Kansas Facts for Kids

A Map of the U.S. state Kansas
  • U.S. State: Kansas
  • Abbreviation: KS
  • Joined the USA: January 29th, 1861 (34th State)
  • Located: Midwestern United States
  • Capital City: Topeka, KS
  • Most Populated City: Wichita, KS

31 Kansas Facts for Kids

  1. Kansas is a state in the United States of America.
  2. Kansas became a U.S. State on Tuesday, January 29th, 1861.
  3. Kansas was the 34th state to join the United States.
  4. The U.S. state of Kansas covers 82,278 square miles.
  5. Kansas is the 15th largest state by area in the United States.
  6. In 2019, the population of Kansas was estimated to be 2,913,000 residents by the U.S. Census Bureau.
  7. In 2019, Kansas was the 35th most populated state in the United States.
  8. A person who is from or lives in Kansas is called a Kansan.
  9. The capital city of Kansas is Topeka.
  10. The five most populated cities in Kansas are Wichita, Overland Park, Kansas City, Topeka and Olathe.
  11. The largest city by population in Kansas is Wichita.
  12. The largest metropolitan area in Kansas is the Kansas City metropolitan area.
  13. The U.S. state of Kansas has 105 counties.
  14. The most populated county in Kansas is Johnson County with 602,401 residents (2019, U.S. Census Bureau).
  15. The largest county by area in Kansas is Butler County with 1,428 square miles.
  16. The highest elevation point in Kansas is Mount Sunflower at 4,041 feet above sea level.
  17. The lowest elevation point in Kansas is the Verdigris River near the Oklahoma border at 679 feet above sea level.
  18. The average precipitation (rain and snow) in Kansas is 32.4 inches.
  19. Kansas is the 36th wettest state by precipitation (rain and snow) in the United States.
  20. The average temperature in Kansas is 54.6 °F.
  21. Kansas is the 19th warmest state in the United States.
  22. The warmest temperature ever recorded in Kansas was 121 °F on July 24th, 1936.
  23. The coldest temperature ever recorded in Kansas was -40 °F on February 13th, 1905.
  24. A few natural disasters that can affect Kansas are blizzards, hail, heat waves, ice storms, lightning, river flooding, thunderstorms and tornadoes.
  25. Kansas is in two time zones, Mountain Time Zone (MT) and Central Time Zone (CT).
  26. The USPS abbreviation for Kansas is KS.
  27. Kansas is also known as the Jayhawk State and the Sunflower State.
  28. The motto for the U.S. state of Kansas is “Ad astra per aspera”, (To the stars through difficulties).
  29. The official state flower of Kansas is the sunflower (Helianthus).
  30. The official state tree of Kansas is the cottonwood (Populus sect. Aigeiros).
  31. The official sate bird of Kansas is the western meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta).

Additional Resources on Kansas

  • About Kansas – Learn about the U.S. state of Kansas on the History Channel website.
  • History of Kansas – Discover the history of the U.S. state of Kansas on the Kansas Historical Society website.
  • Facts About Kansas – Find more facts about the U.S. state of Kansas on the National Geographic Kids website.
  • Kansas – Wikipedia – Read the Wikipedia article on the U.S. state of Kansas to learn more about it.

About the author
Facts Editor

This is an author profile for articles that are created from a collaborative effort. It is not uncommon that articles on this site were either written, researched or fact checked by several authors and team members. So this author profile will be displayed to reflect that. Our team of editors, writers and fact checkers do extensive research before publishing articles on the site, and we do our best to provide the most accurate information possible.