Topeka, KS population, income and ZIP codes

Topeka city is a mid-size city in Kansas, with 126,103 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #5 of 740 ranked by population — larger than 99% of them. The median age here is 38.2 years against 39.1 nationally, a slightly younger profile than the country as a whole. At this size the Census also publishes one-year estimates; the five-year values used here are steadier and let you compare against smaller neighbours on the same basis.

Households in Topeka city earn a median of $55,902 a year, 28.8% below the national figure of $78,538 and 12% below the $63,750 median for the 200 Kansas cities we cover. Household income here is measured before tax and pooled across everyone at the address, which is why it reads higher than typical individual earnings in the same area. Poverty reaches 15.6% of residents here, above the 12.4% national rate.

The typical owner-occupied home in Topeka city is valued at $130,600, 57% below the national figure and within a couple of points of the $131,300 peer median, while median gross rent runs $947 a month, 32.6% below the national figure, or roughly $11,364 across a full year. A household on the local median income would put about 20.3% of gross pay toward that rent against the federal 30% cost-burden threshold, so renting here is within the standard affordability guideline. The home-price-to-income ratio works out to 2.3×, against roughly 3.9× nationally, so purchase prices are unusually low against local pay, the pattern in places where supply is plentiful and wage growth has been flat. 59.2% of occupied homes are owner-occupied versus 65% nationally, so the market leans more heavily on renters. The rent line includes utilities paid by the tenant, a definition worth remembering when comparing it against a landlord's quoted rate.

Every value on this page is published directly by the Census for this area — nothing is modelled or interpolated. Small-area estimates still carry wider margins of error than state or national figures, so check the linked ACS tables before relying on them for lending, appraisal or legal work.