What salary do you need to live in Manhattan, KS?

The cost side of living in Manhattan

Median gross rent, meaning contract rent plus tenant-paid utilities, runs $820, $984 and $1,322 a month for one, two and three bedrooms across Manhattan, KS. The largest of those is 61% more than the smallest.

On the ownership side, the typical owner-occupied home is valued at $223,700. That is only 3.4× the area's median household income of $65,469, a low ratio by national standards.

The Regional Price Parity, BEA's index of local prices with the US at 100, is 90.2 here. Below 100 means a paycheck stretches further: $100,000 in Manhattan has the buying power of roughly $110,911 at national average prices.

Income needed for each grade in Manhattan

With a two-bedroom at the median rent, the score enters Tight at $26,000, Okay at $52,000 and Comfortable at $105,000 a year before tax. At the Comfortable line, a year of rent takes 11% of income and the median home is 2.1× income.

Royal, the top band, starts at $281,000. At that income rent is 4% of pay and the median home 0.8× income.

Each figure is the lowest income, to the next $1,000, at which the calculator itself would show that grade for a two-bedroom in Manhattan.

Manhattan at four common salaries

Choosing a bigger place in Manhattan at $75,000 trims the score from 58 to 51 without leaving Okay.

Read down the two-bedroom column and the first Comfortable row is $150,000, consistent with the $105,000 line above.

Where Manhattan falls nationally

On price level Manhattan is 287th of 387 (1 = most expensive); on two-bedroom rent it is 309th, and on median home value 253rd. Rent and overall prices don't line up exactly, with prices in the middle half and rent in the bottom quarter.

For a sense of scale, the metros just above and below it on two-bedroom rent are Fargo, ND-MN ($985) and Niles, MI ($984).

Manhattan vs. the rest of Kansas

Statewide, Kansas's median two-bedroom rent is $1,042 and its median home value $217,200. Manhattan's rent is −6% against that, and its home value +3%; the price parity is 90.2 versus 90.1 for the state.

Scored the same way, the statewide figures turn Comfortable at $107,000, so Manhattan needs $2,000 less than Kansas overall.

If Manhattan is on your list, Topeka, KS, Wichita, KS, and Joplin, MO-KS are the most similar Kansas metros by two-bedroom rent and price level; the table shows where each turns Comfortable.

The median Manhattan household

What about a typical local household? Census puts median household income here at $65,469, which grades Okay (52) for a two-bedroom at the median rent. Put differently, Manhattan's typical household is $39,531 below the $105,000 it takes to read Comfortable on two bedrooms. Statewide, the Kansas median household ($74,275) grades Okay on the state's own medians. Keep in mind a household median often combines two incomes.

These are pre-tax estimates from public statistics, not financial advice.