City · Reno County, Kansas

Nickerson, Kansas

Nickerson is a city in Reno County, Kansas, part of the Hutchinson, KS metro area. It has 1,001 residents. Nickerson, Kansas has a quality-of-life score of 30 out of 100 (low), ranking #10,954 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Kansas it ranks #181 of 202 cities and towns. It ranks best on child care cost burden (low), distance to an Amtrak station (low) and loneliness (low). It ranks worst on adult obesity (high), broadband subscriptions (low) and pharmacies (low).

30Low

Quality-of-life score: #10,954 of 15,651 cities and towns
Kansas: #181 of 202 in KS
Population: 1,001 (2020-2024)
Land area: 1 mi²
Density: 772.8 /mi²
FIPS code: 2050525

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.

Safety18#12,846/15,637
Economy48#8,126/15,631
Housing83#2,537/14,977
Health29#11,102/15,609
Healthcare32#10,587/15,650
Environment19#12,584/15,453
Education28#11,216/15,649
Infrastructure37#9,856/15,650
Community68#4,943/15,651
Leisure & amenities21#12,335/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Nickerson, Kansas ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Reno 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 · low17.8%
98/100Kansas 18.9%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteReno County value
Distance to an Amtrak station · low4 mi
98/100Kansas 30 miUnited States 43 mi2026Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauReno County value
Loneliness · low29.4%
97/100Kansas 31.5%United States 33.2%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
Home price to income ratio · low1.6×
97/100Kansas 2.9×United States 4.1×2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25077
Rent-burdened households · low32.2%
92/100Kansas 43.5%United States 51.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25070High uncertainty
Social associations · high14.8 /10k
91/100Kansas 13.1 /10kUnited States 9.1 /10k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteReno County value

Weaknesses

Adult obesity · high44.7%
5/100Kansas 39.3%United States 38.2%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
Broadband subscriptions · low77.4%
7/100Kansas 90.7%United States 91.0%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B28002
Pharmacies · low0.8 /10k
8/100Kansas 1.5 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsReno County value
Hospital quality rating · low2.0
9/100Kansas 3.2United States 3.2Jul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesReno County value
Violent crime rate · high512 /100k
10/100Kansas 457 /100kUnited States 328 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationReno County value
Effective property tax rate · high1.88%
10/100Kansas 1.21%United States 0.94%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25090

Trends

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

Rent-burdened householdsImproving
53.7% (2015-2019) → 32.2% (2020-2024)
−22 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
New homes permittedWorsening
1.2 /1k (2021) → 0.0 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−100%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
High school diploma or higherImproving
89.3% (2015-2019) → 97.2% (2020-2024)
+7.9 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 88.0% → 89.6%
Rent as share of incomeImproving
30.9% (2015-2019) → 23.1% (2020-2024)
−7.8 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
Child poverty rateImproving
20.6% (2015-2019) → 13.9% (2020-2024)
−6.8 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Uninsured residents (under 65)Improving
12.5% (2015-2019) → 7.4% (2020-2024)
−5.1 pts5 yearsCensus table B27010US 10.8% → 9.8%

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

High school++7.9 points89.3% → 97.2%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 11 measures

Change of every measure of Nickerson, Kansas between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	23.5 min2015-2019	26.0 min2020-2024	+2.5 min	Within the margin of error	23%
Bachelor's degree or higher	15.3%2015-2019	14.0%2020-2024	−1.3 points	Within the margin of error	20%
Broadband subscriptions	76.6%2015-2019	77.4%2020-2024	+0.8 points	Within the margin of error	11%
Effective property tax rate	1.53%2015-2019	1.88%2020-2024	+0.4 points	Within the margin of error	1%
High school diploma or higher	89.3%2015-2019	97.2%2020-2024	+7.9 points	Improved	92%
Home price to income ratio	1.3×2015-2019	1.6×2020-2024	+0.3×	Within the margin of error	64%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.3562015-2019	0.3612020-2024	+0.005	Within the margin of error	46%
Median household income	$50,4892015-2019	$49,1672020-2024	−2.6%	Within the margin of error	6%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	30.9%2015-2019	23.1%2020-2024	−7.8 points	Within the margin of error	90%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	12.5%2015-2019	7.4%2020-2024	−5.1 points	Within the margin of error	87%

“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 Nickerson, Kansas five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Nickerson, 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, Nickerson, Kansas itself moved −0.8 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

1,001 residents (±175)

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

416 households (±75)

Nickerson, Kansas
Kansas share

Under $25k13%†56
$25k–50k37%†155
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

416 households (±75)

Nickerson, Kansas
Kansas share

Own72%300
Rent28%†116

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

459 workers (±108)

Nickerson, Kansas
Kansas share

Drive alone93%427
Carpool3.5%†16
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 Hutchinson, 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 Reno County, the county holding most of Nickerson's residents.

Reno County has 1,590 employer establishments, 259 for every 10,000 residents (1.04× the US rate of 248; 1.00× Kansas's), with 21,784 paid employees at an average annual pay of $47,254. The Census Bureau also counts 4,120 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 1,590; 4,120 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 259; US 248 · Kansas 258
Paid employees: 21,784
Average annual pay: $47,254; US $68,342

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

Specialty trade contractors	123	20	1.29×More than typical	681	$55,352	336
Restaurants and other eating places	110	17.9	0.98×About typical	2,123	$17,886	21
Ambulatory health care services	106	17.3	0.83×About typical	1,554	$70,451	157
Religious organizations	73	11.9	2.14×More than typical	387	$22,085	—
Services to buildings and dwellings	59	9.6	1.43×More than typical	402	$36,403	270
Construction of buildings	53	8.6	1.14×About typical	235	$49,715	131
Lessors of real estate	53	8.6	0.70×Fewer than typical	166	$24,283	426
Full-service restaurants	51	8.3	1.08×About typical	1,040	$17,048	4
Building equipment contractors	45	7.3	1.22×About typical	263	$67,620	51
Limited-service restaurants	45	7.3	0.91×About typical	867	$20,039	5
Automotive repair and maintenance	42	6.8	1.36×More than typical	185	$35,054	71
Offices of other health practitioners	42	6.8	1.13×About typical	143	$44,476	76

Rank places for an industry Open Reno County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 61,370 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: Nickerson is mostly in Reno County.

See federal money in Reno 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.

Nickerson, 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.

Reno County46100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Hutchinson, KS41

Other cities and towns in Reno 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/2050525

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends