Hays, Kansas

Hays is a city in the state of Kansas. It is the county seat of Ellis County. In 2020, 21,116 people lived there.^[3] It is also a "college town", and it has Fort Hays State University.^[4] It is the biggest city in northwestern Kansas.

Hays, Kansas
City and County seat
Main Street in Downtown Hays
Location within Ellis County and Kansas
KDOT map of Ellis County (legend)
Coordinates: 38°52′46″N 99°19′20″W[1]
Country	United States
State	Kansas
County	Ellis
Founded	1867
Incorporated	1885
Named for	Fort Hays
Area [2]
• Total	8.64 sq mi (22.39 km2)
• Land	8.64 sq mi (22.39 km2)
• Water	0.00 sq mi (0.00 km2)
Elevation [1]	2,018 ft (615 m)
Population  (2020)[3]
• Total	21,116
• Density	2,400/sq mi (940/km2)
Time zone	UTC-6 (CST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP codes	67601, 67667
Area code	785
FIPS code	20-31100
GNIS ID	485589[1]
Website	haysusa.com

Geography and climate

Climate data for Hays, Kansas
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high °F (°C)	79 (26)	88 (31)	97 (36)	107 (42)	106 (41)	114 (46)	117 (47)	115 (46)	111 (44)	101 (38)	90 (32)	83 (28)	117 (47)
Average high °F (°C)	42.2 (5.7)	46.1 (7.8)	56.2 (13.4)	66.6 (19.2)	75.5 (24.2)	86.2 (30.1)	92.4 (33.6)	90.4 (32.4)	81.7 (27.6)	69.2 (20.7)	55.0 (12.8)	42.9 (6.1)	67.0 (19.5)
Daily mean °F (°C)	29.2 (−1.6)	33.0 (0.6)	42.7 (5.9)	53.2 (11.8)	63.3 (17.4)	73.7 (23.2)	79.1 (26.2)	77.4 (25.2)	68.3 (20.2)	55.3 (12.9)	41.4 (5.2)	30.6 (−0.8)	53.9 (12.2)
Average low °F (°C)	16.2 (−8.8)	19.9 (−6.7)	29.2 (−1.6)	39.9 (4.4)	51.1 (10.6)	61.1 (16.2)	65.8 (18.8)	64.5 (18.1)	54.9 (12.7)	41.4 (5.2)	27.9 (−2.3)	18.4 (−7.6)	40.9 (4.9)
Record low °F (°C)	−26 (−32)	−26 (−32)	−23 (−31)	5 (−15)	17 (−8)	31 (−1)	37 (3)	36 (2)	20 (−7)	9 (−13)	−6 (−21)	−21 (−29)	−26 (−32)
Average precipitation inches (mm)	0.50 (13)	0.71 (18)	1.81 (46)	2.14 (54)	3.26 (83)	2.83 (72)	3.92 (100)	3.04 (77)	2.05 (52)	1.58 (40)	0.89 (23)	0.72 (18)	23.45 (596)
Average snowfall inches (cm)	4.1 (10)	3.9 (9.9)	3.1 (7.9)	0.4 (1.0)	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)	0.2 (0.51)	1.4 (3.6)	3.6 (9.1)	16.7 (42.01)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.01 in)	3.3	4.1	6.1	7.6	9.6	9.3	8.7	7.8	6.2	6.0	4.2	3.8	76.7
Average snowy days (≥ 0.1 in)	2.7	2.6	1.6	0.4	0	0	0	0	0	0.1	1.0	2.5	10.9
Average relative humidity (%)	68	69	67	62	68	64	62	61	60	61	64	67	64
Source: National Weather Service;[5] Weatherbase[6]

People

Census	Pop.		%±
1870	320		—
1880	850		165.6%
1890	1,242		46.1%
1900	1,136		−8.5%
1910	1,961		72.6%
1920	3,165		61.4%
1930	4,618		45.9%
1940	6,385		38.3%
1950	8,625		35.1%
1960	11,947		38.5%
1970	15,396		28.9%
1980	16,301		5.9%
1990	17,767		9.0%
2000	20,013		12.6%
2010	20,510		2.5%
2020	21,116		3.0%
U.S. Decennial Census[7] 2010-2020[8]

2020 census

In 2020, there were 21,116 people, 8,610 households, and 4,576 families living in Zurich. Of the households, 55.3% owned their home and 44.7% rented their home.

The median age was 30.7 years. Of the people, 87.5% were White, 1.5% were Black, 1.1% were Asian, 0.3% were Native American, 3.7% were from some other race, and 5.9% were two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7.3% of the people.^[3][9]