Your monthly budget in Topeka.

Topeka had 125,475 residents in 2024, a median household income of $61,030 and a median gross rent of $1,018 a month, according to the Census Bureau’s 2024 American Community Survey. Wichita, the state’s largest city, had a slightly lower median rent of $989 and a higher median income of $65,855. Topeka is not cheaper to rent in. It is much cheaper to buy in: the median home was valued at $163,300, about $50,000 less than Wichita’s $212,900.

The capital’s economy is concentrated. The State of Kansas employed 9,919 people in Topeka, by far the largest employer, according to 2023 figures in the city’s financial report, as reported by The Topeka Capital-Journal. Stormont Vail Health followed with 4,400, then Hill’s Pet Nutrition with 3,439, Topeka Public Schools with 2,500 and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas with 2,026. When the Legislature decides state pay and the state benefits commission sets premiums, a large share of the city’s paychecks moves together.

This page is for the state agency analyst, the Stormont Vail aide, the plant worker in north Topeka and the couple wondering whether buying here makes sense. By the end you will know what the 2026 raise and the 2027 premiums mean for your month, what Kansas takes, and what real free money remains.

The 2026 raise and the 2027 premiums

The 2026 Legislature gave executive branch and university employees a 1% across-the-board raise for fiscal 2027, starting July 1, High Plains Public Radio reported in March. Gov. Laura Kelly had asked for 2.5%. Then, in June, the State Employees Health Care Commission raised employee contributions for Blue Cross Blue Shield plans by 10% for plan year 2027, starting January 1, while keeping Aetna contributions flat and raising deductibles. About 34,500 employees chose Blue Cross in 2026 and about 4,500 chose Aetna. The commission’s chairman said a $30,000 earner’s $300 raise would be “wiped out” by higher benefit costs.

What Kansas takes

Kansas taxes income in two brackets: 5.2% on taxable income up to $23,000 for single filers and 5.58% above it. The Department of Revenue determined that there would be no further rate cut for tax year 2026, Bloomberg Tax reported. Topeka’s combined sales tax is 9.35%: 6.5% for the state, 1.35% for Shawnee County and 1.5% for the city, according to Avalara. Food dropped out of the state tax on January 1, 2025, but the 2.85% local portion still applies at the grocery store.

Fixed costs in a Topeka month

• Rent or mortgage with escrow, plus renters or homeowners insurance.
• Evergy electricity and Kansas Gas Service, with winter heating and summer cooling both mattering.
• A car, insurance and gas; Topeka Metro buses serve the main corridors.
• Health premiums deducted from your paycheck, which change every January.
• Phone, internet, childcare and student loans.

Low home values change the rent-or-buy math here more than in most Kansas cities. A mortgage with taxes and insurance on a house near the city median can come in close to a median rent, so the real obstacle for many renters is the down payment and closing costs, not the monthly payment. That makes a savings goal with a date more useful than a general intention to buy someday.

Example one: a state analyst covering herself and her daughter

The figures in both examples are illustrative. Rachel is an analyst at a state agency on a $54,000 salary. She is paid every two weeks, and two paychecks bring her $3,400 a month after taxes, retirement and her Blue Cross contribution for employee-plus-child coverage, which is $260 a month in this example.

Fixed costs: mortgage with escrow on a house near Washburn $1,150, Evergy and gas $230, car payment and insurance $410, gas $70, phone and internet $120, groceries $360, student loan $210, after-school care for her daughter $60. Total: $2,610. Weekend reserve: $150.

$3,400 minus $2,610 minus $150 leaves $640 of real free money.

In July, her 1% raise added about $35 to her monthly take-home. In January, a 10% rise in her Blue Cross contribution would take about $26 back. She logged both changes in Monthly on their dates and will check during open enrollment whether her providers take Aetna before deciding to switch.

Enter your raise and your new premium in Monthly and see what actually changes in your month →

Example two: a plant worker and a hospital aide saving to buy

Marcus works at a manufacturing plant in north Topeka and takes home $3,700 a month on straight time. Danielle is a certified nursing assistant at Stormont Vail and takes home $2,500.

Planned income: $6,200.

Fixed costs: rent for a three-bedroom house in Highland Park $1,350, renters insurance $20, utilities $300, two cars with insurance $780, gas $160, phone and internet $150, childcare $850, credit card payment $250, groceries $700. Total: $4,560. Weekend reserve: $250.

$6,200 minus $4,560 minus $250 leaves $1,390.

About $20 of their grocery line is still local sales tax, so they kept it inside groceries rather than expecting tax-free receipts. Their goal is a house at the city median of $163,300. A 5% down payment is about $8,165. At $600 a month into a Down payment goal, they get there in about 14 months, with Marcus’s overtime speeding it up.

Monthly in a capital-city budget

Monthly is a free, manual budgeting app for the web and Android. It does not connect to your bank, move money or give financial advice. You enter paychecks, raises, premium changes, fixed costs and debts, and it shows your real free money each month. Goals under Patrimonio, like a down payment, hold a target, a date and logged contributions. The guide to setting a savings goal you actually hit is a good next read, and our page on budgeting in Wichita shows the state’s largest city side by side.

Real free money and your next step

In Topeka, the biggest money decisions for many households are made in the Statehouse and in a benefits commission meeting. Real free money is what your current take-home leaves after fixed costs and a weekend reserve, updated the day a raise or a premium change takes effect. For buyers, low home prices make a down payment goal shorter here than in most Kansas cities.

Set up your Topeka month in Monthly, log the 2027 premium change and give your down payment a date →