Topeka, the capital of Kansas, is also an agricultural, industrial and transportation center serving a large portion of north and central Kansas. Highlights in the traditionally laid-out downtown include the statehouse, Kansas Museum of History, Brown vs. Board of Education historic site, and Heartland Park, a state-of-the-art motorsports complex. Costs of living and housing prices are low, particularly for a capital city. But property crime rates are high for the region and projected job and income growth are low. That said, a low cost of living brings a high Buying Power Index. There isn’t much to do, and the area has lagged behind other Kansas cities aesthetically, socially and economically. Excellent entertainment and cultural amenities are available in the university town of Lawrence, 20 miles east, and in the Kansas City area.

The city straddles the Kansas River in a valley, 2 to 4 miles wide, bordered by rolling prairie. The climate is decidedly continental and highly variable. Summers are usually hot with low relative humidity and persistent southerly winds. Temperatures can exceed 100 degrees for 50 days or more, although 25% of summers have 2 or fewer days reaching 100. Frequent cold and snow characterize winter. Bitter cold spells are seldom prolonged. Spring is windy, while autumn brings warm days, cool nights, and relative dryness. Seventy percent of annual precipitation falls from April through September, the crop-growing months, predominantly as thunderstorms. Warm-season thunderstorms can deliver over 8 inches of rain in 24 hours. Tornadoes are a risk. First freeze is mid-October, last is late April.