Harvey County is located in south central Kansas, along the Little Arkansas River. The County encompasses 540 square miles, is 18 miles wide in its north-south dimension and 30 miles long in its east-west dimension.

The County is located approximately 130 miles south-southeast of the geographic center of the continental United States, 1,517 miles west of New York City and 1,498 miles east of Los Angeles. Harvey County is located approximately 370 miles west of the geodesic center of the United States' population. Within 500 miles of Kansas is more than 40 percent of the nations' population; retail sales over $480 billion and some 48,000 manufacturing plants.

Cost of Living
Nearly all aspects of living costs in Harvey County are below national averages. Many of the aspects, with a few exceptions, are far below the national average. According to the American Chamber of Commerce Researchers Association's (ACCRA) report for the third quarter of 2011, the composite cost of living index for the Wichita MSA (Harvey County included) is 91.8. Most of the elements comprising the composite cost of living index in the Wichita MSA were also below the United States average.

INTERPRETING THE INDEX: The ACCRA Cost of Living Index measures relative price levels for consumer goods and services in participating areas. The average for all participating places, both metropolitan and nonmetropolitan, equals 100, and each participant’s index is read as a percentage of the average for all places.

COMPOSITE INDEX (100%): 91.8
Grocery Items: 89.3
Housing: 82.9
Utilities: 92.8
Transportation: 96.1
Health Care: 95.5
Miscellaneous Goods and Services: 98.5
* 3rd Quarter 2011

MAJOR EMPLOYERS
USD 373 Newton Unified School District
Mid-Continent Cabinetry
Newton Medical Center
Wal-Mart
Park Electrochemical
Prairie View