The Dispatch

Call it learning by numbers.

The U.S. Census Bureau — through its American Community Survey program — released a large new batch of statistics for every community in the United States on Thursday.

Shawnee residents, according to the figures, are generally older and more diverse than those in most of the listed surrounding cities, earn more money and pay more for their homes. With the exception of Topeka, the cities listed here are home to newspapers or news websites owned by the World Company, parent company of The Dispatch.

All the numbers are a five-year average from 2006 to 2010. The numbers are garnered from a continuous survey that the Census Bureau conducts throughout the country. The five-year average is meant to lower the margin of error on the statistics, but some of the margins of error are still significant. But they’re the best numbers that will be released.

So dive in and learn how Shawnee stacks up to other communities in the area.

Median age of residents

Only two nearby communities have median ages higher than Shawnee.

1. Manhattan: 23.4 years
2. Lawrence: 25.6
3. Eudora: 31
4. Tonganoxie: 31.2
5. Baldwin City: 31.7
6. Olathe: 32.4
7. Bonner Springs: 33.8
8. De Soto: 34.5

9. Shawnee: 35.0

1. Topeka: 36.0
2. Basehor: 38.9

Percent of population that is white

Here’s a measure to show you how racially diverse a community is. Shawnee is one of the most diverse on this list.

1. De Soto: 99.3 percent white
2. Tonganoxie: 97.5 percent
3. Baldwin City: 97.4 percent
4. Basehor: 96.0 percent
5. Eudora: 95.7 percent
6. Bonner Springs: 89.7 percent
7. Manhattan: 88.7 percent

8. Shawnee: 86.8 percent

1. Olathe: 84.2 percent
2. Lawrence: 82.5 percent
3. Topeka: 75.7 percent

Percent of owner-occupied homes

More folks still own than rent in Shawnee.

1. Basehor: 81.6 percent owner-occupied
2. Bonner Springs: 75.2 percent
3. Olathe: 74.1 percent

4. Shawnee: 73.3 percent

1. Eudora: 72.5 percent
2. De Soto: 70.6 percent
3. Tonganoxie: 67.9 percent
4. Baldwin: 62.4 percent
5. Topeka: 59.6 percent
6. Lawrence: 46.7 percent
7. Manhattan: 41 percent

Median price of a home

Shawnee’s median home prices are among the most expensive in the pack.

1. De Soto: $220,100

2. Shawnee: $198,600

1. Olathe: $193,300
2. Basehor: $183,000
3. Lawrence: $172,900
4. Manhattan: $163,800
5. Tonganoxie: $151,800
6. Eudora: $151,200
7. Baldwin: $150,600
8. Bonner Springs: $147,100
9. Topeka: $94,200

Spending on housing costs

This is the percent of homeowners who spend more than 35 percent of their household income on housing costs.

1. Bonner Springs: 25.2 percent of homeowners
2. Lawrence: 22.4 percent
3. Baldwin City 20.2 percent
4. Topeka: 19.1 percent

5. Shawnee: 18.1 percent

1. Basehor: 17.2 percent
2. Tonganoxie: 16.8 percent
3. Olathe: 16.7 percent
4. Manhattan: 16.6 percent
5. Eudora: 15.3 percent
6. De Soto: 11 percent

Median monthly rent

Some of these communities may be more focused on renting houses than apartments.

1. Basehor: $921
2. Baldwin: $826
3. Olathe: $801
4. Eudora: $777
5. Lawrence: $774
6. Tonganoxie: $765

7. Shawnee: $753

1. Manhattan: $739
2. Bonner Springs: $697
3. De Soto: $680
4. Topeka: $628

Median household income

This number is probably lower in college towns, such as Lawrence, because students who earn part-time incomes do drag numbers down.

1. Olathe: $75,228

2. Shawnee: $72,122

1. Basehor: $72,120
2. Baldwin City: $65,053
3. De Soto: $61,915
4. Eudora: $60,544
5. Tonganoxie: $58,672
6. Bonner Springs: $56,630
7. Lawrence: $41,290
8. Topeka: $40,342
9. Manhattan: $36,630

Median earnings for a male, full-time, year-round worker

Shawnee is high on the list.

1. Basehor: $60,326
2. Olathe: $56,934

3. Shawnee: $56,312

1. Baldwin City: $50,833
2. Bonner Springs: $47,670
3. Tonganoxie: $47,500
4. Eudora: $45,861
5. De Soto: $45,000
6. Lawrence: $42,362
7. Topeka: $40,832
8. Manhattan: $39,095

Percent of households receiving food stamps

There are several ways to measure poverty in a community, and this is one.

1. Topeka: 11.9 percent of households
2. Bonner Springs: 7.4 percent
3. Eudora: 5.3 percent
4. Lawrence: 5.1 percent
5. Baldwin City: 4.7 percent
6. Manhattan: 4.1 percent
7. Olathe: 3.7 percent
8. De Soto: 3.4 percent

9. Shawnee: 3.1 percent

1. Basehor: 2.1 percent
2. Tonganoxie: 0.8 percent

This story originally appeared in the Lawrence Journal-World. Reporter Stephen Montemayor modified portions of this story to reflect Shawnee numbers.

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