Median Air Quality Index · high44
34/1002025U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyJohnson County value
Drinking water violations · high1
36/100Kansas 0United States 02024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteJohnson County value
Uninsured residents (under 65) · high9.6%
36/100Kansas 10.1%United States 9.8%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B27010

Trends

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

New homes permittedWorsening
0.1 /1k (2021) → 0.0 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−100%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
34.7% (2015-2019) → 45.6% (2020-2024)
+11 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
84.6% (2015-2019) → 95.3% (2020-2024)
+11 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Home price to income ratioWorsening
2.7× (2015-2019) → 3.6× (2020-2024)
+35%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Poverty rateImproving
11.1% (2015-2019) → 6.0% (2020-2024)
−5.1 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%
Child poverty rateImproving
8.7% (2015-2019) → 3.9% (2020-2024)
−4.8 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, Merriam, Kansas improved on 4 of 13 measures with a comparison and declined on 2. 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.

Improved4

Bachelor's++11 points34.7% → 45.6%
Poverty−5.1 points11.1% → 6.0%
Broadband+11 points84.6% → 95.3%
Household income+15%$63,806 → $73,600

Declined2

Commute+3.6 min18.6 min → 22.2 min
Price / income+0.9×2.7× → 3.6×

All 13 measures

Change of every measure of Merriam, Kansas between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	18.6 min2015-2019	22.2 min2020-2024	+3.6 min	Declined	16%
Bachelor's degree or higher	34.7%2015-2019	45.6%2020-2024	+11 points	Improved	92%
Broadband subscriptions	84.6%2015-2019	95.3%2020-2024	+11 points	Improved	63%
Effective property tax rate	1.18%2015-2019	1.04%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	43%
High school diploma or higher	91.8%2015-2019	96.3%2020-2024	+4.4 points	Within the margin of error	79%
Home price to income ratio	2.7×2015-2019	3.6×2020-2024	+0.9×	Declined	25%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.3732015-2019	0.3992020-2024	+0.026	Within the margin of error	30%
Median household income	$63,8062015-2019	$73,6002020-2024	+15%	Improved	24%
Poverty rate	11.1%2015-2019	6.0%2020-2024	−5.1 points	Improved	81%
Rent as share of income	27.4%2015-2019	28.4%2020-2024	+1 points	Within the margin of error	47%
Rent-burdened households	41.9%2015-2019	44.4%2020-2024	+2.5 points	Within the margin of error	47%
Unemployment rate	3.6%2015-2019	5.4%2020-2024	+1.8 points	Within the margin of error	19%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	9.5%2015-2019	9.6%2020-2024	+0.1 points	Within the margin of error	45%

“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 Merriam, Kansas five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Merriam, 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, Merriam, Kansas itself moved −2 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

11,085 residents (±31)

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

5,324 households (±296)

Merriam, Kansas
Kansas share

Under $25k10%†554
$25k–50k20%1,070
$50k–75k22%1,169

Homes

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

Owners and renters

5,324 households (±296)

Merriam, Kansas
Kansas share

Own61%3,234
Rent39%2,090

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

6,080 workers (±337)

Merriam, Kansas
Kansas share

Drive alone73%4,412
Carpool4.5%†274
Public transit0.5%†28

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 Kansas City, MO-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 Johnson County, the county holding most of Merriam's residents.

Johnson County has 18,999 employer establishments, 304 for every 10,000 residents (1.22× the US rate of 248; 1.18× Kansas's), with 352,238 paid employees at an average annual pay of $68,435. The Census Bureau also counts 58,318 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 18,999; 58,318 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 304; US 248 · Kansas 258
Paid employees: 352,238
Average annual pay: $68,435; US $68,342

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

Ambulatory health care services	1,922	30.7	1.47×More than typical	24,396	$79,783	3,028
Restaurants and other eating places	1,137	18.2	0.99×About typical	27,701	$22,980	149
Lessors of real estate	1,117	17.9	1.45×More than typical	4,507	$61,828	7,409
Specialty trade contractors	1,029	16.5	1.06×About typical	13,379	$72,697	2,484
Management, scientific and technical consulting	747	11.9	1.78×More than typical	5,768	$91,607	3,350
Offices of other health practitioners	690	11	1.82×More than typical	4,102	$48,116	1,636
Insurance agencies and brokerages	594	9.5	2.16×More than typical	10,034	$86,511	1,262
Real estate agents and brokers	563	9	1.85×More than typical	915	$66,309	2,153
Offices of physicians	559	8.9	1.38×More than typical	8,419	$115,401	787
Construction of buildings	553	8.8	1.17×About typical	3,321	$80,886	1,059
Services to buildings and dwellings	551	8.8	1.31×More than typical	6,695	$43,584	2,028
Computer systems design and related services	497	7.9	1.84×More than typical	7,227	$94,228	909

Rank places for an industry Open Johnson County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 625,261 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 $4.9M of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Merriam, Kansas: $442 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $4.9M; −18% vs FY2025
Per resident: $442; US $1,994
Sole-source: 20%; US 30%
Single offer: 68%; 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 Veterans Affairs$3.8M77%
Federal Prison System / Bureau of Prisons$819.9K17%
Bureau of Indian Affairs and Bureau of Indian Education$127K2.6%
Indian Health Service$97.2K2.0%
National Institutes of Health$65.3K1.3%
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention$7,7210.2%
Public Buildings Service$7,0500.1%
Federal Aviation Administration$6,7180.1%

Top recipients

SCRIPTPRO USA INC$4.8M97%
EASTERN SHAWNEE PROFESSIONAL SERVICES, LLC$127K2.6%
FOUR POINTS TECHNOLOGY, L.L.C.$9,2670.2%
SUPERIOR MOVING SERVICE INC$7,0500.1%
TED MANUFACTURING CORP$6,7180.1%

Spending by fiscal year

9.7MFY2017
8.8MFY2018
9.9MFY2019
11.4MFY2020
10.8MFY2021
13.1MFY2022
16.7MFY2023
13.2M

Top industries (NAICS)

Medical equipment and supplies manufacturing · 3391$4M81%
Computer and peripheral equipment manufacturing · 3341$370.7K7.6%
Professional and commercial equipment and supplies merchant wholesalers · 4234$165.1K3.4%
Remediation and other waste management services · 5629$116K2.4%
Commercial and industrial machinery and equipment rental and leasing · 5324$87.6K1.8%
Computer systems design and related services · 5415

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

Merriam, Kansas's figures are part of those of Johnson County, KS ($485.6M in FY2026), never added to them: 1.0% of that total.

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

See federal money in Johnson 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.

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

House

Sharice DavidsD-KS-3 · 100% of residentsWith party 93%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.

Johnson County97100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Kansas City, MO-KS73

Other cities and towns in Johnson 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/2046000

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends