Topeka's 100-Mile Reach Captures 55.4% of Kansas; 44.6% of the State Lives Outside

By SimpleMapLab·Published 13 May 2026·Rank #31 of 50 states·↑ All 50 states

55.4% of Kansas’s population — about 1.63 M of 2.95 M residents — lives within 100 miles of Topeka. The other 44.6% — including Wichita — sits beyond the circle.

A 100-mile geodesic radius around the Topeka, KS state capitol overlaid on Kansas. 55.4% of Kansas's population lives inside the dashed ring.

55.4%

of Kansas’s population within 100 miles of Topeka

1.63 M

residents inside the radius (of 2.95 M statewide)

55 mi

from Topeka to Kansas’s population centroid

#31

of 50 states ranked by capital-to-population centrality

Open this radius in the map → /tools/map-radius-tool · Topeka, KS · 100 mi
The link opens the SimpleMapLab Map Radius Tool with the 100-mile circle already drawn around the Topeka capitol. Change the radius to 50, 250, or any value to compare different framings.

Why this happened

Kansas is a "split" state by this measure: roughly half its residents live within an hour and a half of the capital, and roughly half live beyond. Topeka's 100-mile reach captures Overland Park (~193K) and the surrounding counties, but stops well short of Wichita, which sits 130 miles away. The capital-to-population-centroid distance is 55 miles — a clear signal that political and demographic weight no longer share a single point on the map.

The biggest cities inside the 100-mile radius

The top 5 most-populous places (by aggregated ZIP code population) sitting inside the 100-mile circle around Topeka. Cities are listed by total population captured by ZIP centroids in the dataset.

#	City	Population in radius
1	Overland Park	192,829
2	Topeka	163,243
3	Kansas City	159,881
4	Olathe	146,808
5	Lawrence	102,891

The largest city outside the radius

Kansas’s most-populous city outside the 100-mile circle is Wichita, sitting 130 miles from Topeka. The aggregated population of Wichita’s ZIP codes alone — 426,710 residents — illustrates the gap between Kansas’s political seat and its population centre.

How Kansas compares

The states ranked closest to Kansas on this metric. Click any to compare the radius breakdown directly.

#30 New Mexico

Santa Fe · 57.4% pop. captured

#32 North Carolina

Raleigh · 54.6% pop. captured

#29 Ohio

Columbus · 58.5% pop. captured

#33 Alabama

Montgomery · 52.5% pop. captured

#28 West Virginia

Charleston · 61.6% pop. captured

Draw it yourself

Open the 100-mile circle around Topeka →

The Map Radius Tool lets you change the radius (try 50 mi for an urban-suburban question or 250 mi for “a day’s drive”), drag the centre to compare Topeka’s reach with that of Overland Park, or add a second circle for a side-by-side comparison.

Methodology (brief)

We took the lat/lng of the Kansas state capitol building (39.0473°, -95.6752°) and drew a 100-mile geodesic radius. For every ZIP code in Kansas, we tested whether the ZIP centroid falls inside; if so, its population counts. We then divide by Kansas’s total population to produce the percentage. The full methodology for all 50 states is on the hub page.

Suggested citation: SimpleMapLab (2026). 100 Miles Around Topeka: How Much of Kansas Is Inside? Part of the State Capital Radius study. Retrieved from https://www.simplemaplab.com/studies/state-capital-radius/kansas. Licensed under CC-BY 4.0.