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Towns / Kansas

Columbus, Kansas

Columbus is a small town of about 2,900 people in Cherokee County, Kansas. It's the county seat. Its population has held about steady since 2020. A typical home costs about 2.5 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, Tulsa, is about 93 miles away as the crow flies.

County seat

Population
2,866
down 1.7% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$94,100
Cherokee County prices up 49% since 2022
Household income
$37,961
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Joplin area
85.7
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
In town
Mercy Hospital Columbus
To Tulsa
93 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 14.3% below the U.S. average in the Joplin metro area.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 2.5 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood4 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 1.4 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 11.5 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town4 public schools: 2 elementary, 1 middle and 1 high school.
  • A hospital close byMercy Hospital Columbus is in town and has an emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityTulsa is about 93 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 Columbus 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
$94,100U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 49%Cherokee County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$774 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$37,961U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
67%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$1,369 a yearKansas: $2,798
Homes built before 1940
27%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
5%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
0%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
85.7U.S. average = 100 (the Joplin 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 49% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Joplin metro area, not Columbus 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
2,8662020: 2,915
Median age
38.5 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
21%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
24%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
24%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
1%U.S.: 6%

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 (26%); manufacturing (16%); transportation, warehousing and utilities (10%)
Unemployment rate
3%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
17 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
2%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
21%U.S.: 12%

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

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Mercy Hospital Columbus, Columbus, KS, in town. It's a critical access hospital (a small rural hospital with 25 or fewer beds). Medicare hasn't given it a star rating.

Nearest general hospital: Mercy Hospital Pittsburg, INC, Pittsburg, KS, about 19 miles away. Medicare gives it 3 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

4 public schools in Columbus, run by Columbus.

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
71%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
88%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
23°F
July average high
90°F
Days 90°F or hotter
46 a year
Nights at or below freezing
95 a year
Rain and melted snow
46 inches a year
Snow
7 inches a year
Elevation
913 feet

Weather station: Columbus (less than a mile away). 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: Joplin, Tulsa.

Cherokee 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:

  • George Washington Carver National Monument29 miles
  • Wilson's Creek National Battlefield41 miles
  • Fort Scott National Historic Site47 miles

Read about Columbus's history on Wikipedia.

Know Columbus?

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

  • Scammon, KS366 people, 8 miles
  • Crestline, KS (unincorporated)139 people, 8 miles
  • West Mineral, KS149 people, 9 miles
  • Riverton, KS (unincorporated)769 people, 10 miles
  • Weir, KS563 people, 10 miles
  • Lowell, KS (unincorporated)278 people, 11 miles
  • Cherokee, KS599 people, 12 miles
  • Asbury, MO195 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.