County profile

Barton County

Kansas · ACS 2020–2024

Download data

Latest estimates

At a glance

U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates.

Total population
25,097
Median household income
$58,851
People below poverty
15.4%
Median home value
$126,400

Income

The median income of households in Barton County, Kansas was $58,851. An estimated 5% of households had income below $10,000 a year and 3.7% had income of $200,000 or more.

Household Income in Barton County, Kansas in 2020-2024

View Data Table ↓

Percent
Less than $10,000 5
$10,000 to $14,999 4.1
$15,000 to $24,999 7.6
$25,000 to $34,999 11.4
$35,000 to $49,999 14.4
$50,000 to $74,999 19.1
$75,000 to $99,999 13.6
$100,000 to $149,999 14.8
$150,000 to $199,999 6.3
$200,000 or more 3.7

Median Earnings for Full-Time Year-Round Workers by Sex in Barton County, Kansas in 2020-2024

View Data Table ↓

Dollars
Male 54764
Female 42076

An estimated 75.2% of households received earnings. An estimated 37.2% of households received Social Security and an estimated 21.3 % of households received retirement income other than Social Security. The average income from Social Security was $25,035. These income sources are not mutually exclusive; that is, some households received income from more than one source.

Proportion of Households with Various Income Sources in Barton County, Kansas in 2020-2024

View Data Table ↓

Percent
Earnings 75.2
Social Security 37.2
Retirement income 21.3
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) 6.1
Cash public assistance income 1.3

Poverty and Participation in Government Programs

In 2020-2024, 15.4 % of people were in poverty. An estimated 21.6% of children under 18 were below the poverty level, compared with 10.3% of people 65 years old and over. An estimated 14.6% of people 18 to 64 years were below the poverty level.

Poverty Rates in Barton County, Kansas in 2020-2024

View Data Table ↓

Percent
People in poverty 15.4
Children under 18 years below poverty 21.6
People 65 years old and over below poverty 10.3
People 18 to 64 years below poverty 14.6

In 2020-2024, 7 % of households received SNAP (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program). An estimated 49.2% of households that received SNAP had children under 18, and 28.6% of households that received SNAP had one or more people 60 years and over. An estimated 40.2% of all households receiving SNAP were families with a female householder and no spouse present.


Among the civilian noninstitutionalized population in Barton County, Kansas in 2020-2024, 88.8% had health insurance coverage and 11.2% did not have health insurance coverage. Private coverage was 64.9% and public coverage was 38.6%, respectively. The percentage of children under the age of 19 with no health insurance coverage was 5.5%.


In 2020-2024, Barton County, Kansas had a total population of 25,097 - 12,743 (50.8%) females and 12,354 (49.2%) males. The median age was 38.8 years. An estimated 24.1% of the population was under 18 years, 29.9% was 19 to 44 years, 23.1% was 45 to 64 years, and 20.8 % was 65 years and older.

Population by Age and Sex for Barton County, Kansas in 2020-2024

Male Female
Under 5 825 741
5 to 9 896 957
10 to 14 799 762
15 to 19 789 802
20 to 24 679 823
25 to 29 722 708
30 to 34 873 969
35 to 39 835 752
40 to 44 600 548
45 to 49 596 556
50 to 54 587 568
55 to 59 771 815
60 to 64 1027 888
65 to 69 663 910
70 to 74 776 678
75 to 79 388 463
80 to 84 210 345
85 and over 318 458

Hispanic Origin and Race

For people reporting one race alone, 81.4% were White; 0.6% were Black or African American; 9% were American Indian and Alaska Native; 0.2% were Asian; 0.3% were Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, and 0% were Some Other Race. An estimated 14.4% reported Two or More Races. An estimated 16.7% of the people in Barton County, Kansas were Hispanic or Latino. An estimated 78.9% of the people in Barton County, Kansas were White alone, non-Hispanic. People of Hispanic origin may be of any race.


Households and Families

In 2020-2024, there were 10,380 households in Barton County, Kansas. The average household size was 2.37 people.

Married-couple households made up 49% of the households in Barton County, Kansas while cohabiting couple households made up 5.4% of households. Female householders with no spouse or partner present were 26.3% of all households, while 19.3% of households had male householders with no spouse or partner present. Some households had one person, as 14.1% of households were male householders living alone, and 16.9% were female householders living alone, for a total of 31% of all households.

In Barton County, Kansas, 28% of all households had one or more people under the age of 18; 34.9% of all households had one or more people 65 years and over.

Types of Households in Barton County, Kansas in 2020-2024

View Data Table ↓

Percent
Married-couple households 49
Cohabiting Couples 5.4
Male Householder
No spouse/partner present
19.3
Female Householder
No spouse/partner present
26.3

Marital Status

Among persons 15 and older, 54.7% of males and 49.9% of females were currently married.

Population 15 years and over Percent
Males
Percent
Females
Never married 28.4 25.1
Now married, except separated 54.7 49.9
Separated 0.9 1.3
Widowed 4.7 12.4
Divorced 11.3 11.4

Grandparents and Grandchildren

In Barton County, Kansas, 192 grandparents lived with their grandchildren under 18 years old. Of those grandparents, 85.4% were responsible for the basic needs of their grandchildren.


Nativity and Foreign-Born

In 2020-2024, an estimated 95% of the people living in Barton County, Kansas were U.S. natives. 76.5% of the Barton County, Kansas population were living in the state where they were born.

Approximately 5% of Barton County, Kansas residents in 2020-2024 were foreign-born. 41.4% of foreign-born were naturalized U.S. citizens and an estimated 85.8 % entered the country before the year 2010.

Foreign-born residents of Barton County, Kansas come from different parts of the world. The bar graph below displays the percentage of foreign-born from each world region of birth in 2020-2024 for Barton County, Kansas.

Region of Birth for the Foreign-Born Population in Barton County, Kansas in 2020-2024

View Data Table ↓

Percent
Latin America 92.8
Asia 1.7
Europe 3
Africa 1.6
Northern America 0
Oceania 1

Language

Among people at least five years old living in Barton County, Kansas in 2020-2024, 9.3 % spoke a language other than English at home. Spanish was spoken by 9.1% of people at least five years old; 5.1% reported that they did not speak English "very well."

Percentage of the Population 5 years and over who Speak a Language other than English in Barton County, Kansas in 2020-2024

View Data Table ↓

Percent
Spanish 9.1
Other Indo-European languages 0.2
Asian and Pacific Islander languages 0
Other languages 0

Geographic Mobility

In 2020-2024, 87.4 % of the people at least one year old living in Barton County, Kansas were living in the same house one year earlier.

Geographic Mobility of Residents of Barton County, Kansas in 2020-2024

View Data Table ↓

Percent
Same house 87.4
Different house, same county 8.9
Different county, same state 2.4
Different state 1.2
Abroad 0.1

Education

In 2020-2024, 90.5 % of people 25 years and over had at least graduated from high school and 21.7% had a bachelor's degree or higher. An estimated 9.5% did not complete high school.

The total school enrollment in Barton County, Kansas was 5,798 in 2020-2024. Nursery school enrollment was 438 and kindergarten through 12th grade enrollment was 4,251. College or graduate school enrollment was 1,109.

Educational Attainment of People in Barton County, Kansas in 2020-2024

View Data Table ↓

Percent
Less than high school diploma 9.5
High school diploma or equivalency 28.1
Some college, no degree 28
Associate's degree 12.7
Bachelor's degree 15.6
Graduate or professional degree 6.1

Disability

In Barton County, Kansas, among the civilian noninstitutionalized population in 2020-2024, 16.9 % reported a disability. The likelihood of having a disability varied by age - from 4% of people under 18 years old, to 16.2% of people 18 to 64 years old, and to 34.1% of those 65 and over.


Employment Status and Type of Employer

In Barton County, Kansas, 60.4 % of the population 16 and over were employed; 37.1% were not currently in the labor force.

An estimated 74.4% of the people employed were private wage and salary workers; 18.3% were federal, state, or local government workers; and 6.7 % were self-employed in their own (not incorporated) business.

Class of worker Number Percent
Private wage and salary workers 8,870 74.4
Federal, state, or local government workers 2,182 18.3
Self-employed workers in own not incorporated business 797 6.7

Industries

In 2020-2024, the civilian employed population 16 years and older in Barton County, Kansas worked in the following industries:

Percent by Industry in Barton County, Kansas in 2020-2024

View Data Table ↓

Percent
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting, and mining 8.3
Construction 10.5
Manufacturing 7.9
Wholesale trade 1.8
Retail trade 8.8
Transportation and warehousing, and utilities 4.2
Information 1.2
Finance and insurance, and real estate and rental and leasing 5.9
Professional, scientific, and management, and administrative and waste management services 6.1
Educational services, and health care and social assistance 23.5
Arts, entertainment, and recreation, and accommodation, and food services 8.6
Other Services, except public administration 6.2
Public administration 7

Occupations

Occupations for the Civilian Employed Population 16 Years and over in Barton County, Kansas in 2020-2024

Civilian employed population 16 years and over Number Percent
Management, business, sciences, and arts occupations 4,205 35.3
Service occupations 2,289 19.2
Sales and office occupations 2,241 18.8
Natural resources, construction, and maintenance occupations 1,529 12.8
Production, transportation, and material moving occupations 1,664 14

Commuting to Work

An estimated 81% of Barton County, Kansas workers drove to work alone in 2020-2024, and 6.9% carpooled. Among those who commuted to work, it took them on average 15.2 minutes to get to work.

Percent of Workers 16 and over Commuting by Mode in Barton County, Kansas in 2020-2024

View Data Table ↓

Percent
Car, truck, van -- drove alone 81
Car, truck, van -- carpooled 6.9
Public transportation (excluding taxicab) 0.1
Walked 2.3
Other means 1
Worked from home 8.7

In 2020-2024, Barton County, Kansas had a total of 12,383 housing units. Of these housing units, 78.9% were single-family houses either not attached to any other structure or attached to one or more structures (commonly referred to as "townhouses" or "row houses"). 12.1% of the housing units were located in multi-unit structures, or those buildings that contained two or more apartments. 8.9% were mobile homes, while any remaining housing units were classified as "other," which included boats, recreational vehicles, vans, etc.

Types of Housing Units in Barton County, Kansas in 2020-2024

View Data Table ↓

Percent
Single-family houses 78.9
Apartments in multi-unit structures 12.1
Mobile homes 8.9
Boat, RV, van, etc 0

6% of the housing inventory was comprised of houses built since 2010, while 21.4% of the houses were first built in 1939 or earlier. The median number of rooms in all housing units in Barton County, Kansas was 5.9 rooms, and of these housing units 58.4% had three or more bedrooms.


In 2020-2024, Barton County, Kansas had 10,380 housing units that were occupied or had people living in them, while the remaining 2,003 were vacant. Of the occupied housing units, the percentage of these houses occupied by owners (also known as the homeownership rate) was 65.2% while renters occupied 34.8%. The average household size of owner-occupied houses was 2.46 and in renter-occupied houses it was 2.21.

3.1% of householders of these occupied houses had moved into their house since 2021, while 13% moved into their house in 1989 or earlier. Households without a vehicle available for personal use comprised 4.5% and another 25.7% had three or more vehicles available for use.

The following chart provides the primary fuel used to heat houses in Barton County, Kansas:

House Heating Fuel Used in Barton County, Kansas in 2020-2024

View Data Table ↓

Percent
Gas 79.2
Electricity 18.8
Fuel oil, kerosene, etc 0.3
All other fuels 1.5
No fuel used 0.4

In 2020-2024, the median property value for owner-occupied houses in Barton County, Kansas was $126,400.

Of the owner-occupied households, 43.7 % had a mortgage. 56.3% owned their houses "free and clear," that is without a primary mortgage or loan on the house. The median monthly housing costs for owners with a mortgage was $1,284 and for owners without a mortgage it was $553.

For renter-occupied houses, the median gross rent for Barton County, Kansas was $761. Gross rent includes the monthly contract rent and any monthly payments made for electricity, gas, water and sewer, and any other fuels to heat the house.