Kansas · Census place 2068200

Sterling, Kansas

Sterling is a city in Rice County, Kansas with an estimated 2,309 residents on July 1, 2024. It is the 103rd largest of 193 incorporated places of 1,000+ people in the state.

Population 2024
2,309
#103 of 193 in Kansas
Change since 2020
+2.8%
+62 people
Land area
1.9 sq mi
+ 0.04 sq mi water
Density
1,235 / sq mi
State median 1,527
Orange pin: Sterling. Shaded: its county. Dark pin: Topeka.

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Tools and pages that start from Sterling

Sterling population, 2020 to 2024

Sterling added 62 residents from July 2020 to July 2024, a change of +2.8%. In the latest year it moved by +26.

2,24720202,24620212,27520222,28320232,3092024
July 1 estimates. The April 2020 estimates base was 2,254. The axis starts above zero so yearly changes are visible.

Sterling covers 1.87 square miles of land and 0.04 of water, for 1,235 people per square mile of land. The median Kansas place of 5,000+ has 1,527, so Sterling is less dense than the typical town.

What county Sterling is in

All of Sterling's residents live in Rice County, which had 9,284 residents in 2024. Sterling holds 24.9% of the county's population. The shaded shape is on the map above; dots mark the eight nearest places.

ZIP codes in Sterling

1 ZIP Code Tabulation Area (ZCTA) overlaps Sterling by at least 10% of the ZCTA's or the city's land: 67579. ZCTAs are Census approximations of USPS ZIP code delivery areas. The list comes from the 2020 ZCTA to place relationship file, so a city that annexed land after 2020 may reach into ZIP codes not listed here.

Where Sterling is

The Census internal point of Sterling is at 38.209300, -98.206500. Topeka, the capital, is 148.2 miles ENE in a straight line. The nearest larger place is Lyons, KS (3,499 people), 9.4 miles away. The nearest city of 100,000 or more is Wichita, KS, 59.0 miles away.

Internal point

Decimal
38.209300, -98.206500
DMS
38°12'33.48"N 98°12'23.40"W
UTM
14N 569469.2E 4229335.3N
Geohash
9yf1m7b1q
Plus code
86C36Q5V+PC

Daylight in Sterling

At 38.21° N, Sterling gets about 14 h 50 min of daylight around the June solstice and 9 h 30 min around the December solstice, a swing of 5 h 19 min. Figures are sunrise to sunset from the SunCalc model for June 21 and December 21, 2026.

Places near Sterling

The eight nearest incorporated places of 1,000+ in Kansas, measured between internal points. The closest is Nickerson, 7.7 miles away, with 1,052 people.

Questions people ask

What is the population of Sterling, KS?

2,309 on July 1, 2024, in the Census Vintage 2024 estimates. That is up 62 (2.8%) from 2,247 in July 2020.

What county is Sterling in?

Rice County. All of its residents live in that county.

What ZIP codes cover Sterling?

1 ZIP Code Tabulation Area overlaps it by at least 10% of either area: 67579.

How far is Sterling from Topeka?

148.2 miles (238.6 km) in a straight line, heading ENE from Sterling.

What is the nearest larger city to Sterling?

Lyons, KS, with 3,499 residents, 9.4 miles away between internal points.

Sources and data as of

Data as of: Census Vintage 2024 subcounty estimates (July 1, 2024), 2024 Gazetteer places, 2020 ZCTA to place relationship file.

  1. 01Census Vintage 2024 subcounty population estimates
  2. 02Census 2024 Gazetteer, places
  3. 03Census 2020 ZCTA to place relationship file
  4. 04Census 2024 cartographic boundary file, counties (1:5,000,000)

How every number is computed: methodology. Spotted a wrong figure? Report an error.