Atchison County, Kansas

Atchison County (county code AT) is a county in northeastern Kansas, in the Central United States. In 2020, 16,348 people lived there.^[1] Its county seat is Atchison. Atchison is also the biggest city in the county.^[2] The county is named after David Rice Atchison, a United States Senator from Missouri.^[3]

Atchison County
County
Atchison County Courthouse in Atchison (2023)
Location within the U.S. state of Kansas
Kansas's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 39°32′N 95°18′W
Country	United States
State	Kansas
Founded	August 25, 1855
Named for	David Rice Atchison
Seat	Atchison
Largest city	Atchison
Area
• Total	434 sq mi (1,120 km2)
• Land	431 sq mi (1,120 km2)
• Water	2.6 sq mi (7 km2)  0.6%
Population  (2020)[1]
• Total	16,348
• Density	37.9/sq mi (14.6/km2)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Area code	913
Congressional district	2nd
Website	AtchisonCountyKS.org

Geography

The U.S. Census Bureau says that the county has a total area of 434 square miles (1,120 km²). Of that, 431 square miles (1,120 km²) is land and 2.6 square miles (6.7 km²) (0.6%) is water.^[4] It is the fourth-smallest county by area in Kansas.

On July 4, 1804, to mark Independence Day, the Lewis and Clark Expedition named Independence Creek near the city of Atchison (see Timeline of the Lewis and Clark Expedition).

Major highways

Sources: National Atlas,^[5] U.S. Census Bureau^[6]

• U.S. Route 59
• U.S. Route 73
• U.S. Route 159
• Kansas Highway 7
• Kansas Highway 9
• Kansas Highway 116

People

Census	Pop.		%±
1860	7,729		—
1870	15,507		100.6%
1880	26,668		72.0%
1890	26,758		0.3%
1900	28,606		6.9%
1910	28,107		−1.7%
1920	23,411		−16.7%
1930	23,945		2.3%
1940	22,222		−7.2%
1950	21,496		−3.3%
1960	20,898		−2.8%
1970	19,165		−8.3%
1980	18,397		−4.0%
1990	16,932		−8.0%
2000	16,774		−0.9%
2010	16,924		0.9%
2020	16,348		−3.4%
U.S. Decennial Census[7] 1790-1960[8] 1900-1990[9] 1990-2000[10] 2010-2020[1]

Population pyramid

Atchison County is in the Atchison, KS Micropolitan Statistical Area. It is also included in the Kansas City-Overland Park-Kansas City, MO-KS Combined Statistical Area.

Government

Presidential elections

Atchison County has been a swing county for most of its history. It has had multiple extended streaks of being a bellwether county, the first running from 1896 to 1936. After voting more Republican than the nation in the 1940s & voting for losing candidate Richard Nixon in 1960, another bellwether streak ran from 1964 to 2004. Since then, the county has become significantly more Republican, with Barack Obama failing to win the county in both of his victories & Hillary Clinton losing it by over 30 percent to Donald Trump in 2016.

Presidential election results^[11]

Year	Republican	Democratic	Third Parties
2024	67.4% 4,911	30.2% 2,201	2.4% 172
2020	65.9% 4,906	31.7% 2,359	2.4% 175
2016	61.6% 4,049	30.3% 1,989	8.2% 537
2012	58.7% 3,917	38.5% 2,567	2.9% 190
2008	52.7% 3,791	45.1% 3,241	2.2% 159
2004	54.5% 3,880	43.8% 3,120	1.7% 118
2000	49.0% 3,378	46.0% 3,171	5.1% 351
1996	43.3% 2,828	44.8% 2,926	12.0% 784
1992	33.5% 2,521	39.3% 2,959	27.2% 2,050
1988	49.0% 3,243	48.0% 3,177	2.9% 194
1984	62.5% 4,537	36.4% 2,641	1.1% 77
1980	53.9% 4,084	40.4% 3,063	5.7% 434
1976	48.3% 4,030	49.2% 4,108	2.5% 206
1972	67.8% 5,471	29.8% 2,404	2.4% 191
1968	46.0% 3,644	42.7% 3,379	11.4% 899
1964	38.2% 3,147	61.2% 5,037	0.6% 45
1960	52.3% 4,793	47.3% 4,336	0.3% 31
1956	64.1% 5,608	35.8% 3,134	0.1% 9
1952	64.6% 6,004	35.3% 3,283	0.1% 9
1948	51.0% 4,141	48.2% 3,910	0.8% 62
1944	58.6% 4,731	41.2% 3,325	0.3% 20
1940	56.1% 5,921	43.2% 4,557	0.8% 82
1936	47.6% 5,312	52.1% 5,817	0.3% 31
1932	45.2% 4,778	53.3% 5,640	1.5% 157
1928	63.7% 6,647	36.0% 3,756	0.4% 37
1924	63.8% 6,246	22.5% 2,199	13.7% 1,341
1920	65.0% 5,872	34.1% 3,082	0.9% 77
1916	48.6% 4,624	48.7% 4,634	2.7% 254
1912	27.4% 1,535	43.7% 2,449	28.9% 1,618
1908	54.9% 3,244	43.9% 2,593	1.2% 68
1904	64.3% 3,542	33.6% 1,854	2.1% 117
1900	55.5% 3,390	43.9% 2,682	0.5% 32
1896	52.7% 3,326	46.9% 2,963	0.4% 28
1892	49.2% 2,666		50.8% 2,756
1888	52.1% 3,219	42.1% 2,603	5.8% 357

Presidential elections results

Education

Unified school districts

• Atchison County Community USD 377 (Web site)
• Atchison USD 409 (Web site)

Communities

2005 KDOT Map of Atchison County (map legend)

Cities

• Atchison
• Effingham
• Huron
• Lancaster
• Muscotah