The rural population in Kansas grew by more than 10% during the last decade after about 30 small cities lost their “urban” classification according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
The U.S. Census Bureau last week released a new list of cities considered “urban” based on new criteria that effectively increased the “rural” population in Kansas.
The new definitions meant that 31 small Kansas towns lost their “urban” status, meaning they will face new challenges for getting federal government funding.
They were among 1,140 small cities, hamlets, towns and villages that lost their urban designation nationally and were reclassified as rural.
Here’s the complete list of all the cities nationally and in Kansas that were moved out of the urban category.
The new census data showed Kansas had a rural population of about 813,800 people living in urbans areas in 2020, up from about 736,200 in in 2010.
The state’s urban population dropped from 2.12 million in 2010 to 2.11 million in 2020, the census data showed.
About 72% of Kansas population is now urban and about 28% is now rural. In 2010, it was 74% urban and 26% rural.
Overall, the national urban population increased by 6.4% between 2010 and 2020 based on 2020 census data and a change in the way urban areas are defined.
The national rural population increased from 19.3% in 2010 to 20% in 2020.
The Census Bureau cautioned that the numbers do not reflect a substantial urban to rural migration, but rather they stem largely from the result of changes to the criteria.
The changes to the definition, which are made every 10 years after the census, included:
- Housing unit density was used as a measure instead of just population density. The minimum population threshold to qualify as an urban area increased from 2,500 to 5,000 or a minimum housing unit threshold of 2,000 housing units.
- The jump distance – the distance along roads used to connect high-density urban areas surrounded by rural areas – was reduced from 2.5 miles to 1.5 miles for 2020.
- No longer distinguishing between urbanized areas and urban clusters. All qualifying areas are designated urban areas.
John Goodyear, general counsel for the League of Kansas Municipalities, said the rural and urban definitions are important because they determine what cities qualify for various types of funding for transportation, health care, housing, education and agriculture.
Urban areas are eligible for funding that rural areas are not, and the same is true in reverse, Goodyear said.
“The change removes urban funding streams once available to these now ‘rural’ communities and puts them on a different playing field to compete for and gain access to federal funds,” Goodyear said.
“It is going to take some time to familiarize themselves with the new landscape.”
California was the most urban state nationally, with 94.2% of its population living in urban areas, according to the census data.
Nevada followed closely with 94.1% of its population residing in urban areas.
By comparison, about 70% of Missouri’s population was urban compared to about 30% rural. It was about the same for Missouri in 2010, the data shows.
The cities that were moved to rural included De Soto, Baxter Springs, Beloit, Baldwin City, Osage City, Columbus, Burlington, Lindsborg and others.
Here’s the list of the cities and their population:
- Baldwin City, 4,428
- Baxter Springs, 5,089
- Beloit, 3,295
- Burlington, 2,503
- Columbus 3,272
- De Soto, 4,701
- Ellsworth, 2,982
- Eureka, 2,591
- Galena, 2,673
- Garnett, 3,336
- Girard, 2,547
- Hesston, 3,306
- Hiawatha, 3,145
- Hillsboro, 2,815
- Hoisington, 2,709
- Hiawatha, 3,145
- Holton, 3,245
- Hugoton, 3,936
- Kingman, 2,978
- Lindsborg, 3,405
- Louisburg, 3,930
- Lyons, 3,652
- Marysville, 2,937
- Neodesha, 2,570
- Norton, 2,893
- Osage City, 2,683
- Osawatomie, 4,365
- Phillipsburg, 2,609
- Rose Hill, 3,650
- Sabetha, 2,526
- St. Marys, 2,669
- Scott City, 3,647
