Ness County, Kansas

• White (non-Hispanic) 2,121 79.9%
• Hispanic or Latino (any race) 395 14.9%
• Black or African American (non-Hispanic) 0 0.0%
• Asian (non-Hispanic) 5 0.2%
• Two or more races (non-Hispanic) 114 4.3%
• American Indian / Alaska Native (non-Hispanic) 13 0.5%
• Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander (non-Hispanic) 0 0.0%
• Some other race (non-Hispanic) 5 0.2%

• Under 18 524 19.8%
• 18–24 290 10.9%
• 25–44 509 19.2%
• 45–64 666 25.1%
• 65 and over 664 25.0%

Median household income

$69,131

90% interval $61,301–$76,961

−$6,271 vs KS · 42nd of 105

Below poverty line

11.3%

90% interval 8.8%–13.8%

+0.4 pp vs KS · 55th of 105

Unemployment (12-mo)

2.9%

−0.98 pp vs. state

County GDP

$227.1M

0.1% of state

Avg. annual pay

$49,331

Establishments

140

• Trade, transportation & utilities 286 26.6%
• Education & health services 275 25.6%
• Natural resources & mining 169 15.7%
• Public administration 117 10.9%
• Financial activities 56 5.2%
• Professional & business services 44 4.1%
• Leisure & hospitality 37 3.4%
• Other services 3 0.3%

The sectors listed cover 91.7% of covered employment; BLS withholds the rest to avoid disclosing individual employers.

Home ownership

81.6%

+14.4 pp vs KS · 11th of 105

Median gross rent

$538

−$522 vs KS · 105th of 105

Owner-occupied

947

Renter-occupied

214

• Concentrated

  Top three sectors employ 68% of the county workforce. Most panelists likely share employer relationships within these sectors, surface those connections early in voir dire before any institutional-defendant or sector-specific framing.

• Wide wage spread

  Highest-paid sector (Natural resources & mining, $60,925/yr) pays 17.1× the lowest (Other services, $3,556/yr). Stark intra-economy class divisions on the panel; calibrate damages and lost-wages framing to that range.

• Small-business scale

  Average establishment employs only 7.7 workers, a small-business-dominated local economy. Expect more self-employed and small-business-owner panelists than in institutional-employer venues.

• Republican 1,205 88.4%
• Democratic 129 9.5%
• Other / third-party 29 2.1%

• Spanish 310 12.1%
• German or other West Germanic 39 1.5%
• Arabic 12 0.5%
• Tagalog 2 0.1%
• Russian, Polish, or other Slavic 1 0.0%

Households

1,161

Family households

772

66.5% of households

Married couples w/ children

172

22.3% of families

Single-mother families

29

3.8% of families

Veterans

125

5.9% of civilians 18+

• Mainline Protestant 1,004 37.4%
• Catholic 825 30.7%
• Evangelical Protestant 137 5.1%

Health insured

92.0%

±3.1 pp

Uninsured

8.0%

±3.1 pp

53rd of 105

With a disability

13.6%

±2.9 pp

78th of 105

Bachelor's or higher

25.0%

±3.7 pp

−10.6 pp vs KS · 46th of 105

Uninsured, under 65 (2024)

14.0%

90% interval 12.4%–15.6% · Census SAHIE

The under-65 uninsured rate is not comparable to the ACS insurance figures, which cover all ages.

Trial court

24th Judicial District Court

Judges

2 (District Court judges per district (general civil + criminal jurisdiction); District Magistrate Judges (limited jurisdiction: limited civil, traffic, misdemeanors) separate. Vintage 2026 kscourts.gov; counts cross-checked against K.S.A. § 20-301a.)

Court seats

Dighton, Jetmore, Kinsley, La Crosse, Larned, Ness City

This judicial district spans multiple counties.

Traffic fatalities

1

46.97 per 100k adults (18+)

Fatal crashes

1