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Towns / Kansas

Carbondale, Kansas

Carbondale is a small town of about 1,300 people in Osage County, Kansas. It has lost about 4% of its people since 2020. A typical home costs about 1.6 years of the typical household's income, compared with 4.1 across the U.S. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Kansas City, is about 65 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
1,296
down 3.9% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$119,400
Osage County prices up 16% since 2022
Household income
$75,750
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Topeka area
88.8
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
16 miles
Topeka, KS
To Kansas City
65 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 11.2% below the U.S. average in the Topeka metro area.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 1.6 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhoodThe FBI has no 2025 figures for Carbondale itself. Many small towns are patrolled by the county sheriff, so call the sheriff's office and ask what calls they get most.
  • Schools in town2 public schools: 1 middle and 1 high school.
  • A hospital close byStormont Vail Hospital in Topeka, about 16 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityKansas City is about 65 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Carbondale meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$119,400U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 16%Osage County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$617 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$75,750U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
72%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$2,182 a yearKansas: $2,798
Homes built before 1940
16%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
3%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
0%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
88.8U.S. average = 100 (the Topeka metro area)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 16% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Topeka metro area, not Carbondale alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2025 estimate
1,2962020: 1,349
Median age
36.1 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
14%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
27%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
21%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
4%U.S.: 6%
College students
5%share of all residents

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work
Schools, health care and social services (33%); transportation, warehousing and utilities (14%); retail (10%)
Unemployment rate
1%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
22 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
11%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
15%U.S.: 12%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Stormont Vail Hospital, Topeka, KS, about 16 miles away. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 4 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

2 public schools in Carbondale, run by Santa Fe Trail.

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on Kansas's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Internet

Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet
78%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
92%U.S.: 91%

Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Weather

January average low
19°F
July average high
90°F
Days 90°F or hotter
52 a year
Nights at or below freezing
117 a year
Rain and melted snow
37.6 inches a year
Snow
12 inches a year
Elevation
1,069 feet

Weather stations: Topeka Forbes Fld (9 miles away) and Auburn (9 miles away, rain and snow). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Stormont Vail Hospital, Topeka, Kansas City.

Osage County is in a metro area of fewer than 250,000 people (USDA rural-urban code 3, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Brown v. Board of Education National Historical Park15 miles
  • Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve52 miles

Read about Carbondale's history on Wikipedia.

Know Carbondale?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Smaller places

  • Scranton, KS637 people, 4 miles
  • Wakarusa, KS (unincorporated)209 people, 5 miles
  • Overbrook, KS985 people, 8 miles
  • Burlingame, KS925 people, 9 miles
  • Vassar, KS (unincorporated)832 people, 13 miles
  • Harveyville, KS172 people, 15 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.