Topeka vs Wakarusa

A side-by-side comparison of Topeka and Wakarusa: population, income, housing, and more.

Topeka and Wakarusa are places in Kansas. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Topeka has the higher population (126,103 vs 207 in Wakarusa). Wakarusa has the higher median home value ($225,000 vs $130,600 in Topeka). Since 2019, Topeka's population has grown faster (-0.2% vs -8.4%).

Population, income & housing

	Topeka	Wakarusa
Population	126,103	207
Median age	38.2 yrs	65.8 yrs
Median household income	$55,902	—
Median home value	$130,600	$225,000
Median gross rent	$947	—
Housing units	59,971	146
Homeownership rate	59.2%	87.7%
Bachelor's degree or higher	29.1%	31.9%
Unemployment rate	4.9%	22.7%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Topeka	Wakarusa
Population	126,397 → 126,103 (-0.2%)	226 → 207 (-8.4%)
Median household income	$47,999 → $55,902 (+16.5%)	$77,375 → $40,972 (-47.0%)
Median home value	$103,200 → $130,600 (+26.6%)	$185,000 → $225,000 (+21.6%)
Median gross rent	$816 → $947 (+16.1%)	—

Topeka

Population

126,397126,103

Median household income

$47,999$55,902

Median home value

$103,200$130,600

Median gross rent

$816$947

Wakarusa

Population

226207

Median household income

$77,375$40,972

Median home value

$185,000$225,000

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Topeka	Wakarusa
Under 5	5.9%	0.0%
5 to 17	16.5%	0.0%
18 to 24	10.2%	0.0%
25 to 34	12.8%	0.0%
35 to 44	12.7%	11.1%
45 to 54	11.0%	2.9%
55 to 64	12.9%	22.7%
65 to 74	10.2%	48.8%
75 and over	7.8%	14.5%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Topeka	Wakarusa
White (non-Hispanic)	65.6%	95.2%
Black or African American	9.3%	0.0%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.4%	0.0%
Asian	1.7%	0.0%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.1%	0.0%
Some other race	0.6%	0.0%
Two or more races	5.4%	4.8%
Hispanic or Latino	16.9%	0.0%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Topeka	Wakarusa
No high school diploma	8.2%	0.0%
High school graduate	31.9%	37.7%
Some college or associate's	30.8%	30.4%
Bachelor's degree	18.5%	22.2%
Graduate or professional degree	10.6%	9.7%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Topeka	Wakarusa
Drove alone	76.7%	91.2%
Carpooled	10.0%	0.0%
Public transit	0.9%	0.0%
Walked	1.9%	0.0%
Bicycle	0.1%	0.0%
Worked from home	9.6%	8.8%
Other means	0.8%	0.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Topeka	Wakarusa
1-unit, detached	64.7%	78.8%
1-unit, attached	5.7%	0.0%
2 to 4 units	7.3%	0.0%
5 to 19 units	10.3%	0.0%
20 or more units	8.6%	0.0%
Mobile home & other	3.4%	21.2%

Poverty & households

	Topeka	Wakarusa
Poverty rate	15.6%	7.7%
Average household size	2.23	1.70
Mean commute (minutes)	17	—
Median year structure built	1967	1980