Strategic Planning Data Analysis: Barton County

Abstract

This report, commissioned for the Barton County strategic planning project, surveys some of the more significant demographic and economic trends in Barton County, Kansas, over the period from 1980 to the present time. Through contrast and comparison with nearby counties, relative strengths and weaknesses have been assessed.

Barton is a county of about 29,000 people, situated in central Kansas. Its population is a mixture of small urban and rural. The county is connected with four major highways and is located near Interstate 70. The county's economy includes a relatively sizable oil mining industry and an agricultural sector that is comparatively small for the region and for non­metropolitan areas. During the 1980s, Barton County experienced many of the same declines in population and economic base that occurred throughout Kansas' non-metropolitan counties. However, there are several indications that the severe adjustments of the early to mid-1980s have slowed, suggesting renewed stability in the Barton County economy.