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Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
The remote work era changed the math: earn a tech salary, live in an affordable market. We analyzed 4 cities across Kansas for that equation. Overland Park — cost index 97, utilities 99, rent $1,666/mo — leads.
#1 Ranked: Overland Park — cost index 97, rent $1,666/mo, income $103,838
Overland Park: high income, low cost — a rare combo
Remote-worker scoring: cost index 97, utilities index 99, income $103,838 — maximizing geographic arbitrage
Data sourced from Census Bureau, Zillow, BLS, and Tax Foundation — current as of 2026
The remote work era changed the math: earn a tech salary, live in an affordable market. We analyzed 4 cities across Kansas for that equation. Overland Park — cost index 97, utilities 99, rent $1,666/mo — leads.
Overland Park: high income, low cost — a rare combo. Overland Park earns above the national median ($103,838 vs $80,367) while keeping costs below average (index 97 vs 111). That combination is exceptionally rare — only 40 of 288 cities share it.
Why Overland Park ranks #1: the numbers tell a clear story. At 97 on the cost index, residents save roughly 14% less than the typical American. Rent sits at $1,666/month — we had to double-check this one — while the median household pulls in $103,838/year. The Housing category is particularly strong at 97, though Healthcare (99) lags behind. Home prices average $470,417 — $3,047 above the national median.
Remote workers profit from geographic arbitrage. Our model scores cost index (20pts), local income as a proxy for economic infrastructure (15pts), and utility costs (10pts) — because when your living room is your office, reliable affordable internet and power matter. Overland Park scores highest with a 97 cost index and 99 utilities index. Wichita offers even cheaper utilities.
Zooming out, State context matters: Kansas's 4 cities average a 84 cost index with $1,438/month median rent and $83,761 household income. Plains affordability with steady incomes. In the comparison grid, two cities swap places when you switch from rent to total cost.
Bottom line: Overland Park leads this ranking for clear, data-backed reasons — but the "best" city depends on your priorities. Click into any city below to see the full detail page with 12-month trend charts, profession-specific salary data, and a breakdown of all five cost categories. If you're seriously considering a move, use our salary calculator to model your specific income against these numbers.
197,089 residents · Kansas
Why Overland Park ranks #1: the numbers tell a clear story. At 97 on the cost index, residents save roughly 14% less than the typical American. Rent sits at $1,666/month while the median household pulls in $103,838/year. The Housing category is particularly strong at 97, though Healthcare (99) lags behind. Home prices average $470,417 — $3,047 above the national median.
396,119 residents · Kansas
Here's Wichita by the numbers — and there's a lot to like (and a little to watch). And most of the time, cost index: 66. Rent: $1,125/month. Income: $63,072/year. Home price: $198,074. Population: 396,119. The strongest category is Housing at 66; the most expensive is Healthcare at 93. Translate that rent to annual numbers, and residents are saving renters $9,240 per year vs. the national median. That's an underrated factor in the decision.
125,475 residents · Kansas
In plain English: Why Topeka ranks #3: the numbers tell a clear story. At 68 on the cost index, residents save roughly 43% less than the typical American. Rent sits at $1,169/month — which, honestly, is lower than you'd expect here — while the median household pulls in $55,902/year. The Housing category is particularly strong at 68, though Healthcare (94) lags behind. Home prices average $186,856 — $280,514 below the national median. That's not nothing.
147,461 residents · Kansas
Dive into Olathe's numbers: cost index 105 (6 points below national average), rent $1,792/month, income $112,232, and a home price of $425,657. The city's cost profile isn't flat — Healthcare is the cheapest category at 101, while Housing runs 105. With 147,461 residents, it balances mid-size city convenience with manageable costs (that's pre-tax, of course).
Our persona scoring model weights cost of living, income, rent, healthcare costs, tax burden, and population size differently based on what matters most to remote workers. Each factor contributes 10-25 points to a 0-100 composite score. Cities with the highest composite rank first. All data is sourced from federal agencies and verified research institutions. Cost of living indices are normalized to 100 (national median) using Zillow rent as the primary signal, with sub-category adjustments derived from regional BLS price data. Rankings are updated monthly as new data is released.
Overland Park ranks #1 in Kansas for this analysis with a cost index of 97 and median income of $103,838.
Overland Park scores highest for remote workers due to its below-average cost of living, median rent of $1,666/mo, and above-average median income of $103,838.
Our cost of living index uses real Zillow rent data as the foundation, indexed to 100 (national median). Sub-categories (housing, food, transport, utilities, healthcare) are derived from the overall index with regional adjustments. Data is updated monthly.
Overland Park (ranked #1) has a cost index of 97 and rent of $1,666/mo, while Olathe (ranked #4) has a cost index of 105 and rent of $1,792/mo — a 8-point difference in cost of living.
City data is refreshed monthly from Census Bureau population estimates, Zillow rent and home price indices, BLS salary data, and Tax Foundation tax rates. Last updated: 2026.
The median 1-bedroom rent in Overland Park is $1,666/month as of 2026, based on Zillow's Observed Rent Index. This is $229 below the national median of $1,895/month.
The median home price in Overland Park is $470,417, which is 4.5× the local median income. It's on the edge of affordability for median-income households. The national median home price is $467,370.
Kansas has a 5.7% state income tax rate. Combined state and local sales tax averages 8.7%, and the effective property tax rate is 1.28%.
This ranking was generated using data current as of early 2026. Population and income data comes from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey (5-year estimates). Rent and home price data is from Zillow's monthly releases. Tax rates are from the Tax Foundation's 2025 edition. Rankings are refreshed monthly.