Topeka is a relatively large city located in the state of Kansas. With a population of 125,475 people and 42 associated neighborhoods, Topeka is the fifth largest community in Kansas.Unlike some cities where white-collar or blue-collar occupations dominate the local economy, Topeka is neither predominantly one nor the other. Instead, it has a mixed workforce of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Topeka is a city of professionals, sales and office workers, and service providers. There are especially a lot of people living in Topeka who work in office and administrative support (12.28%), sales jobs (8.38%), and management occupations (7.96%). Also of interest is that Topeka has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US. A relatively large number of people in Topeka telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 8.67% of the workforce works from home. While this may seem like a small number, as a fraction of the total workforce it ranks among the highest in the country. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes. One of the benefits of Topeka is that there is very little traffic. The average commute to work is 18.63 minutes, which is substantially less than the national average. Not only does this mean that the drive to work is less aggravating, but noise and pollution levels are lower as a result.The overall education level of Topeka is somewhat higher than in the average US city of 21.84%: 28.46% of adults 25 and older in the city have at least a bachelor's degree. The per capita income in Topeka in 2022 was $32,176, which is middle income relative to Kansas and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $128,704 for a family of four. However, Topeka contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. Topeka is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Topeka home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Topeka residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Topeka also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 16.37% of the city’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Topeka include German, English, Irish, European, and French. The most common language spoken in Topeka is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Langs. of India.
