County Maps US

Shawnee County, Kansas

A county in Kansas, ranked 3 of 105 by population.

CountyFIPS 20177

Within Kansas
Shawnee County, highlighted, with the areas around it. Boundaries generalised from the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file; neighbour fills carry no data. The dot marks Topeka, the county seat, located via the 2025 Census Gazetteer.

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Population
178,607
-92 (-0.1%) since 2020
Land area
544
square miles. A further 2.1% of the total area is water
Population density
328
people per square mile, computed rather than published
County seat
Topeka
Seat of county government.
Established
1855
170 years ago
Largest city
Topeka city
Population 125,795.

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; Wikidata (CC0), Wikidata. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

Satellite view

Aerial imagery of Shawnee County with its boundary drawn on top. A map shows you the shape; this shows you what is inside it, and which side of the line a place falls on.

Aerial view of Shawnee County, Kansas from the USGS National Map, with its boundary outlined
Imagery: USGS National Map, USGS Imagery Only, public domain, requested from USGS by your browser when you reach this point on the page, at 800 by 680 pixels. The boundary is the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file, reprojected to Web Mercator to match the imagery. You can also open the USGS National Map viewer.

Where Shawnee County ranks

Position among the 105 counties of Kansas, and among all 3,144 US counties and county-equivalents. Computed from the figures on this page.

MeasureValueIn KansasNationally
Population178,6073rd of 105390th of 3,144
Land area544 sq mi94th of 1051,917th of 3,144
Population density328 per sq mi4th of 105405th of 3,144
Median household income$67,10439th of 1051,427th of 3,143

Full data for Shawnee County

Every figure below is attributed to the Census Bureau product it came from, with the vintage of that product.
MeasureValueSource and vintage
Population178,607Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 2020178,699Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?178,907Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area544 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area11.7 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area555.7 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?328 per sq miComputed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income$67,104American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value$180,900American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age39.4American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households75,458American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units81,075American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; US Census Bureau, American Community Survey, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates, released 29 January 2026. Population density is computed here, not published: it divides the Vintage 2025 population estimate by the 2025 Gazetteer land area, which are two different Census products. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

How the population changed

The Census Bureau publishes the components behind an estimate, not just the total. For the year to July 2025:

Births minus deaths
-77
1,904 births, 1,981 deaths
Net migration
+455
More people moved in than moved out.

Source: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

The 6 areas bordering Shawnee County

Ordered by the length of the border actually shared, which the Census Bureau publishes in its county adjacency file and which no other county reference presents.

Bordering areaStateShared borderPopulation
Wabaunsee CountyKansas25 mi7,018
Osage CountyKansas24 mi15,693
Jackson CountyKansas24 mi13,438
Jefferson CountyKansas17 mi18,296
Douglas CountyKansas13 mi120,920
Pottawatomie CountyKansas6.4 mi27,186

Source: US Census Bureau, County Adjacency File, 2025 County Adjacency File, released 15 September 2025. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

All 105 counties of Kansas

Open the interactive Kansas county map, or jump straight to any of them.

Data on this page last rebuilt 30 August 2026. How these figures are produced.