Wichita is that rare American city betting its future on the middle class.
While Sunbelt boomtowns from Miami to Austin, Texas, expand their tax bases by courting wealthy finance executives and tech workers, Wichita businesses and politicians are reaching out to middle-income earners in fields such as healthcare services, energy and manufacturing.
On the housing front, rows of affordable duplexes are sprouting up for young families, retirees and empty-nesters next to single-family homes and farmland.
Wichita is marketing itself as a rare mecca of affordability for the new middle class in an era of perpetually rising costs, especially the soaring cost of housing. The median household income there is around $66,000, while the average monthly rent for all apartments is $950. That is about 45% cheaper than the national average of $1,750, according to figures from RentCafe.
“City leaders and business leaders have tried to capitalize on that inexpensive housing to try to lure new people to come here,” says Chase Billingham, a sociologist at Wichita State University and author of a book about Wichita’s economic development. “That idea of your dollar going further in this region.”