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Hiawatha, Kansas

Hiawatha is a small town of about 3,100 people in Brown County, Kansas. It's the county seat. It has lost about 4% of its people since 2020. A typical home costs about 1.8 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 73 miles away as the crow flies.

County seat

Population
3,124
down 3.9% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$121,800
Brown County prices up 29% since 2022
Household income
$68,750
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, rural Kansas
85.9
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
In town
Hiawatha Community Hospital
To Kansas City
73 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 14.1% below the U.S. average in the parts of Kansas outside metro areas.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 1.8 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood12 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 3.9 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 13.2 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town2 public schools: 1 middle and 1 high school.
  • A hospital close byHiawatha Community Hospital is in town and has an emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityKansas City is about 73 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 Hiawatha 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
$121,800U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 29%Brown County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$652 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$68,750U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
76%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$1,503 a yearKansas: $2,798
Homes built before 1940
28%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
2%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
4%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
85.9U.S. average = 100 (the parts of Kansas outside metro areas)

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 29% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the parts of Kansas outside metro areas, not Hiawatha 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
3,1242020: 3,251
Median age
41.6 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
19%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
25%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
18%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
8%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 (27%); retail (19%); manufacturing (16%)
Unemployment rate
6%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
12 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
6%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: Hiawatha Community Hospital, Hiawatha, KS, in town. It's a critical access hospital (a small rural hospital with 25 or fewer beds). Medicare gives it 3 of 5 stars.

Nearest general hospital: Mosaic Life Care at St. Joseph, Saint Joseph, MO, about 41 miles away. 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 Hiawatha, run by Hiawatha.

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
74%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
15°F
July average high
87°F
Days 90°F or hotter
32 a year
Nights at or below freezing
132 a year
Rain and melted snow
34.7 inches a year
Snow
17 inches a year
Elevation
1,123 feet

Weather station: Hiawatha 1 S (1 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: St. Joseph, Kansas City.

Brown County is outside any metro area, with fewer than 5,000 people in its towns, next to a metro area (USDA rural-urban code 8, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

8 places on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Hiawatha Courthouse Square Historic District.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Brown v. Board of Education National Historical Park57 miles

Read about Hiawatha's history on Wikipedia.

Know Hiawatha?

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

  • Robinson, KS173 people, 7 miles
  • Morrill, KS209 people, 10 miles
  • Fairview, KS233 people, 10 miles
  • Everest, KS248 people, 13 miles
  • Kickapoo Tribal Center, KS (unincorporated)128 people, 14 miles
  • Highland, KS935 people, 14 miles
  • Kickapoo Site 5, KS (unincorporated)161 people, 15 miles
  • Rulo, NE145 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.