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

The cost side of living in Wichita

Census figures put the median gross rent in the Wichita, KS metro at $787 for a one-bedroom, $998 for a two-bedroom and $1,230 for a three-bedroom. Moving from one to two bedrooms adds $211 a month, and the third bedroom another $232.

On the ownership side, the typical owner-occupied home is valued at $201,200. That is only 2.8× the area's median household income of $70,655, a low ratio by national standards.

Price levels matter beyond rent. The Bureau of Economic Analysis measures Wichita's overall prices at 88.9 on a scale where the nation is 100, which makes a $100,000 salary feel like about $112,428 would elsewhere.

Income needed for each grade in Wichita

For two bedrooms, $98,000 is where Wichita turns Comfortable. Below that, $49,000 marks the start of Okay and $25,000 the start of Tight; under $25,000 the score reads Stretched. Rent at the Comfortable line is 12% of gross pay.

Royal, the top band, starts at $271,000. At that income rent is 4% of pay and the median home 0.7× income.

These lines come straight from the calculator's formula: the income is raised until the two-bedroom score crosses each cutoff, then rounded up to the next $1,000.

Scores at $50K, $75K, $100K and $150K in Wichita

On $75,000, a one-bedroom scores 61 and a three-bedroom 54, both Okay; the extra bedrooms cost points but not a grade.

Of the four salaries, $100,000 is the first where a two-bedroom reads Comfortable or better; $75,000 still lands at Okay.

Wichita compared with every US metro

Out of 387 metros, Wichita has the 313th highest price parity and the 290th highest two-bedroom rent, which puts it in the bottom quarter on overall prices and in the middle half on rent.

Next to Wichita on the national rent ranking: Peoria, IL ($998) and Cleveland, TN ($995).

Wichita in a Kansas context

Compared with Kansas as a whole, two-bedroom rent in Wichita is 4% lower ($998 vs. $1,042) and the median home is 7% lower ($201,200 vs. $217,200).

The Kansas figure for the Comfortable line, using state medians, is $107,000 against $98,000 for Wichita.

If Wichita is on your list, Topeka, KS, Manhattan, 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.

Where the typical Wichita household lands

The median household in the metro earns $70,655 (ACS 2020-2024). Run through the calculator with two bedrooms, that scores 56, Okay. Reaching Comfortable would take $27,345 more than the median household earns. For Kansas as a whole, the median household income of $74,275 scores 55 against statewide rents. Since a household can have two or more earners, compare it with a combined income rather than one paycheck.

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