ExecutivePulse
Official Federal Data

Franklin County, Kansas

FIPS 20059 · Ottawa, KS · Population 26,106
9 Sources Updated June 22, 2026
$77,207
Median Income
$80,734 national
3.9%
Unemployment
4% national
$1.2B
GDP
24.6%
Bachelor's+
35.7% national

Demographics & Population

Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 · 5-Year Estimates

Household Income

Source: U.S. Census Bureau · American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median Household
$77,207
Per Capita
$34,973
Mean Household
$86,587
Poverty Rate
8.7%
Median Income Comparison
Franklin County$77,207
Kansas$74,275
National$80,734

Population Profile

Source: Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 · Tables B01001, B02001, B03003
65+: 17.9% (4,678 residents) 55-64: 14.2% (3,705 residents) 35-54: 23.9% (6,227 residents) 18-34: 20.9% (5,465 residents) Under 18: 23.1% (6,031 residents) 40 Median Age
Cohorts
Under 18 · 23.1%
18-34 · 20.9%
35-54 · 23.9%
55-64 · 14.2%
65+ · 17.9%
Race & Ethnicity
White90.6%
Black or African American1.1%
Asian0.6%
Hispanic or Latino(any race)4.8%
Hispanic or Latino is an ethnic category and overlaps with the race categories above.

Educational Attainment

Source: Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 · Table B15003 · Population 25+
92.7%
High School+
National: 89.6%
▲ +3.1 pts
24.6%
Bachelor's+
National: 35.7%
▼ 11.1 pts
8.9%
Graduate+
National: 14.1%
▼ 5.2 pts

Employment Overview

Source: U.S. Census Bureau · American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
26,106
Population
13,784
Labor Force
Employed
13,327
Unemployment Rate BLS LAUS 2025 annual
3.9% ▲ +0.1 pts YoY
Mean Commute 3 min below national avg
23.4 min
Work From Home vs 15.1% national
9.9%
Key Takeaways
  • Talent gap: Bachelor's-or-higher attainment trails the national average by 11.1 pts, relevant for advanced-services attraction strategy.

Economy & Industry

Bureau of Labor Statistics QCEW · Bureau of Economic Analysis

$1.2B
Gross Domestic Product · 2024
Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis · CAGDP1 Regional GDP

Top Industries by Employment

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics · Quarterly Census of Employment & Wages 2025 Annual
Top industries by employment in Franklin County, Kansas, with employment, share of top sectors, and average wage
IndustryEmploymentShare of Top 10Avg Wage
1Transportation and Warehousing
2,107 33.4%
$67,716
2Retail Trade
1,130 17.9%
$33,778
3Accommodation and Food Services
760 12.1%
$18,524
4Manufacturing
758 12.0%
$66,671
5Construction
536 8.5%
$72,795
6Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services
503 8.0%
$65,779
7Other Services (except Public Administration)
162 2.6%
$44,857
8Finance and Insurance
130 2.1%
$63,884
9Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation
108 1.7%
$15,581
10Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting
107 1.7%
$52,461
Track industry shifts with AI

ExecutivePulse monitors WARN notices, BLS changes, and SEC filings for your top employers.

Learn More
Key Takeaways
  • Largest sector: Transportation and Warehousing employs 2,107 workers (33.4% of tracked sectors), at an average wage of $67,716.
  • Economic scale: Regional GDP of $1.2B (2024).
  • Wage stratification: Construction averages $72,795 while Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation averages $15,581, a 4.7x spread in the same local economy, with implications for workforce development and talent strategy.
Source: BLS QCEW + BEA Regional GDP.
Seeing a change here?

EP customers get year-over-year deltas, WARN notices, and SEC filings for every sector tracked above, surfaced as proactive alerts, not after-the-fact news.

Get Deeper Trends

Industry Concentration

Location Quotient measures regional specialization vs. national average. LQ > 1.0 = concentrated.

Location Quotient Analysis

Concentrated Industries
Source: BLS QCEW · 3-digit NAICS sub-sector · Location Quotient vs. national employment share
Same source as the Top Industries table above, sub-sector view surfaces the specialization the supersector view masks (e.g., Plastics & Rubber Manufacturing inside the Manufacturing supersector).
Truck Transportation
5.02x
480
Oil and Gas Extraction
4.37x
33
Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing
3.01x
277
Gasoline Stations and Fuel Dealers
2.73x
185
Heavy and Civil Engineering Construction
2.31x
177
General Merchandise Retailers
1.86x
388
Nursing and Residential Care Facilities
1.74x
386
Sporting Goods, Hobby, Musical Instrument, Book, and Misc. Retailers
1.63x
156
Crop Production
1.61x
55
Wood Product Manufacturing
1.50x
39

Cluster Depth

Source: BLS QCEW · Sub-sectors with LQ ≥ 1.5 indicate genuine cluster concentration
Dominant Cluster
Retail Trade Cluster
Coherent grouping of concentrated sub-sectors, signals supply-chain fit for site selectors
729
Cluster Employment
2.73x
Peak LQ
Concentrated Sub-Sectors
Truck Transportation
5.02x 480
Oil and Gas Extraction
4.37x 33
Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing
3.01x 277
Gasoline Stations and Fuel Dealers
2.73x 185
Heavy and Civil Engineering Construction
2.31x 177
General Merchandise Retailers
1.86x 388
Nursing and Residential Care Facilities
1.74x 386
Sporting Goods, Hobby, Musical Instrument, Book, and Misc. Retailers
1.63x 156
Crop Production
1.61x 55
Wood Product Manufacturing
1.50x 39

Attraction Opportunities

LQ < 0.5 with ≥ 50 employed, realistic diversification targets. Source: BLS QCEW
0.39x
Ambulatory Health Care Services
226 employed
Key Takeaways
  • Top specialization: Truck Transportation concentrates at 5.02x the national norm, top-decile concentration, the kind of signature sector that defines a region's economic identity to site selectors.
  • Cluster depth: 10 sub-sectors register LQ ≥ 1.5, suggesting an interconnected industrial base rather than reliance on a single employer or sector.
  • Attraction whitespace: 8 sub-sectors register LQ < 0.5, candidates for diversification or recruitment depending on labor-market fit.
Source: BLS QCEW sub-sector Location Quotients.
Franklin County's Top Sectors by Workforce Share
Each rectangle's area is proportional to that sector's share of total private-sector employment across all NAICS supersectors. Hover for exact employment.
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics QCEW 2025 Annual · Private sector, NAICS supersectors

Housing & Affordability

Census ACS · HUD Fair Market Rents FY2026

Housing Overview

Source: Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates · Tables B25001, B25077, B25064
$198,700
Median Home Value vs 2019
$1,042
Rent/Mo
72.2%
Owner-Occ
8%
Vacancy
2.6x
Home Value to Income Ratio - Affordable
vs. ~4.1x national average

HUD Fair Market Rents

Source: HUD · Fair Market Rents FY2026
Studio
$784/mo
1 Bedroom
$789/mo
2 Bedroom
$1,020/mo
3 Bedroom
$1,223/mo
4 Bedroom
$1,360/mo
30% of monthly median household income (~$1,930/mo) · rents above this line are typically considered cost-burdened.
Key Takeaways
  • Affordable market: Home value to income ratio of 2.6x is well below the ~4.1x national average; supports talent attraction and family settlement narratives.
  • High home ownership: 72.2% owner-occupied; rental supply may be tight for incoming workers.
  • Broadly affordable rents: All 5 HUD Fair Market Rent bedroom tiers sit below the 30%-of-median-income affordability threshold (~$1,930/mo), a clear cost-of-living advantage for workforce attraction.
Source: Census ACS housing tables + HUD Fair Market Rents.

Workforce Pipeline

Labor force readiness, commuting, and workforce composition

Labor Market Overview

Source: Census ACS 2020-2024 · Tables B01001, B23025, B08303, B08301
15,397
Working Age (18-64) vs 2019
Mean Commute 3 min below national avg
23.4 min
Work From Home vs 15.1% national
9.9%
Prime-Age Employed (25-54)
83.7%
of prime-age population
Labor force participation rate: 68.7% of working-age population (18-64) 69% Participation
▲ vs 2019

Education & Talent Pipeline

Source: Census ACS 2020-2024 · Table B15003 · College Scorecard
Bachelor's+
24.6%
HS Diploma+
92.7%
Regional / Statewide Institutions
Total credentials awarded
26,009/yr
University of Kansas 7,733/yr
Kansas State University 6,027/yr
Fort Hays State University 3,925/yr
Wichita State University 3,714/yr
Johnson County Community College 2,809/yr
Pittsburg State University 1,801/yr

Aging Workforce

Source: Census Bureau ACS · Derived from age & employment tables
24.1%
55-64 of working-age population (18-64)
Elevated retirement risk, above the 20% threshold. Succession planning recommended.

Workforce by Occupation

Source: Census ACS 2020-2024 · Table C24010 · Civilian employed population 16+
Management / Professional
33.7%
Service
16.3%
Sales & Office
20.8%
Construction / Maint.
9.1%
Production / Transport
20%
Bars scaled 2× for visual differentiation; percentage labels show actual share of 13,327 employed workers.
Key Takeaways
  • Succession risk is real: 24.1% of working-age residents are 55-64. Plan for retirements over the next decade and pair attraction strategy with talent retention.
  • Talent pipeline: 6 regional institutions feed the workforce; the top three combined produce 17,685 annual credentials.
Source: ACS workforce data and College Scorecard.

AI Insights

AI-assisted analysis, drawn from 9 federal data sources

Sample AI Insight

Franklin County shows strong potential for truck transportation attraction, with a 5.02x concentration and 480 jobs in this sub-sector. It ranks in the top decile nationally. Near-term succession risk is elevated, with 24.1% of the working-age population within 10 years of retirement age.

The interconnected base across truck transportation, oil and gas extraction, and fabricated metal product manufacturing creates supply-chain attraction leverage rather than single-employer risk, a structural advantage for industrial recruitment.

Industry Shift Analysis

Manufacturing Automation Risk
High
Healthcare Growth Forecast
+4.2% CAGR
Remote Work Migration
67/100

Prospect Match Scores

Advanced Manufacturing
92/100
Life Sciences
84/100
Data Centers
71/100
Illustrative example

Take it further

AI Insights: Built into ExecutivePulse. Continuous analysis tied to your own pipeline: industry-shift signals, prospect matches, retention prompts.

Managed Services: Prefer to hand it off? Our team delivers the analysis and consulting for you.

Schedule a Demo
Available as premium offerings.

Data Sources

Updated from official federal government data.

Census ACS 5-Year2024
BLS QCEW2025 annual
BLS LAUS (via FRED)2025 annual
BEA Regional GDP2024
Census CBP2023
HUD Fair Market RentsFY2026
FCC Broadband Map2024
USAspending.govFY2026
College ScorecardAY 2022-23

Frequently Asked Questions

Key economic and demographic figures for Franklin County, Kansas, from federal data sources.

What is the population of Franklin County, Kansas?

26,106 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates).

What is the median household income in Franklin County, Kansas?

$77,207 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates).

What is the unemployment rate in Franklin County, Kansas?

3.9% (2025 annual average, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, LAUS).

What is the GDP of Franklin County, Kansas?

$1.2B (U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, CAGDP1).