Howard, Kansas.
Typical home $93,950 (+14.6% in a year).
to buy the typical home at today's mortgage rate — +$282 (+134%) since Jan 2020.
- 1 year
- Up $11,974 +15%
- $81,976$93,950 since Sep 2025
- 5 years
- Up $33,904 +56%
- $60,046$93,950 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.
- Howard$493
- Kansas$1,291
- United States$1,922
At the last five years' pace, a typical home here doubles in price every 8 years.
Typical home values in Howard, KS rose 14.6% over the past year — faster than the nation's +1.2%.
Living in Howard, Elk County, Kansas
Howard is a city of 570 people in Elk County. Half its households earn more than $65,625 a year and half less, against $64,609 across Elk County; 18% of its people live below the poverty line. 75% of its homes are lived in by their owners and 25% are rented. Unemployment in Elk County was 5.2% in August 2026, and the county had 1.5% more jobs in 2025 than the year before. The most residents work in schools and health care, then transport and warehouses.
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 It can be wrong or out of date.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. Howard is a small city and the seat of Elk County, with a population that is among the smallest of the places people look up here. Most homes are lived in by their owners, and typical home values are low compared with much of the country. Household incomes are a little above the county's, though a noticeable share of residents live below the poverty line. Winters are cold and summers are hot, with only a little snow and a fair amount of rain through the year.
Work. Residents work mainly in schools, hospitals and social care, followed by transport, warehouses and utilities, the building trades and government. Across Elk County, the largest workplaces are West Elk Schools and Elk Valley Schools. Unemployment in the county is about where it was a year ago, and the county added a few more jobs last year than the year before. A small share of residents work from home, and fewer adults hold a four-year degree than in much of the country.
Things to do. For time outdoors, Fall River State Park is a protected area, and Fall River Lake is a reservoir, both a longer drive away. Cross Timbers State Park is another protected area, also a longer drive away. Toronto Lake, a reservoir in the same stretch of country, is a longer drive away too.
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- 259households
- 19%of adults have a degree
- 18%below the poverty line
- 11%work from home
What residents work in
Employed residents by industry, from the Census survey. Elk County had 628 jobs in 2025, 1.5% more than the year before (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Weather through the year
Coldest in January, with highs near 44° and lows near 20°; warmest in July, with highs near 90° and lows near 68°. About 6 inches of snow and 39 inches of rain and melted snow a year.
Average daily high and low, 1991–2020, at the Howard weather station, under a mile away (NOAA).
Largest workplaces in Elk County
- West Elk SchoolsSchool district116FTE
- Elk Valley SchoolsSchool district24FTE
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
- WildfireVery high
- Strong windVery high
- TornadoesVery high
- Winter weatherVery high
- HailRelatively high
- Ice stormsRelatively high
FEMA’s National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the risk each natural hazard poses to the people, buildings and farms in Howard’s census tracts, against the rest of the country; all of them together, relatively high. 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 Elk County.
Howard home values
Zillow measures a city over its municipal boundary. Against the state and national figures, mid-tier homes, smoothed and seasonally adjusted.
- Howard$93,950
- Kansas$246,055
- United States$366,157
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
Homes for sale
Active for-sale inventory. More supply hands power to buyers.
Not enough data to draw this yet.
New listings per month
Sellers arriving at the market.
Not enough data to draw this yet.
Zip codes with a Howard address
A different geography, not a breakdown. The figure above covers the municipality; these zips cover everywhere the Post Office calls Howard — often including townships beyond the city limits. Both come straight from Zillow, and they are not expected to average out.