WICHITA, Kan. — Eight of the 10 largest cities in Kansas grew in population over the past decade and now are home to nearly half of the state's residents.
New census figures show that 1.34 million of the state's 2.9 million residents live in the 10 largest cities, or nearly 46%. That's up 87,021 people or 7% from the 2010 population of 1.25 million.
The two large cities that didn't grow were Topeka, which lost 0.7% of its residents, down to 126,587, and Salina, where the population dropped 1.7% to 46,889. Topeka dropped from No. 4 to No. 5 in size, while Salina remained at No. 10.
Olathe jumped from No. 5 to No. 4 by growing 12.3% to 141,290 residents. Lenexa jumped from No. 9 to No. 8 by growing 19.2% to 57,434 residents.
The state's largest city of Wichita grew 4% to 397,532 residents, while No. 2 Overland Park saw its population jump 13.8% to 197,238.
No. 3 Kansas City, Kansas, saw its population rise 7.4% to 156,607. Lawrence remained at No. 6 by growing 8.3% to 94,934 residents.
Shawnee remained at No. 7, growing 8.2% to 67,311, while Manhattan's growth of 3.5% to 54,100 residents caused it to drop from No. 8 to No. 9.
