Health Profile of Kansas
Kansas Health Score
The Map AI Health Index is a score that reflects local life expectancy, disease rates, healthcare access, and physical environment to help you quickly compare the overall health and well-being of different areas.
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B
Kansas Around average
Source: Map AI Methodology
Healthiest and Least Healthy Counties in Kansas
- Johnson County (104% of U.S. avg)
- Riley County (104% of U.S. avg)
- Douglas County (103% of U.S. avg)
- Wyandotte County (95% of U.S. avg)
- Woodson County (97% of U.S. avg)
- Chautauqua County (97% of U.S. avg)
Ranked by the Map AI Health Index, which combines life expectancy, disease rates, healthcare access, and physical environment.
General Health Overview
| Metric | Kansas | US Average |
|---|---|---|
| Life Expectancy (years) | 78.6 | 78.3 |
| Uninsured Population (%) | 8.8% | 8.4% |
| Self-Rated Poor Health | 15.3% | 16.3% |
Life expectancy in Kansas is 78.6 years, about 0.3 years longer than the US average of 78.3 years. The uninsured rate is 8.8%, higher than the US average of 8.4%. Self-rated poor health is reported by 15.3% of residents, lower than the US average of 16.3%.
Population by Age
Older residents
992,133 residents in Kansas are age 50 or older.
- 85+ 61,969 21,845 men · 40,124 women
- 75–84 139,069 60,562 men · 78,507 women
- 65–74 261,099 124,390 men · 136,710 women
- 50–64 529,996 262,581 men · 267,415 women
Younger residents
666,557 residents in Kansas are age 17 or younger.
- 12–17 211,457 108,652 boys · 102,805 girls
- 7–12 198,737 102,085 boys · 96,652 girls
- 3–7 148,541 76,232 boys · 72,310 girls
- 0–3 107,822 55,103 boys · 52,718 girls
About 141,226 residents in Kansas (4.8% of the population) are older than the area's life expectancy of 78.6 years.
The highlighted slice of the age axis is the share of residents older than the life-expectancy mark.
Disease Prevalence
| Disease / Condition | Kansas | US Average |
|---|---|---|
| Diabetes | 11.8% | 11.3% |
| Cancer | 7.6% | 6.9% |
| Heart Diseases | 7.7% | 7.1% |
| Adult Obesity | 37.3% | 34.3% |
On average, diseases in Kansas are about the same as in US.
Health Behaviors
| Behavior | Kansas | US Average |
|---|---|---|
| Smokers | 18.7% | 19.0% |
| Binge Drinking | 16.5% | 16.5% |
| Sedentary Lifestyle | 25.5% | 25.1% |
On average, health behaviors in Kansas are about the same as in US.
Assuming each smoker smokes 10 cigarettes a day, that's about 4.2 million cigarettes a day, 126.1 million a month, or 1.5 billion a year! At 11 minutes* of life lost per cigarette, that's about 46.3 million minutes a day and 16.9 billion a year lost to smoking overall - and since life expectancy in Kansas is 78.6 years, that's roughly equivalent to 1.12 lifetimes a day, or 409 lifetimes a year.
* Source: Shaw M, Mitchell R, Dorling D. "Time for a smoke? One cigarette reduces your life by 11 minutes." BMJ. 2000;320:53.
Illustrative only. This is not an estimate of how many people actually die from smoking each day or year - it's a rough, order-of-magnitude comparison meant to help grasp the scale of smoking in this area. We take no responsibility for any decisions made based on this figure.
Air Quality
| Metric | Kansas | US Average |
|---|---|---|
| Air Pollution (μg/m³) | 6.38 | 6.09 |
With an annual average of 6.4 µg/m³ of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), air quality in Kansas is good — generally safe air quality for the vast majority of residents.
Kansas Health Compared With Nearby States
Kansas is typical in size for this group, 2,945,842 residents against a local median of 3,204,793, so the measures below are close to a like for like comparison. Nothing separates Kansas sharply from the states around it. Each measure below lands within 15% of the local median, close enough that the differences are within what survey sampling alone would produce.
The largest of those small differences is life expectancy, 1% below the local median at 78.6 yrs against 79.2 yrs. Kansas has the 4th highest life expectancy of the 6 areas compared here.
| Area | Population | Life expectancy | Uninsured | Obesity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kansas | 2,945,842 | 78.6 yrs #4/6 | 8.8% #4/6 | 37.3% #3/6 |
| Oklahoma | 4,028,385 | 76.5 yrs | 12.9% | 39.0% |
| Nebraska | 1,978,686 | 79.5 yrs | 7.2% | 36.1% |
| Missouri | 6,186,340 | 76.9 yrs | 8.8% | 38.1% |
| Iowa | 3,204,793 | 79.2 yrs | 5.0% | 37.3% |
| South Dakota | 907,403 | 79.9 yrs | 9.0% | 34.9% |
Conclusion
Considering all these factors, Kansas has an overall health index grade of B, making it somewhat better than the country as a whole.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about health in Kansas.
What is the health grade for Kansas?
Kansas has a Map AI Health Index grade of B, based on life expectancy, disease rates, healthcare access, and the physical environment; a B grade means residents are somewhat healthier than the U.S. average.
Is Kansas one of the healthiest states in the U.S.?
Kansas ranks 32nd healthiest out of 51 states in the U.S. by the Map AI Health Index, which measures life expectancy, disease rates, healthcare access, and the physical environment.
What is the average lifespan in Kansas?
People in Kansas can expect to live 78.6 years on average, about the same as the US average of 78.3.
What is the uninsured rate in Kansas?
8.8% of residents in Kansas have no health insurance, about 1 in 11 people, about the same as the US rate of 8.4%.
How common is obesity in Kansas?
37.3% of adults in Kansas are classified as obese, about 1 in 3, 3.0 points above the US rate of 34.3%.
How many cigarettes do smokers in Kansas go through, and how much life does that cost?
Assuming each smoker smokes 10 cigarettes a day, that's about 4.2 million cigarettes a day, 126.1 million a month, or 1.5 billion a year! At 11 minutes* of life lost per cigarette, that's about 46.3 million minutes a day and 16.9 billion a year lost to smoking overall - and since life expectancy in Kansas is 78.6 years, that's roughly equivalent to 1.12 lifetimes a day, or 409 lifetimes a year.
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