Kansans more positive about state's quality of life

Kansans have a more positive view of the state’s overall quality of life than they did a year ago, according to a new survey. Their view of the economy was also brighter although a majority felt they’d been significantly affected by inflation.

Former President and current Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump and Gov. Laura Kelly, the two-term Democratic governor, appear to be the most popular politicians in the state. Only about 10 percent believe that election results in the state can’t be trusted.

In other results, just over half object to new abortion restrictions passed by the Kansas Legislature and three-fourths believe Medicaid expansion is important in the state. About 65 percent believe they would have trouble affording a home in their community.

Results of the fall 2024 Kansas Speaks survey were released Monday. The survey is prepared by the Docking Institute of Public Affairs at Fort Hays State. The Wichita Journalism Collaborative, of which The Active Age is a member, was a co-sponsor.

The survey polled 645 Kansas age 18 and older. Here are some highlights:

Overall Quality of Life in Kansas

46.2% of respondents indicated Kansas is a “very good” or “excellent” place to live, and 5.8% said Kansas is a “poor” or “very poor” place to live. The rating in 2024 was more positive than 2023.
Asked where they will be in 5 years, 58.4% of respondents said they would be living in the same community that they live in now, 15.2% said they would be moving to another location in Kansas, and 15.2% said they would relocate to a state other than Kansas. The percentage of respondents who intended to move out of Kansas in 2024 is lower than the past two years.

Economy

21.1% of respondents felt the state economy is “very good” or “excellent” this year, higher than the past two years. 14.5% felt the economy is “poor” or “very poor,” lower than 2023 but slightly higher than 2022.
13.3% of respondents felt that the Kansas economy was getting better in the last 12 months, lower than the previous two years. 42.9% felt that it stayed the same. 37.6% felt it was getting worse, down from 43.7% in 2022.
17.4% of respondents are “very concerned” about the future economy threatening their own or their family’s welfare, and 25.1% are “moderately concerned,” not very different from the past two years.
40.8% of respondents felt Kansas is on the “right track,” and 33.9% felt Kansas is on the “wrong track” this year; the rating was less positive than the previous two years.
51.2% of respondents felt that inflation had affected their family “a great deal,” and 55.9% felt that inflation had affected other Kansans “a great deal.”

Government, Politicians & Election

46.4% of respondents were satisfied with the performance of Governor Laura Kelly, and 27.1% were dissatisfied.
28.5% of respondents were satisfied with President Biden, and 59% were dissatisfied.
26.8% of respondents were satisfied with the Kansas Supreme Court, and 20.6% were

dissatisfied.

29.1% of respondents were satisfied with the Kansas legislature, and 30.3% were dissatisfied.
15.9% of respondents were satisfied with the U.S. Congress, and 55% were dissatisfied.
36% of respondents voted for Laura Kelly for governor in the 2022 election, and 26.7%

did not vote for her.

37.4% of respondents voted for Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election, and

30.4% voted for Joe Biden.

Among all respondents, 46.3% would vote for Donald Trump and 36.5% would vote for

Kamala Harris if the 2024 presidential election were held when they took the survey. After excluding those who indicated they did not plan to vote or cannot vote, 49.9% would vote for Donald Trump and 39.4% would vote for Kamala Harris. Among the registered voters who planned to vote, 48.2% would vote for Donald Trump, and 43.2% would vote for Kamala Harris.

60.5% of respondents were confident that the reported winners of the elections in Kansas are actually the candidates that most Kansans voted for. 10.4% were not confident, 18.7% were neutral, and 10.4% said “don’t know.”
52.3% of respondents felt fraud was generally not a problem in Kansas elections. 12.4% felt fraud was a problem in Kansas elections.
38.4% of respondents felt fraud was generally not a problem across the U.S., whereas 40.1% felt fraud was a problem across the U.S.
23.5% of respondents agreed that ballot drop boxes should be banned in Kansas. 43.5% disagreed.
23% of respondents agreed that vote by mail should be abolished. 47.3% disagreed.
15.5% of respondents agreed that early voting should be abolished in Kansas. 53.4%

disagreed.

15.3% of respondents agreed that illegal immigrants were voting in Kansas elections in

large numbers. 37.2% disagreed, and 47.5% were neutral or said “don’t know.”

13.1% of respondents agreed that state and local elections officials in Kansas committed

election fraud to alter election outcomes. 46.8% disagreed.

11.6% of respondents felt that voter fraud routinely decided the winners of elections in

Kansas. 52.1% did not feel so.

57.4% of respondents agreed that Kansas government becomes stronger with diverse

representation among elected officials. 6.3% disagreed. Section 4: Public Policy Issues

In terms of amount of thought given to the issue, 29.3% of respondents thought “a great deal” or “a lot” of Medicaid expansion as a current political issue with the Kansas legislature.

75.9% of respondents agreed that expanding Medicaid would help rural Kansas hospitals remain in business. 4.5% disagreed.
67.4% of respondents agreed that the Kansans who might obtain health insurance from expanding Medicaid deserve this benefit from the state. 6.3% disagreed.
72.4% of respondents supported expanding Medicaid in Kansas. 8.7% disagreed.
As they decide who got their vote to represent them in the Kansas Legislature, 50.9% of

respondents felt the issue of Medicaid expansion in Kansas is highly or extremely

important, 34.1% slightly important, and 7.8% not important at all important.

57.3% of respondents supported increasing taxes on cigarettes and cigars to allow state

taxation (28.1% oppose). 49.7% supported increasing taxes on alcohol (27.1% oppose).

65.2% of respondents supported legalizing recreational marijuana for individuals 21 and

older to allow state taxation; 18.7% opposed.

60% of respondents were “highly” or “somewhat likely” to vote for a candidate who

supported medical marijuana legalization as they decided who to vote to represent

them in the Kansas Legislature; 13.1% were unlikely.

72.9% of respondents “strongly” or “somewhat support” legalization of medical

marijuana in general; 12% opposed.

61.3% of respondents “strongly” or “somewhat support” legalization of recreational

marijuana in general; 22.3% opposed.

4.6% of respondents knew about the tax cut bill passed during the last legislative session

in Kansas, 35.2% knew a little about it, and 60.2% knew nothing or almost nothing about

it.

65.4% of respondents agreed that women are in a better position than politicians to

make their own choices about whether to get an abortion; 16% disagreed.

54.9% of respondents agreed that “the Kansas government should not place any

regulations on the circumstances under which women can get abortions,” while 29.3%

disagreed.

61.3% of respondents disagreed that “if the Kansas government were to ban all or most

abortions, it should also make it illegal for Kansas women to travel outside of the state

to get abortions in other states where abortion is still legal.” 20% agreed.

69.6% of respondents were not willing to contact authorities to report a woman who

had an illegal abortion or to report her medical providers, if the Kansas government

were to ban all or most abortions.

37.4% of respondents thought the state government should pay most of the cost of

prosecuting women who get illegal abortions or their medical providers, if the Kansas government were to ban all or most abortions; 9.4% thought the local government should pay.

50.4% of respondents somewhat or strongly opposed the new laws that restrict access to abortion passed by the Kansas Legislature. 24.8% supported those new laws.

33.1% of respondents thought “a great deal” or “a lot” about the Kansas Legislature continuing to pass laws restricting abortion access, 27.6% thought “a moderate amount,” and 39.3% thought “a little” or “not at all.”
About sixty percent of respondents somewhat or strongly agreed that legal immigrants contributed to the economic growth of the U.S. (61.5%), the economic vitality of Kansas (60.8%), and the economic vitality of their community (59%). About 15% disagreed.
55.1% of respondents somewhat or strongly agreed that legal immigrants contributed to government revenue by paying taxes. 18.7% disagreed.
53.8% of respondents somewhat or strongly agreed that legal immigrants enriched American culture and values. 18% disagreed.
49% of respondents somewhat or strongly agreed that legal immigrants took jobs that Americans don’t want. 20.7% disagreed.
29% of respondents somewhat or strongly agreed that legal immigrants took jobs away from American citizens. 44.5% disagreed.
45.7% of respondents somewhat or strongly agreed that there were too many immigrants coming into the U.S. 24.9% disagreed.
42.9% of respondents somewhat or strongly agreed that the U.S. should accept more high-skilled immigrants. 14.2% disagreed.
Respondents’ opinions were polarized when they were asked whether legal immigrants took social services away from American citizens (35.8% agreed vs. 37.1% disagreed) and whether the U.S. should accept more low-skilled immigrants (23.1% agreed vs. 27.3% disagreed).
31.3% of respondents somewhat or strongly agreed that illegal immigrants should be left alone by authorities if they don’t break other laws. 47.9% disagreed.
27.4% of respondents somewhat or strongly agreed that illegal immigrants contributed more to society than they take in terms of resources. 45% disagreed.
36.1% of respondents somewhat or strongly agreed that illegal immigrants should be arrested and put in detention camps while awaiting deportation hearings. 41.1% disagreed.
45.6% of respondents somewhat or strongly agreed that illegal immigrants were a danger to public safety. 31.9% disagreed.
28.3% of respondents were “very concerned” about the foreign ownership of farmland in Kansas, and 22% were “moderately concerned.” 49.7% were “slightly concerned” or “not concerned at all.”
Protection, hunting, and Second Amendment right/Constitutional right were the top three reasons for owning a gun or rifle. When asked to select one single most important reason for owning a gun or rifle, protection was selected the most, followed by Second Amendment and hunting.

55.9% of respondents strongly or somewhat disagreed that adults should be allowed to carry concealed handguns without a license or permit. 31.2% agreed.
58.8% strongly or somewhat disagreed that adults should be allowed to carry handguns openly without a license or permit. 30.1% agreed.
58.8% of respondents strongly or somewhat disagreed that adults should be allowed to carry concealed handguns on college campuses. 21.7% agreed.
Close to or more than 70% of respondents favored the following policies around gun ownership, while no more than 13% opposed them:

o Preventing sales of all firearms to people who have been reported as dangerous to law enforcement by a mental health provider (83.1%)

o Requiring a person to be 21 or older to purchase a gun (77.7%)
o Preventing sales of all firearms to people who have been convicted of violent

misdemeanors (77.2%)
o Making private gun sales and sales at gun shows subject to background checks

(74.8%)

o Allowing family members to ask the court to temporarily remove guns from a relative who they believe is at risk of harming themselves or others (69.2%)

o Mandatory three-day waiting period after a gun is purchased before it can be taken home (69%)

Close to or more than half of respondents favored the following policies around gun ownership:

o Authorizinglawenforcementofficerstotemporarilyremovegunsfrom individuals who the officer determines pose an immediate threat of harm to self or others (62.9% favored vs. 12.2% opposed)

o Banning assault-style weapons (54.5% favored vs. 25.8% opposed)
o Banning high-capacity ammunition clips that hold more than 10 bullets (54.3%

favored vs. 23.3% opposed)
o Having teachers or other school officials with appropriate training carry guns at

school (47.8% favored vs. 27.2% opposed)

49.4% of respondents felt that government and society could take action that will be

effective in preventing mass shootings from happening again. 38.2% felt that mass shootings will happen again regardless of what action is taken by government and society.

43.6% of respondents indicated they or someone else in their household owned a gun.
39.7% of respondents indicated that they did not use any artificial intelligence (A.I.)

technologies.

12.5% of respondent used LLM (large language model) based A.I. and 20.6% used some

other type of A.I. in their daily personal lives.

7.3% respondents used LLM based A.I. and 12.3% used some other type of A.I at work.

About 55% agreed or strongly agreed that education beyond high school is a good return on investment both for the student and for the general population, while less than 20% disagree on both.
47.8% of respondents felt creating an educated citizenry is much or slightly more important as the main goal of higher education. 32.9% felt developing a workforce is much or slightly more important as the main goal.

Housing

30.6% of the respondents lived in a place owned by them or someone in the household that has a home mortgage or loan, while 22.2% had no mortgage or loan. 41.4% of respondents were renting, and 5.7% were living with someone without paying rent.
Among those paying a mortgage or loan and renting, 18.8% paid $500 or less per month, 41.2% paid $501-$1,000, and 40% paid more than $1,000.
11.4% of respondents said annual property taxes were a “large threat” to their staying in their home. 20.2% said “moderate threat,” 23.2% “small threat,” and 34.3% said “not at all a threat.”
41.8% of respondents said they did not have any savings to cover all their monthly expenses including housing. 32.8% had enough for one to three months, 6% had enough for four to five months, and 19.4% had enough for six months or more.
48.3% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that they spend the right amount of their income on housing costs. 29.6% disagreed or strongly disagreed.
64.5% of respondents felt that they would have difficulty affording to buy a home in their community.
62% respondents felt comfortable living in a neighborhood having rental properties.
When asked if they felt insecure about their housing situation, 32.5% of respondents

felt insecure about their housing situation. 48.1% felt secure.

67.9% of respondents were concerned about the cost of housing in their communities.
37% of respondents believed there was sufficient available housing in their

communities. 36.9% believed there was not.

Almost sixty percent of respondents felt that lack of affordable houses (both for

purchase and also for rent) were having negative impacts on their community.

20.1% of respondents agreed that their community was adequately addressing housing

issues. 36.9% disagreed.

48.2% of respondents felt that local governments should ease up on zoning to allow for

more small, multi-family dwellings in neighborhoods. 13.9% did not feel so.

26.3% of respondents said “downtown” was the best place to locate a shelter to serve people who were homeless in their community. 10.5% said “neighborhood,” 6.8% said

“business district,” and 7.4% said “other location.”

19.6% of respondents were comfortable with having a shelter within two blocks of their home on the same street, 12.9% were comfortable with “less than a half mile but more than 2 blocks away,” and 14% were comfortable with “less than 1 mile but at least a half mile away.” 25.6% said “1 to 2 miles away,” and 27.9% were not at all comfortable with a shelter near their home.
Respondents were asked what levels of government should be responsible for funding services for people who are homeless. The state government was selected by 69.5% of respondents. The federal government was selected by 64.3% and local government was selected by 54.3% of respondents.
18.9% of respondents agreed that people who are homeless need housing before mental health services, addiction treatment and/or medical care. 62.1% disagreed.
52.4% of respondents agreed that people who are homeless have the right to refuse mental health services, addiction treatment and/or medical care. 30.3% disagreed.
48.9% of respondents felt homeless encampments should be allowed to continue on public land until another solution is found. 27.6% felt they should be cleaned up by law enforcement immediately. 5.2% support the encampments to continue indefinitely on public land.
When asked who was best positioned to deal with the challenge of homelessness, 38.5% of respondents answered “government,” 23.6% answered “nonprofit sector,” and 11% answered “church.”
31.5% of respondents said “lack of affordable housing” was the most root cause of homelessness. 22.4% said “mental health issues.” 21.5% said “addictions.”
57.7% of respondents somewhat or strongly agreed that more government spending was needed in their community on services for the homeless. 14.5% disagreed.
22.2% of respondents somewhat or strongly agreed that homelessness was handled well in their community. 38.4% disagreed.

Childcare and Long-term Care

85.7% of respondents believed that high-quality, affordable infant and toddler childcare was extremely or highly important for families in Kansas, regardless of whether or not they had young children. 10.7% felt it was “slightly important” or “not important at all.”
79.1% of respondents strongly or somewhat agreed that access to affordable childcare strengthened the economy. 3.4% disagreed.
About two thirds of respondents strongly or somewhat agreed that affordable and accessible childcare was an obstacle to women’s economic participation (68.3%) and an obstacle to women’s progress (65.6%).
27.8% of respondents strongly or somewhat agreed that mothers should stay at home to provide infant and toddler childcare. 38.2% strongly or somewhat disagreed.

13.8% of respondents strongly or somewhat agreed that grandparents should stay at home to provide infant and toddler childcare. 49.5% strongly or somewhat disagreed.
Regarding which levels of government should pass laws to expand access to affordable childcare, 71.2% strongly or somewhat agreed that the federal government should; the percentages of strongly or somewhat agree was 74.8% for the state government and 67.7% for local governments.
More than seventy percent of respondents strongly or somewhat agreed that state policymakers had an important role in ensuring that elderly Kansans were taken care of (77.5%), that larger investments are needed in services and care for elderly Kansans (72.2%), and that Kansas should invest more in developing workers for long-term care services (77%).
84.3% of respondents strongly or somewhat agreed that Kansans who required long- term care services should be able to get the care needed in their own community.
83.7% of respondents strongly or somewhat agreed that supporting mental health needs of aging Kansans was important.
36.3% of respondents knew someone currently requiring long-term care and support.
29.1% of respondents had close family members currently requiring long-term care and

support; among them 63.8% helped provide care for those family members.

30.5% of respondents felt state regulation of nursing home care in Kansas was “a little

bit too little” or “much too little.” 24.2% felt it was “about right.” 11.9% felt it was “a

little bit too much” or “far too much.”

33% of respondents felt the level of support offered by the State of Kansas for people to

remain in their homes as they grow older was “far too little.” 18.7% felt it was “a little bit too little,” and 16.1% felt it was “about right.”

Water Conservation

33.4% of respondents felt that their local government was doing “not enough” for water conservation in their part of Kansas. 39.6% felt it was doing “the right amount,” and 2.4% felt it was doing “too much.”
36.8% of respondents felt the state government was doing “not enough” for water conservation in their part of Kansas. 33.8% felt the efforts from the state were “the right amount,” and 3.2% felt they were “too much.”
33.6% of respondents felt that voluntary action by individual and businesses is sufficient for improving conservation of water, while 35.7% felt that local government should pass new laws. When asked if the state government should pass new laws, 33.5% said that voluntary action was sufficient and 34.1% said that the state government should pass new laws. About 30% of respondents had no opinion for both questions.

49.6% of respondents were “very” or “moderately concerned” that Kansas might be running out of water; 27.7% were “slightly concerned,” and 12.8% were “not concerned at all.”
52.6% of respondents strongly agreed or agreed that Kansas farmers would need to make changes to their farming practices due to declining water levels; 6.8% disagreed or strongly disagreed.
62.1% of respondents agreed that Kansas farmers would need to make changes to their farming practices due to declining water levels; 4.4% disagreed.