Ellis County vs McPherson County

A side-by-side comparison of Ellis County and McPherson County: population, income, housing, and more.

Ellis County and McPherson County are counties in Kansas. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

McPherson County has the higher population (30,130 vs 28,870 in Ellis County). McPherson County has the higher median household income ($77,701 vs $59,889 in Ellis County). Ellis County has the higher median home value ($211,100 vs $198,400 in McPherson County).

Population, income & housing

	Ellis County	McPherson County
Population	28,870	30,130
Median age	32.5 yrs	39.1 yrs
Median household income	$59,889	$77,701
Median home value	$211,100	$198,400
Median gross rent	$899	$889
Housing units	13,247	13,128
Homeownership rate	62.4%	75.8%
Bachelor's degree or higher	39.5%	33.1%
Unemployment rate	3.2%	2.0%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Ellis County	McPherson County
Population	28,775 → 28,870 (+0.3%)	28,567 → 30,130 (+5.5%)
Median household income	$52,883 → $59,889 (+13.2%)	$59,089 → $77,701 (+31.5%)
Median home value	$169,100 → $211,100 (+24.8%)	$151,800 → $198,400 (+30.7%)
Median gross rent	$711 → $899 (+26.4%)	$746 → $889 (+19.2%)

Ellis County

Population

28,77528,870

Median household income

$52,883$59,889

Median home value

$169,100$211,100

Median gross rent

$711$899

McPherson County

Population

28,56730,130

Median household income

$59,089$77,701

Median home value

$151,800$198,400

Median gross rent

$746$889

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Ellis County	McPherson County
Under 5	5.1%	5.1%
5 to 17	15.2%	16.7%
18 to 24	19.8%	11.7%
25 to 34	12.7%	11.2%
35 to 44	11.6%	12.2%
45 to 54	9.5%	10.5%
55 to 64	10.6%	12.9%
65 to 74	9.3%	10.6%
75 and over	6.2%	9.2%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Ellis County	McPherson County
White (non-Hispanic)	87.5%	89.6%
Black or African American	1.2%	1.6%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.1%
Asian	1.5%	0.7%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.1%	0.0%
Some other race	0.1%	0.0%
Two or more races	2.5%	2.6%
Hispanic or Latino	7.1%	5.4%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Ellis County	McPherson County
No high school diploma	4.7%	7.7%
High school graduate	27.6%	24.1%
Some college or associate's	28.2%	35.1%
Bachelor's degree	24.9%	21.5%
Graduate or professional degree	14.6%	11.6%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Ellis County	McPherson County
Drove alone	80.5%	80.6%
Carpooled	5.7%	7.3%
Public transit	0.0%	0.0%
Walked	7.0%	4.1%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.7%
Worked from home	6.0%	6.6%
Other means	0.8%	0.7%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Ellis County	McPherson County
1-unit, detached	70.6%	81.2%
1-unit, attached	4.4%	2.8%
2 to 4 units	11.9%	7.6%
5 to 19 units	5.9%	2.3%
20 or more units	3.5%	1.1%
Mobile home & other	3.6%	5.0%

Poverty & households

	Ellis County	McPherson County
Poverty rate	17.7%	9.1%
Average household size	2.24	2.33
Mean commute (minutes)	13	15
Median year structure built	1972	1975