Wichita, KS

Wichita, KS is home to 646,794 residents in 4 counties — Sedgwick, Butler, Harvey, and Sumner. The metro pulled 3,019 building permits over the trailing twelve months according to the Census Bureau Building Permits Survey — 4.67 per 1,000 residents, above the national pace of 3.49. The cap rate proxy sits at 4.55% — workable — and the price-to-income ratio is 2.73 affordable — one of the cheapest in the queue. Median household income is $68,930, the median home value is $188K, the Fair Market Rent 2BR is $1,099 (one of the lowest in the queue), and the BLS LAUS unemployment rate is 3.7% — healthy.

The structural story is the Air Capital of the World. Wichita has the densest concentration of aviation manufacturing in the world — more aircraft are designed, built, and delivered from Wichita than from any other city on Earth. The aerospace roster:

• Spirit AeroSystems (now Boeing) — builds the Boeing 737 MAX fuselage, the largest non-airline aviation employer in the world. ~10,000 employees in Wichita.
• Textron Aviation HQ in Wichita — manufactures Cessna and Beechcraft. The world's largest general aviation manufacturer.
• Bombardier Learjet — the luxury business jet line, designed and built in Wichita.
• Airbus Americas Engineering — Airbus's U.S. engineering center for aerostructures.
• Koch Industries HQ — the 2nd-largest private company in the US by revenue (~$115B), ~120,000 employees worldwide. Founded by Fred Koch in Wichita in 1940. Koch, Flint Hills Resources, Georgia-Pacific, Molex, Guardian Industries are all Koch subsidiaries.
• Cargill — major presence in Wichita's agricultural processing belt.
• Wichita State University — ~16,000 students, strong aerospace engineering program.

The county distribution:

• Sedgwick County (522,700 residents, 2,628 permits TTM = 5.03 per 1,000) — Wichita proper, Derby, Haysville, Bel Aire, Valley Center, Park City, Goddard. 87% of the metro pipeline. Permit YoY +27.45%.
• Butler County (67,618 residents, 261 permits = 3.86 per 1,000) — El Dorado, Augusta, Andover, Rose Hill. The eastern bedroom county.
• Harvey County (33,959 residents, 111 permits = 3.27 per 1,000) — Newton, Hesston, North Newton, Halstead. The northern county, anchored by the Mennonite heritage community.
• Sumner County (22,517 residents, 19 permits = 0.84 per 1,000) — Wellington, Mulvane. The small southern county.

Construction has a unique profile: 51% single-family / 47% multi-2-4 / 2% multi-5+ (1,527 SF / 1,422 multi-2-4 / 70 multi-5+). The 47% multi-2-4 share is the HIGHEST duplex/triplex/fourplex concentration in the entire T5 queue — Wichita builds small multifamily at a rate no other metro matches. This is the BRRRR investor's dream: new-build duplexes and fourplexes at $188K median values.

What's changing: net IRS migration is +38 returns (+0.006% — essentially flat). According to IRS Statistics of Income, Wichita is neither gaining nor losing — the aerospace payroll holds the population steady. Owner-occupancy 64.7%, vacancy 9.2%, bachelors 31.5%, median age 36.6 (younger than most Midwest metros).

So what does an investor do?

• If you're hunting cash flow — Wichita is one of the best small-multifamily cash-flow markets in the country. The cap proxy at 4.55% with a $188K median home value and $1,099 FMR is the textbook Midwest cash-flow profile — but the 47% duplex/triplex/fourplex construction share means you can buy new-build 2-4 unit properties at scale. This is the metro for BRRRR investors targeting small multifamily.
• If you're playing appreciation — Wichita is a steady aerospace compounder, not a moonshot. The +49.6% over 5 years tells you the trajectory — roughly 8-10% per year through compounding. The aerospace anchor (Spirit/Boeing + Textron + Learjet + Airbus) is structural and long-cycle. Hold for cash flow + slow appreciation.
• If you already own here — hold and add. The +23.3% permit YoY says builders see what you see. The duplex/fourplex pipeline is the structural play — target Sedgwick County (Derby, Goddard, Valley Center) for the highest yield.