America's fabled Heartland

When it comes to overall quality of life, few places can match Kansas. From our nationally ranked schools and picturesque communities to our emerging metropolitan areas and booming business sector, Kansas has something for everyone — and everything you need to achieve your own definition of happiness.

Communities:

Kansans are famous for their modesty, but it’s hard not to brag about the state’s world-class communities and neighborhoods. Kansas is a diversified blend of cosmopolitan and rural, boasting serene farm communities, quaint college towns and thriving metropolitan areas. There are 2.7 million people in Kansas, with 346,000 located in Wichita, the state’s largest city and the aerospace manufacturing capital of the world. Overland Park is next on the list, boasting a population of 167,000 and contributing to Northeast Kansas’ becoming one of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the nation. Rounding out the mix in Kansas are the historic farm towns – places like Dodge City, Garden City and Great Bend – that have helped make Kansas the mythical Heartland of America and one of the most prolific agricultural regions on Earth.

Here's what people are saying about Kansas:

• CNNMoney.com ranked Wichita and Overland Park among the nation’s top 10 cities in its "Best Places to Live in 2006" ranking. Olathe finished 14th in the same report.
• Relocate-America.com ranked Wichita, Lawrence and Overland Park among its “Top 100 Places to Live” for 2006.
• Morgan Quinto Press ranked Kansas the No. 15 state in the nation in its 2006 "Most Livable State" rankings.
• Forbes magazine ranked Lawrence as the No. 22 small metro on its annual list of "Best Places for Business and Careers."
• Worldwide ERC and Primacy Relocation ranked Lawrence at No. 11 on the "2006 Best Cities for Relocating Families" list.
• Population Connection ranked Overland Park as the No. 4 best suburb in the country in its "Kid-Friendly Cities Report Card." Wichita finished 23rd among major metropolitan areas.

Cost of Living:

Overall living costs in Kansas are 8 percent below the national average, which places our state in the lowest one-third of states for cost of living. This means more purchasing power, more freedom and more money in your pocket for things you want.

Kansas housing is affordable, too, with the median value of owner-occupied housing more than 30 percent below the national average. In fact, the 2006 Coldwell Banker Home Price Comparison Index ranked Kansas among the most-affordable states for buying a home, with the capital city of Topeka being named the fifth-most affordable city in the nation. With numbers like this, it’s no surprise that home ownership in Kansas is above the national average.

The bottom line is this – your dollar goes further in Kansas.

Education:

Kansas’ education system is one of the best in the nation and a powerful factor in the state’s overall quality of life and economic growth. Almost 90 percent of Kansas adults have a high school diploma, making Kansas the No. 11-ranked state in that category. Kansas is also among the top states for:

• percent of adults with a college degree (13th)
• average ACT score (16th)
• pupil-to-teacher ration (18th)
• students per computer (7th)

Moreover, 37 percent of the state’s overall spending is dedicated to education, which is the 14th-best percentage in the country and a higher percentage than that of New York, California, Illinois and Missouri.

Kansas’s top-notch education system is hardly a secret. Expansion Management magazine ranks the cities of Lawrence, Overland Park and Shawnee Mission among the top 3 percent of metro areas in the United States for overall quality of public schools, with Manhattan and Olathe finishing in the top 20 percent. A number of the state’s post-secondary institutions – the University of Kansas and Kansas State University, in particular – are perennial nominees in The Princeton Review, U.S. News and World Report, the Fiske Guide to Colleges and Kaplan’s rankings of the nation’s best schools. In addition, the Kansas Board of Regents shows tuition and fees at the state’s six regents universities as comparing favorably with colleges in five neighboring states, falling as much as 32 percent below the regional average.

Health Care:

A wide variety of premium health services are available throughout Kansas, typically at below-average costs. In 2006, Expansion Management magazine ranked Kansas 18th in its annual Health Care Cost Quotient, which evaluated states on health care costs, availability, and quality of care. The rate of community hospitals is nearly three times the national rate, with 4.9 community hospitals per 100,000 residents. First-class care facilities are located across the state and offer quality, top-notch services. For example, the University of Kansas Medical Center is a nationally recognized biomedical research center, offering progressive education, health care and research. In addition:

• Morgan Quinto Press ranked Kansas the 12th-most healthy state in the nation in 2006 based on 21 health-related factors.
• The 2006 Kids Count annual survey shows Kansas as having the eighth-lowest rate of children without health insurance in the nation.

the little things:

Traffic congestion is rarely a problem in Kansas, with an average commute time to work of only 19 minutes. Moreover, the Road Information Program recently ranked Kansas roads as the seventh-best in the nation, meaning you can count on a safe, worry-free drive whenever you get in your car. In addition, the state is ranked 20th nationally for percentage of sunny days and is in the top one-third of states for clean air. The average daily temperature is 56.4 degrees Fahrenheit.

And while there’s no official index of "crystal-clear days that fade into tranquil starry nights," we think we’d rank pretty high on that one, too.