Counties with the oldest homes in Kansas
There's an undeniable charm that comes with pre-World War II American architecture, characterized by high ceilings, crown molding, hardwood floors, and ornate details. In fact, 12.8% of all housing units in America were built in 1939 or before, showing the popularity of the preservation of these units. Owning a piece of history can sometimes come with a cost: Many old homes come with asbestos, lead piping, knob-and-tube wiring, and other outdated building styles that can rack up a hefty price tag to modernize. However, with more and more modernized pre-war homes on the market, generally located just outside bustling downtown metros, investing in property that has withstood the test of time is an attractive prospect.
Stacker compiled a list of the counties in Kansas with the oldest homes using data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Counties are ranked by median year the structure was built according to 2020 5-year estimates. Ties broken by the highest percentage of homes built before 1939.
The country's domestic architecture is perhaps best characterized by a rugged individualism as opposed to the hybridization of disparate architectural elements. As Maya Angelou once perceptively observed, "the ache for home lives in all of us," a phrase that has meant very different things to different people.
Modest or palatial, there is no shortage of noteworthy homes in the U.S. Log cabins constructed by industrious pioneers have dotted the landscape alongside traditional Native American dwellings ever since immigrant Swedes introduced them to the New World in 1638. The unprecedented personal fortunes amassed by the so-called "Robber Barons" at the close of the 19th century gave way to the construction of a staggering number of Gilded Age estates.
The ravages of time spared neither the sumptuous nor the humble. Stately mansions, often prohibitively costly to maintain in the modern era, were frequently neglected; simple structures were forgotten, discarded by their owners, and damaged by natural elements. However, the tireless efforts of architectural preservationists and local historical societies have saved many of these homes from demolition, leading to their inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places and thereby safeguarding them for future generations.
Keep reading to learn more about which counties in Kansas have the oldest homes.
#50. Greeley County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 21.8% (135 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 11.5% (71 homes)
- Total homes built: 618
#49. Lane County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 25.6% (250 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 4.7% (46 homes)
- Total homes built: 976
#48. Labette County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 28.9% (2,906 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 9.1% (912 homes)
- Total homes built: 10,039
#47. Phillips County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 31.2% (964 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 3.7% (115 homes)
- Total homes built: 3,089
#46. Meade County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 30.0% (594 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 6.4% (126 homes)
- Total homes built: 1,978
#45. Kingman County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 31.1% (1,193 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 9.4% (363 homes)
- Total homes built: 3,842
#44. Marion County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 31.7% (1,902 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 8.1% (488 homes)
- Total homes built: 6,002
#43. Brown County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 36.5% (1,735 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 8.4% (400 homes)
- Total homes built: 4,748
#42. Trego County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 24.9% (426 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 2.4% (41 homes)
- Total homes built: 1,709
#41. Barton County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 25.3% (3,223 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 7.3% (928 homes)
- Total homes built: 12,728
#40. Hodgeman County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 29.1% (277 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 4.9% (47 homes)
- Total homes built: 952
#39. Montgomery County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 32.0% (5,270 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 7.6% (1,253 homes)
- Total homes built: 16,458
#38. Graham County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 25.2% (374 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 2.8% (41 homes)
- Total homes built: 1,483
#37. Harper County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 32.6% (1,030 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 6.7% (213 homes)
- Total homes built: 3,164
#36. Neosho County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 32.7% (2,533 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 12.3% (950 homes)
- Total homes built: 7,749
#35. Chase County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 36.9% (550 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 9.2% (138 homes)
- Total homes built: 1,492
#34. Ness County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 32.2% (544 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 1.5% (26 homes)
- Total homes built: 1,687
#33. Wallace County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 33.3% (265 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 5.7% (45 homes)
- Total homes built: 795
#32. Greenwood County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 36.4% (1,467 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 9.6% (386 homes)
- Total homes built: 4,032
#31. Ellsworth County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 37.3% (1,205 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 6.2% (199 homes)
- Total homes built: 3,232
#30. Rooks County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 28.7% (787 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 5.0% (137 homes)
- Total homes built: 2,744
#29. Norton County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 32.5% (825 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 4.4% (112 homes)
- Total homes built: 2,542
#28. Barber County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 34.8% (950 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 10.5% (285 homes)
- Total homes built: 2,727
#27. Clark County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 35.6% (417 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 8.1% (95 homes)
- Total homes built: 1,171
#26. Marshall County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 35.6% (1,754 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 10.7% (529 homes)
- Total homes built: 4,925
#25. Morris County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 36.0% (1,155 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 8.7% (279 homes)
- Total homes built: 3,212
#24. Woodson County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 37.8% (766 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 9.0% (183 homes)
- Total homes built: 2,025
#23. Elk County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 39.4% (691 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 8.6% (150 homes)
- Total homes built: 1,754
#22. Ottawa County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 43.0% (1,193 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 11.8% (327 homes)
- Total homes built: 2,777
#21. Pratt County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 28.9% (1,294 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 5.5% (244 homes)
- Total homes built: 4,472
#20. Pawnee County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 32.4% (1,022 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 12.6% (398 homes)
- Total homes built: 3,158
#19. Russell County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 32.6% (1,267 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 3.0% (118 homes)
- Total homes built: 3,883
#18. Rice County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 31.5% (1,441 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 5.9% (268 homes)
- Total homes built: 4,581
#17. Decatur County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 37.8% (678 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 4.8% (87 homes)
- Total homes built: 1,795
#16. Dickinson County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 39.0% (3,579 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 9.0% (829 homes)
- Total homes built: 9,180
#15. Stafford County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 38.2% (893 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 4.0% (94 homes)
- Total homes built: 2,339
#14. Rush County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 38.2% (713 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 3.7% (70 homes)
- Total homes built: 1,867
#13. Mitchell County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 39.1% (1,291 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 12.3% (406 homes)
- Total homes built: 3,301
#12. Rawlins County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 42.1% (592 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 5.3% (74 homes)
- Total homes built: 1,407
#11. Cheyenne County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 36.8% (556 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 5.6% (85 homes)
- Total homes built: 1,511
#10. Edwards County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 40.6% (658 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 5.9% (95 homes)
- Total homes built: 1,622
#9. Washington County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 41.9% (1,233 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 7.0% (207 homes)
- Total homes built: 2,940
#8. Smith County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 42.4% (946 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 5.9% (131 homes)
- Total homes built: 2,230
#7. Osborne County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 43.6% (946 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 2.9% (64 homes)
- Total homes built: 2,170
#6. Clay County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 45.8% (1,877 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 5.7% (235 homes)
- Total homes built: 4,097
#5. Jewell County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 46.5% (937 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 6.7% (136 homes)
- Total homes built: 2,015
#4. Republic County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 46.3% (1,327 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 5.5% (158 homes)
- Total homes built: 2,865
#3. Cloud County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 48.6% (2,232 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 2.5% (114 homes)
- Total homes built: 4,588
#2. Comanche County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 49.9% (520 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 6.3% (66 homes)
- Total homes built: 1,043
#1. Lincoln County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 55.1% (1,019 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 5.1% (95 homes)
- Total homes built: 1,848