Rice County, Kansas

Rice County
	Rice County, Kansas
	Map
	; Location in the state of Kansas
	; Kansas's location in the U.S.
	Statistics
Founded	February 26, 1867
Seat	Lyons
Largest City	Lyons
Area; - Total; - Land; - Water	; 728 sq mi (1,886 km²); 726 sq mi (1,880 km²); 1.7 sq mi (4 km²), 0.2%
Population; - Density	; ;
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5
	Named for: Samuel Allen Rice

Rice County (standard abbreviation: RC) is a county in the U.S. state of Kansas. In 2020, 9,427 people lived there.^[1] The county seat is Lyons. Lyons is also the biggest city in Rice County.^[2] The county was named after Samuel Allen Rice, Brigadier-General, United States volunteers, killed April 30, 1864, at Jenkins Ferry, Arkansas.^[3]

History

In 1867, Rice County was created.

Geography

The U.S. Census Bureau says that the county has a total area of 728 square miles (1,890 km²). Of that, 726 square miles (1,880 km²) is land and 1.7 square miles (4.4 km²) (0.2%) is water.^[4]

People

Age pyramid

Historical populations
Census	Pop.	%±
1870	5	—
1880	9,292	185740.0%
1890	14,451	55.5%
1900	14,745	2.0%
1910	15,106	2.4%
1920	14,832	−1.8%
1930	13,800	−7.0%
1940	17,213	24.7%
1950	15,635	−9.2%
1960	13,909	−11.0%
1970	12,320	−11.4%
1980	11,900	−3.4%
1990	10,610	−10.8%
2000	10,761	1.4%
2010	10,083	−6.3%
U.S. Decennial Census^[5] 1790-1960^[6] 1900-1990^[7] 1990-2000^[8] 2010-2020^[1]

Government

Presidential elections

Presidential Elections Results

**Presidential Elections Results**^[9]
Year	Republican	Democratic	Third Parties
2020	75.5% 3,262	22.3% 965	2.1% 92
2016	74.6% 2,837	18.3% 695	7.2% 272
2012	72.7% 2,676	24.8% 911	2.6% 94
2008	69.1% 2,780	28.9% 1,163	1.9% 78
2004	72.7% 3,182	25.8% 1,130	1.5% 64
2000	64.2% 2,903	31.5% 1,422	4.3% 195
1996	59.3% 2,842	29.9% 1,434	10.7% 513
1992	40.9% 2,158	29.5% 1,555	29.6% 1,558
1988	53.9% 2,503	43.8% 2,033	2.4% 109
1984	68.7% 3,598	29.8% 1,559	1.6% 82
1980	57.7% 3,211	33.2% 1,847	9.2% 510
1976	44.8% 2,584	53.0% 3,056	2.2% 125
1972	66.2% 3,843	31.5% 1,825	2.3% 135
1968	56.2% 3,141	36.7% 2,049	7.1% 396
1964	39.2% 2,390	60.1% 3,665	0.7% 43
1960	64.8% 4,329	34.9% 2,328	0.3% 23
1956	70.5% 4,638	29.3% 1,926	0.3% 17
1952	74.5% 5,572	24.5% 1,832	1.0% 74
1948	58.2% 4,002	40.0% 2,752	1.9% 128
1944	61.1% 4,024	38.1% 2,505	0.8% 55
1940	56.5% 4,792	42.9% 3,635	0.7% 56
1936	40.2% 3,318	59.5% 4,905	0.3% 22
1932	49.3% 3,107	48.2% 3,037	2.5% 154
1928	74.1% 4,321	25.1% 1,462	0.9% 52
1924	68.5% 3,920	22.8% 1,303	8.7% 497
1920	69.0% 3,651	28.9% 1,532	2.1% 112
1916	42.6% 2,494	47.9% 2,801	9.5% 557
1912	20.6% 697	38.8% 1,314	40.7% 1,378^[a]
1908	51.4% 1,832	39.4% 1,407	9.2% 329
1904	64.2% 1,994	23.4% 727	12.5% 387
1900	54.4% 2,013	41.3% 1,527	4.3% 159
1896	48.8% 1,729	48.8% 1,731	2.5% 87
1892	46.8% 1,724		53.2% 1,961^[b]
1888	57.8% 1,851	29.2% 934	13.1% 418

Education

Unified school districts

USD 328, Lorraine, serves Bushton and northwestern areas of the county
USD 376, Sterling
USD 401, Chase
USD 405, Lyons
USD 444, Little River

Colleges and Universities

Sterling College, a private four year Christian college, is in Sterling.

Communities

2005 KDOT Map of Rice County (map legend)

Cities