Galena, Kansas.
Typical home $120,095 (+4.9% in a year).
to buy the typical home at today's mortgage rate — +$368 (+140%) since Jan 2020.
- 1 year
- Up $5,567 +5%
- $114,528$120,095 since Sep 2025
- 5 years
- Up $27,647 +30%
- $92,448$120,095 since Sep 2021
Monthly payment to buy the typical home
Home value × that month's 30-year mortgage rate, 20% down, principal and interest. This is the line households feel: prices and rates compound each other.
- Galena$630
- Kansas$1,291
- United States$1,922
At the last five years' pace, a typical home here doubles in price every 13 years.
Typical home values in Galena, KS rose 4.9% over the past year — faster than the nation's +1.2%.
Living in Galena, Cherokee County, Kansas
Galena is a city of 2,761 people in Cherokee County. Unemployment in Cherokee County was 4.6% in August 2026, and the county had 2.4% more jobs in 2025 than the year before. The most residents work in schools and health care, then restaurants and hotels.
Written by AI Claude Sonnet 5.5 wrote this on 23 October 2026 from the figures here, a list of nearby places and what it knows. It can be wrong or out of date.
What it’s like
The place. Galena is a small city in the southeast corner of Kansas, in Cherokee County. Incomes in the county run on the modest side and homes cost less than in much of the country, which makes for an affordable place to settle. Fewer adults hold a four-year degree than in many towns, and most people have a short drive to work. Winters are cold and summers are hot, with a fair amount of rain and melted snow spread across the year.
Work. People in Galena work mostly in schools, hospitals and social care, in restaurants and hotels, in manufacturing and in shops. Among the largest workplaces in town are Celltron, which makes electronic components, Galena Schools, and Wenger Manufacturing, which makes food-processing equipment. Across the county, unemployment is unchanged from a year earlier and the number of jobs has grown slightly.
Things to do. For time outdoors, Turkey Creek and Center Creek are both a short drive away, and the Spring River is a longer drive. In nearby Joplin, Missouri, the Joplin History and Mineral Museum is a short drive away, and Mercy Park is close by as well. The George Washington Carver National Monument, a protected area, makes a longer day trip.
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- 1,171households
- 19%of adults have a degree
- 13%below the poverty line
- 19 mintypical commute
- 3%work from home
What residents work in
Employed residents by industry, from the Census survey. Cherokee County had 5,968 jobs in 2025, 2.4% more than the year before (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Weather through the year
Coldest in January, with highs near 45° and lows near 25°; warmest in July, with highs near 90° and lows near 70°. About 46 inches of rain and melted snow a year.
Average daily high and low, 1991–2020, at the Joplin Regional Airport weather station, 9 miles away (NOAA).
Largest workplaces in Galena
- CelltronRectifiers, electronic component-type, manufacturing417
- Galena SchoolsSchool district129FTE
- Republic Services of GalenaGarbage collection services58
- Americare Senior LivingHealthcare42
- Wenger Manufacturing, Inc. - 616 W 7th StFood choppers, grinders, mixers, and slicers manufacturing36
- Williams Machine & Tool25
Staff on average in 2025, as each workplace reported it to OSHA with its injury records: 5 workplaces with 20 or more staff, 578 people in all. School districts come from the Common Core of Data (NCES, 2023–24); FTE marks full-time equivalent staff. Not listed: many offices and banks, which need not report to OSHA; military bases, whose staff OPM withholds; and, in about half the states, city and county governments.
Natural hazards
- TornadoesVery high
- Ice stormsRelatively high
- Winter weatherRelatively high
- Strong windRelatively high
- Heat wavesRelatively high
- HailRelatively moderate
FEMA’s National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the risk each natural hazard poses to the people, buildings and farms in Galena’s census tracts, against the rest of the country; all of them together, relatively moderate. It is meant for planning, not a substitute for a local risk assessment or a flood map: FEMA’s index.
From the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 census and its American Community Survey (2020–2024 five-year estimates), and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A survey, so each figure has a margin of error, and figures it is not sure of are left out. More on Cherokee County.
Galena home values
Zillow measures a city over its municipal boundary. Against the state and national figures, mid-tier homes, smoothed and seasonally adjusted.
- Galena$120,095
- Kansas$246,055
- United States$366,157
Sellers are cutting prices on about 1 in 5 Galena listings — the market is heating up.
When this market ran hot
Each cell is that month's year-on-year home-value growth. Read left to right, top row is the latest year — the 2021–22 band is the boom.
Market heat, inside the city limits
Share of listings with a price cut
The early-warning dial: sellers cut when buyers stop reaching. Rising cuts cool a market months before prices notice.
- Galena22.01%
- United States26.90%
Homes for sale
Active for-sale inventory. More supply hands power to buyers.
- Galena27
New listings per month
Sellers arriving at the market.
- Galena5
Zip codes with a Galena address
A different geography, not a breakdown. The figure above covers the municipality; these zips cover everywhere the Post Office calls Galena — often including townships beyond the city limits. Both come straight from Zillow, and they are not expected to average out.