27 July 2023
While significantly lower than the alarming pandemic peak of 14.7% experienced in April 2020, unemployment rates remain a subject of concern, though experts’ views on a potential recession are mixed. The last economic recession—the Great Recession of 2007-2009—sent rates up to 10% as of October 2009. It was not until the spring of 2019 that unemployment finally went down to the same level it sits at now.
As of May 2023, national unemployment is at 3.4%, with little change from April. Seasonally adjusted unemployment rates by state demonstrate a rather sizable spectrum, ranging from just 1.9% in South Dakota to 5.4% in Nevada.
Stacker compiled a list of counties with the highest unemployment rates in Kansas using Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Counties are ranked by their preliminary unemployment rate in May 2023, with initial ties broken by the number of unemployed people within that county, though some ties may remain. County-level unemployment rates are not seasonally adjusted.
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#50. Doniphan County
– May unemployment rate (preliminary): 2.5%
— 1-month change: Down 0.2 percentage points
— 1-year change: Up 0.2 percentage points
– Total labor force: 4,013 people (102 unemployed)
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#49. Miami County
– May unemployment rate (preliminary): 2.5%
— 1-month change: Down 0.1 percentage points
— 1-year change: Up 0.2 percentage points
– Total labor force: 18,297 people (460 unemployed)
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#48. Douglas County
– May unemployment rate (preliminary): 2.5%
— 1-month change: Down 0.1 percentage points
— 1-year change: Up 0.2 percentage points
– Total labor force: 68,853 people (1,721 unemployed)
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#47. Johnson County
– May unemployment rate (preliminary): 2.5%
— 1-month change: No change
— 1-year change: Up 0.4 percentage points
– Total labor force: 355,590 people (8,841 unemployed)
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#46. Hodgeman County
– May unemployment rate (preliminary): 2.6%
— 1-month change: Down 0.2 percentage points
— 1-year change: Up 0.6 percentage points
– Total labor force: 973 people (25 unemployed)
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#45. Morton County
– May unemployment rate (preliminary): 2.6%
— 1-month change: No change
— 1-year change: Up 0.1 percentage points
– Total labor force: 1,136 people (29 unemployed)
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#44. Cheyenne County
– May unemployment rate (preliminary): 2.6%
— 1-month change: Down 0.3 percentage points
— 1-year change: Up 0.1 percentage points
– Total labor force: 1,185 people (31 unemployed)
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#43. Grant County
– May unemployment rate (preliminary): 2.6%
— 1-month change: Down 0.2 percentage points
— 1-year change: Up 0.1 percentage points
– Total labor force: 2,639 people (69 unemployed)
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#42. Osage County
– May unemployment rate (preliminary): 2.6%
— 1-month change: Down 0.3 percentage points
— 1-year change: Down 0.1 percentage points
– Total labor force: 8,041 people (211 unemployed)
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#41. Franklin County
– May unemployment rate (preliminary): 2.6%
— 1-month change: Up 0.1 percentage points
— 1-year change: Up 0.3 percentage points
– Total labor force: 14,927 people (393 unemployed)
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#40. Lyon County
– May unemployment rate (preliminary): 2.6%
— 1-month change: Down 0.1 percentage points
— 1-year change: Up 0.4 percentage points
– Total labor force: 17,032 people (439 unemployed)
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#39. Rooks County
– May unemployment rate (preliminary): 2.7%
— 1-month change: Down 0.1 percentage points
— 1-year change: Up 0.3 percentage points
– Total labor force: 2,409 people (65 unemployed)
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#37. Cloud County (tie)
– May unemployment rate (preliminary): 2.7%
— 1-month change: Down 0.3 percentage points
— 1-year change: Up 0.3 percentage points
– Total labor force: 3,697 people (100 unemployed)
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#37. Wabaunsee County (tie)
– May unemployment rate (preliminary): 2.7%
— 1-month change: Down 0.2 percentage points
— 1-year change: Up 0.3 percentage points
– Total labor force: 3,737 people (100 unemployed)
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#36. Rice County
– May unemployment rate (preliminary): 2.7%
— 1-month change: Up 0.5 percentage points
— 1-year change: Up 0.5 percentage points
– Total labor force: 5,825 people (157 unemployed)
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#35. Cherokee County
– May unemployment rate (preliminary): 2.7%
— 1-month change: No change
— 1-year change: Up 0.4 percentage points
– Total labor force: 9,824 people (261 unemployed)
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#34. Sumner County
– May unemployment rate (preliminary): 2.7%
— 1-month change: Down 0.1 percentage points
— 1-year change: Down 0.1 percentage points
– Total labor force: 10,769 people (295 unemployed)
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#33. Butler County
– May unemployment rate (preliminary): 2.7%
— 1-month change: Down 0.1 percentage points
— 1-year change: Up 0.2 percentage points
– Total labor force: 32,952 people (899 unemployed)
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#32. Leavenworth County
– May unemployment rate (preliminary): 2.7%
— 1-month change: Down 0.2 percentage points
— 1-year change: Up 0.1 percentage points
– Total labor force: 37,974 people (1,041 unemployed)
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#31. Kiowa County
– May unemployment rate (preliminary): 2.8%
— 1-month change: Down 0.5 percentage points
— 1-year change: Up 0.8 percentage points
– Total labor force: 1,163 people (33 unemployed)
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#30. Pawnee County
– May unemployment rate (preliminary): 2.8%
— 1-month change: Down 0.3 percentage points
— 1-year change: Up 0.6 percentage points
– Total labor force: 2,633 people (73 unemployed)
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#29. Brown County
– May unemployment rate (preliminary): 2.8%
— 1-month change: Down 0.3 percentage points
— 1-year change: Up 0.7 percentage points
– Total labor force: 4,896 people (138 unemployed)
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#28. Allen County
– May unemployment rate (preliminary): 2.8%
— 1-month change: No change
— 1-year change: Up 0.1 percentage points
– Total labor force: 6,314 people (174 unemployed)
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#27. Barton County
– May unemployment rate (preliminary): 2.8%
— 1-month change: No change
— 1-year change: Up 0.4 percentage points
– Total labor force: 12,774 people (355 unemployed)
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#26. Harvey County
– May unemployment rate (preliminary): 2.8%
— 1-month change: No change
— 1-year change: Up 0.2 percentage points
– Total labor force: 17,244 people (481 unemployed)
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#25. Crawford County
– May unemployment rate (preliminary): 2.8%
— 1-month change: Down 0.1 percentage points
— 1-year change: Up 0.2 percentage points
– Total labor force: 19,291 people (540 unemployed)
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#24. Shawnee County
– May unemployment rate (preliminary): 2.8%
— 1-month change: Down 0.1 percentage points
— 1-year change: Up 0.3 percentage points
– Total labor force: 92,950 people (2,585 unemployed)
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#23. Chautauqua County
– May unemployment rate (preliminary): 2.9%
— 1-month change: Up 0.1 percentage points
— 1-year change: Up 0.3 percentage points
– Total labor force: 1,392 people (40 unemployed)
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#22. Barber County
– May unemployment rate (preliminary): 2.9%
— 1-month change: Up 0.2 percentage points
— 1-year change: Up 1.0 percentage points
– Total labor force: 2,211 people (65 unemployed)
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#21. Greenwood County
– May unemployment rate (preliminary): 2.9%
— 1-month change: No change
— 1-year change: Up 0.6 percentage points
– Total labor force: 3,022 people (88 unemployed)
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#20. Kingman County
– May unemployment rate (preliminary): 2.9%
— 1-month change: Down 0.1 percentage points
— 1-year change: Up 0.6 percentage points
– Total labor force: 3,255 people (94 unemployed)
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#19. Dickinson County
– May unemployment rate (preliminary): 2.9%
— 1-month change: Down 0.1 percentage points
— 1-year change: Up 0.3 percentage points
– Total labor force: 8,569 people (247 unemployed)
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#18. Labette County
– May unemployment rate (preliminary): 2.9%
— 1-month change: Down 0.3 percentage points
— 1-year change: Up 0.2 percentage points
– Total labor force: 10,353 people (305 unemployed)
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#17. Lane County
– May unemployment rate (preliminary): 3%
— 1-month change: Up 0.1 percentage points
— 1-year change: Up 0.1 percentage points
– Total labor force: 700 people (21 unemployed)
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#16. Trego County
– May unemployment rate (preliminary): 3%
— 1-month change: Down 0.1 percentage points
— 1-year change: Up 0.8 percentage points
– Total labor force: 1,347 people (40 unemployed)
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#15. Cowley County
– May unemployment rate (preliminary): 3%
— 1-month change: No change
— 1-year change: Up 0.4 percentage points
– Total labor force: 16,200 people (485 unemployed)
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#14. Sedgwick County
– May unemployment rate (preliminary): 3%
— 1-month change: Down 0.1 percentage points
— 1-year change: Up 0.1 percentage points
– Total labor force: 257,688 people (7,835 unemployed)
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#13. Jewell County
– May unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.1%
— 1-month change: Down 0.3 percentage points
— 1-year change: Up 0.8 percentage points
– Total labor force: 1,150 people (36 unemployed)
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#12. Wilson County
– May unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.1%
— 1-month change: Down 0.2 percentage points
— 1-year change: Up 0.2 percentage points
– Total labor force: 3,680 people (115 unemployed)
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#11. Montgomery County
– May unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.1%
— 1-month change: Down 0.2 percentage points
— 1-year change: Up 0.3 percentage points
– Total labor force: 14,654 people (460 unemployed)
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#10. Reno County
– May unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.1%
— 1-month change: Down 0.1 percentage points
— 1-year change: Up 0.4 percentage points
– Total labor force: 29,147 people (895 unemployed)
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#9. Bourbon County
– May unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.3%
— 1-month change: Down 0.4 percentage points
— 1-year change: Up 0.2 percentage points
– Total labor force: 6,149 people (205 unemployed)
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#8. Decatur County
– May unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.4%
— 1-month change: Up 0.2 percentage points
— 1-year change: Up 1.0 percentage points
– Total labor force: 1,161 people (40 unemployed)
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#7. Atchison County
– May unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.4%
— 1-month change: No change
— 1-year change: Up 0.2 percentage points
– Total labor force: 6,636 people (226 unemployed)
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#6. Wyandotte County
– May unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.4%
— 1-month change: Down 0.2 percentage points
— 1-year change: Up 0.3 percentage points
– Total labor force: 79,445 people (2,721 unemployed)
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#5. Coffey County
– May unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.5%
— 1-month change: No change
— 1-year change: Up 0.3 percentage points
– Total labor force: 3,672 people (130 unemployed)
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#4. Neosho County
– May unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.6%
— 1-month change: Down 0.2 percentage points
— 1-year change: Up 0.3 percentage points
– Total labor force: 6,193 people (224 unemployed)
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#3. Woodson County
– May unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.8%
— 1-month change: Up 0.3 percentage points
— 1-year change: Up 0.3 percentage points
– Total labor force: 1,482 people (56 unemployed)
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#2. Geary County
– May unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.8%
— 1-month change: Down 0.3 percentage points
— 1-year change: Up 0.4 percentage points
– Total labor force: 11,447 people (437 unemployed)
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#1. Linn County
– May unemployment rate (preliminary): 4%
— 1-month change: Down 0.2 percentage points
— 1-year change: Up 0.3 percentage points
– Total labor force: 4,403 people (176 unemployed)