City · Smith County, Kansas
Smith Center, Kansas
Smith Center is a city in Smith County, Kansas. It has 1,680 residents. Smith Center, Kansas has a quality-of-life score of 69 out of 100 (high), ranking #4,887 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Kansas it ranks #54 of 202 cities and towns. It ranks best on public libraries (high), social associations (high) and grocery stores (high). It ranks worst on arts, entertainment and recreation (low), pharmacies (low) and distance to an airport (high).
- Quality-of-life score
- #4,887 of 15,651 cities and towns
- Kansas
- #54 of 202 in KS
- Population
- 1,680 (2020-2024)
- Land area
- 1 mi²
- Density
- 1,367.0 /mi²
- FIPS code
- 2065925
Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 70 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.
Scores by category
Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.
- Safety91#1,455/15,637
- Economy48#8,174/15,631
- Housing70#4,534/14,977
- Health58#6,588/15,609
- Healthcare53#7,283/15,650
- Environment59#6,279/15,453
- Education83#2,655/15,649
- Infrastructure23#11,992/15,650
- Community83#2,623/15,651
- Leisure & amenities32#10,672/15,651
Strengths · Weaknesses
Indicators where Smith Center, Kansas ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Smith 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
- Public libraries · high11.1 /10k100/100Kansas 1.3 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesSmith County value
- Social associations · high33.4 /10k100/100Kansas 13.1 /10kUnited States 9.1 /10k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteSmith County value
- Grocery stores · high8.4 /10k
- Firearm deaths · low0.0 /100k99/100Kansas 16.2 /100kUnited States 12.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataSmith County value
- Drug overdose deaths · low0.0 /100k99/100Kansas 15.3 /100kUnited States 18.4 /100k2024Centers for Disease Control and PreventionSmith County value
- Average commute time · low12.4 min
Weaknesses
- Arts, entertainment and recreation · low0.0 /10k
- Pharmacies · low0.0 /10k
- Distance to an airport · high164 mi2/100Kansas 51 miUnited States 33 mi2025Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauSmith County value
- Average weekly wage · low$840
- Public EV charging ports · low0.0 /10k
- Gyms and fitness centers · low0.0 /10k
Trends
The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.
- PopulationRising
1,477 (2015-2019) → 1,680 (2020-2024)
+14%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
- New homes permittedWorsening
0.7 /1k (2021) → 0.0 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−100%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
- Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
39.4% (2015-2019) → 59.3% (2020-2024)
+20 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
- Median household incomeImproving
$38,258 (2015-2019) → $56,007 (2020-2024)
+46%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
- Rent as share of incomeWorsening
24.3% (2015-2019) → 31.4% (2020-2024)
+7.1 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
- Poverty rateImproving
12.9% (2015-2019) → 8.4% (2020-2024)
−4.5 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%
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.
Cities and towns like Smith Center, Kansas five years ago that improved
The places whose measures looked most like those of Smith Center, 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.
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).
Income
How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.
Homes
Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.
Getting to work
How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.
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.
Federal contracts performed here
Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Smith Center is mostly in Smith County.
See federal money in Smith CountyRepresentation 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.
County
A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.
Other cities and towns in Smith 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
