Topeka, Kansas population is 125,795 as of July 1, 2025 (U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2025 estimate), ranking #232 nationally and #5 in Kansas. Cost of living runs 11% below the U.S. average (BEA RPP 2024); a family of four needs roughly $80,405/yr to break even (2025 modeled). This profile draws on 13 federal datasets covering population, housing, income, employment, climate, and risk.
At a glance.
2025 population
125,795
+118 in the last year
Top 2% of 19,483 U.S. cities
Census Vintage 2025
Cost of living
RPP 88.8
−11% vs US
Topeka, KS metro · BEA 2024
Family-of-4 budget
$80,405/yr
+0.4% vs US
Modeled 2025 · federal sources
Median HH income
$56,956
−27% vs US
ACS 2020–2024 5-yr
Median home value
$144,200
−52% vs US
ACS 2020–2024 5-yr
2-BR fair-market rent
$1,057/mo
HUD FY2026 · 40th pct
Avg July high
90°F
NOAA 1991–2020
Gigabit broadband
65%
ISP-reported, FCC BDC
Explore Topeka, KS demographics, including age, race and ethnicity, households, origins, language, and education.
How many people live in Topeka?
125,795 people live in Topeka as of July 1, 2025 (U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025), the #232 largest U.S. city.
How big is Topeka?
Topeka covers 61.9 square miles of land and 1.3 square miles of water. Its population density is about 2,032 residents per square mile of land. Compare U.S. cities by land area →
Source detail: 2025 population
2025 population
Source agency
U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division
Dataset
Census PEP
Vintage / period
Vintage 2025 (Jul 1, 2025)
Native geography
Census PEP subcounty place records for the included city universe.
Transformation
Copied from POPESTIMATE2025, joined by Census GEOID, and used for ranks, filters, and city pages.
Known limit: Annual estimate, not a decennial count; each new PEP vintage can revise the prior series.
Population shrank 0.6% from the April 2020 base to mid-2025.
Vintage 2025 · annual estimates
Recent history (V2025 series, 2020 base → 2025).
2020 base: 126,609 → 2025: 125,795 (-0.6%)
Year
Population
Reference date
2020 base
126,609
April 1, 2020
2020
126,427
July 1, 2020
2021
126,179
July 1, 2021
2022
125,481
July 1, 2022
2023
125,509
July 1, 2023
2024
125,677
July 1, 2024
2025
125,795
July 1, 2025
Earlier history (2010–2019, prior Census vintage)
These figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Vintage 2019 release — a separate, earlier methodology. They’re shown here as historical context only; the 2010 and 2019 values aren’t directly comparable to the 2020–2025 series above.
Population shrank 2.0% from the July 2010 estimate to 2019 (V2019 — see seam note below).
Topeka is the #232 largest of 19,483 U.S. cities and #5 in Kansas.
▸Show the analyst detail (9 rows)
Measure
Value
Note
2020 base
126,609
April 1, 2020 census base
5-yr change
-814
2020 base → 2025; within V2025
5-yr change %
-0.6%
within V2025 only
1-yr change
+118
2024 → 2025 estimate
1-yr change %
+0.1%
within V2025 only
Density
2,032
people per sq mi, land only
Land area
61.9
sq mi (2025 Gazetteer)
U.S. rank by population
#232
of 19,483 cities
State rank by population
#5
of 625 in Kansas
What is the median household income in Topeka?
Median household income is 27% below the U.S. median ($56,956 vs $77,719); 15.7% live in poverty — 3.2 points above the 12.5% U.S. rate.
Median household income$56,956
US
Topeka: $56,956 — 27% below the US median of $77,719.
Scale: 10th–90th percentile of cities with ACS income data
Topeka
$56,956
United States
$77,719
Income and poverty estimates for Topeka from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year estimates (window 2020–2024). Every figure is shown with its 90% margin of error (MOE). Cells where the ± margin exceeds half the estimate are flagged "low precision." See methodology §12.
Measure
Estimate
± margin / note
Median household income
56,956-26.7% vs US
±1,954
Per capita income
34,089-21.3% vs US
±854
Population in poverty
15.7%
share of population for whom poverty status is determined
Median home value is 52% below the U.S. median ($144,200 vs $303,400); median rent is 27% below ($979 vs $1,348); price-to-income ratio is 2.5×, making it 1.5× as affordable as the typical U.S. city (3.9×).
Median home value$144,200
US
Topeka: $144,200 — 52% below the US median of $303,400.
Scale: 10th–90th percentile of cities with ACS home-value data
HUD 2-BR fair-market rent$1,057/mo
US
Topeka: $1,057/mo — 2% below the US median of $1,077/mo.
Scale: 10th–90th percentile of cities with a HUD Fair Market Rent
Poverty (Census SAIPE 2024, model-based), unemployment (BLS LAUS 2024 annual averages), and remote-work share (ACS 2020–2024) for Topeka. Numbers are labeled at their native grain — place-grain when BLS publishes it, otherwise per-county. We do not compute population-weighted county averages. See methodology §13.
Measure
Value
Grain
Unemployment rate (annual avg)
4.0%
Topeka (BLS sub-state LAUS)
Civilian labor force
63,554
2024 annual avg
Worked from home
10.9%-22.1% vs US
share of workers 16+ commuting from home · U.S. median: 14% · ACS
County context — Topeka sits in Shawnee County:
County
Poverty rate
Median HH income
Unemployment
Shawnee County
12.0%
$71,876
3.8%
Top industries by private employment — NAICS supersectors rolled up from Topeka's linked county in the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW, 2024 annual averages). See methodology §11.
#
Industry (NAICS supersector)
Private employment
Avg weekly wage
#1
Health care and social assistance (62)
17,852
$1,223 / wk
#2
Retail trade (44-45)
8,599
$663 / wk
#3
Manufacturing (31-33)
8,198
$1,361 / wk
#4
Accommodation and food services (72)
7,236
$416 / wk
#5
Administrative and waste services (56)
6,037
$879 / wk
What workers earn in the Topeka, KS metro — top occupations by employment plus six curated benchmarks (registered nurse, software developer, elementary teacher, general manager, retail salesperson, truck driver). Wages are metro-area medians from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025). See methodology §25.
Fast Food and Counter Workers is the largest tracked occupation in the Topeka, KS metro (3,260 jobs, median $27,810/yr).
▸Show all 13 occupations
Occupation
Employment
Median annual
Median hourly
Fast Food and Counter Workers
3,260
$27,810
$13.37
Home Health and Personal Care Aides
3,090
$31,470
$15.13
Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive
2,920
$39,500
$18.99
Customer Service Representatives
2,340
$43,180
$20.76
Nursing Assistants
2,270
$38,720
$18.62
Cashiers
2,240
$28,580
$13.74
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand
2,140
$49,140
$23.62
Registered Nurses · benchmark
3,190
$81,820
$39.34
General and Operations Managers · benchmark
2,450
$85,080
$40.90
Retail Salespersons · benchmark
2,270
$32,820
$15.78
Software Developers · benchmark
1,500
$111,870
$53.78
Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers · benchmark
1,450
$58,870
$28.30
Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education · benchmark
All items run 11.2% below the U.S. average (RPP 88.8); rents run 35.0% below (RPP 65.0) — the metro's housing affordability is the main driver.
Cost of living (RPP, all items)RPP 88.8
US
Topeka's cost of living runs 11.2% below the U.S. average (RPP 88.8 vs 100).
Scale: 10th–90th percentile of metro/non-metro areas with a BEA price parity
BEA Regional Price Parity (all items)
RPP 88.8
−11.2% vs U.S. average · BEA 2024 · Topeka, KS metro
HUD Fair Market Rent, 2-BR
$1,057/mo
FY2026 · Topeka, KS MSA
State income tax (top marginal rate)
5.58%
2 brackets · TY2025
Family-of-four monthly budget total
$6,700/mo
3BR rent + food + childcare + taxes + transport · federal sources
Single-adult monthly budget total
$4,024/mo
1BR rent + food + taxes + transport · federal sources
Local income tax
—
not applicable in Kansas · no modeled local income tax
Household budget figures are arithmetic floors using current federal sources at the grains documented in methodology. Not a recommended salary, not a poverty threshold, not a composite score.
5.1% foreign-born (U.S. median 14%); Spanish is the most-spoken language at home other than English (6.9% of residents 5+).
A quick read on Topeka's residents — nativity and languages spoken at home shown above, from the ACS 5-Year 2020–2024. The full demographic breakdown (age, race and ethnicity, household types, and educational attainment, each with its margin of error) lives on the demographics page.
These are K-12 public school districts. Higher education (colleges and universities) is not represented in this dataset.
Public school districts serving Topeka, from the NCES EDGE Geographic Relationship Files (GRF25, 2024–25 school year boundaries). The join is many-to-many — large cities often span multiple districts, and one district often serves multiple cities. Sorted primary district first. See methodology §12 for the consolidated-city fallback and Milford CT special case.
Source: NCES EDGE GRF25 · school year 2024–25 · methodology →
What is the climate like in Topeka?
Hottest month: July (90°F avg high). Coldest: January (19°F avg low). Annual precipitation: 36.8 in.
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) for Topeka from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. See methodology §15 for the gridded vs. station source path.
Average monthly highs & lows · 30-year normal (NOAA 1991–2020). Every number on this chart is an average.
bar = avg daily high → avg daily lowprecip in inches below each barprecip in millimeters below each bar
Natural-hazard exposure for Topeka from the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Risk Index (FEMA NRI December 2025 v1.20.0). NRI is an expected-annual-loss composite calibrated on 1996–2019 historical losses, published at the U.S. county grain. See methodology §17.
County
NRI composite
Rating
Top hazards
Shawnee County
88.0
Relatively Moderate
Winter Weather 98.9 Very High · Ice Storm 97.9 Very High · Tornado 95.9 Relatively High
Source: FEMA National Risk Index · FEMA NRI December 2025 v1.20.0 · methodology →
How fast is home internet in Topeka?
10 non-satellite ISPs serve the area; 65% of locations have gigabit-capable service per ISP filings.
Fixed broadband availability for Topeka from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission's Broadband Data Collection (BDC), as of June 30, 2025. Every speed and provider count below is an ISP-reported advertised maximum — not measured throughput. Actual delivered speeds typically run 60–80% of advertised. See methodology §16.
Measure
Value
Note
Providers serving this city
10 + satellite
distinct ISPs, excluding satellite-only
Fiber providers
8
offer fiber-to-the-premises somewhere in the BDC
Units with ≥100/20 Mbps fixed
100.0%
share of broadband-serviceable units, ISP-reported max
Locations with ≥100 Mbps upload
64.7%
derived: max(fiber ≥100/20, gigabit). Fiber is symmetric; gigabit is ≥100 up by definition
Units with ≥1 Gbps fixed
64.7%
share of broadband-serviceable units, ISP-reported max
Total broadband-serviceable units
64,544
residential locations in the FCC Fabric (not households)
Source: FCC BDC · as of June 30, 2025 · methodology →
In-state context.
Topeka sits at state rank #5 among 625 cities in Kansas. Nearby in the state ranking:
Just above in the profiled set: Allentown, PA · #231 · 126,044 residents.
Just below in the profiled set: Lakeland, FL · #233 · 125,520 residents.
Quick travel facts for Topeka
Quick travel facts.
Nearest commercial airport
Manhattan Regional Airport(MHK) · 53 mi 85 km from city centroid
Best months to visit
Oct · months when the avg high sits in 65–80°F and precipitation is at or below the city's median monthly precip
Sources: elevation from USGS Elevation Point Query Service (3DEP) · nearest airport from OurAirports CSV (FAA-aligned, type=large/medium, scheduled_service=yes) · best months derived from NOAA 1991-2020 normals · methodology →
Frequently asked questions about Topeka.
How many people live in Topeka, KS?
Topeka has 125,795 residents as of July 1, 2025, making it the #232 largest city in the United States and #5 in Kansas. Source: U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025.
Is Topeka growing or shrinking?
Topeka has shrunk 0.6% since the April 2020 census baseline, losing 814 residents. The most recent year ticked up slightly (+118 residents, +0.1% from 2024 to 2025). Source: Census PEP Vintage 2025.
Topeka covers 61.9 square miles of land, with a population density of about 2,032 residents per square mile. Source: Census Gazetteer 2025.
What is the median household income in Topeka?
$56,956, about 27% below the U.S. median. Source: ACS 5-year estimates, 2020–2024.
SourceU.S. Census · PEP
VintageV2025
Reference2025-07-01
Place typeIncorporated place
GEOID2071000
Last build2026-08-27
Sources · provenance
Every listed dataset is used on this page.
The GEOID for Topeka is 2071000. These are the official datasets used by this profile's main data modules; click "methodology" for inclusion rules and the V2019 ↔ V2025 seam, or "source" for the raw publisher page. The headline population value above includes a source-detail disclosure with publisher, dataset, vintage, native geography, transformation, and caveat.
