Kansas had but one representative in the
U.S. House of Representatives until after the
1870 U.S. census, which showed that the state was entitled to three members of the lower branch of the national legislature. In 1872, three representatives-
at-large were elected, but by the act of March 2, 1874, the legislature divided the state into three districts. The 2nd congressional district was composed of the counties of Montgomery, Wilson, Labette, Cherokee, Crawford, Neosho, Bourbon, Allen, Anderson, Linn, Miami, Franklin, Johnson, Douglas and Wyandotte. No changes were made in until after the
1880 U.S. census, which gave the state seven representatives. On March 5, 1883,
Governor George Washington Glick approved an act of the legislature which reduced the 2nd congressional district to only include the counties of Wyandotte, Johnson, Douglas, Miami, Franklin, Anderson, Linn, Allen and Bourbon. Although the
1890 U.S. census showed the population of Kansas to be large enough to entitle the state to eight representatives, no additional district was created until 1905. By the act of March 9, 1905, the state was divided into eight districts with the 2nd Congressional district being composed of the counties of Wyandotte, Johnson, Douglas, Miami, Franklin, Anderson, Linn, Allen and Bourbon. Reapportionment for 2002 placed the western half of
Lawrence as well as
Miami County into the 2nd congressional district and cut out the counties of
Geary,
Montgomery and
Nemaha. Reapportionment in 2012 meant that the entirety of
Lawrence was moved to the 2nd congressional district. The district's boundaries were altered to remove
Manhattan, home of
Kansas State University, and portions of
Miami County while adding all of
Montgomery County and
Nemaha County and portions of
Marshall County. Reapportionment in 2022 moved the entirety of
Lawrence to the
1st congressional district. The district's boundaries were also altered to move
Anderson and
Franklin counties and portions of
Miami County to the
3rd congressional district. The entirety of Miami County is now in the 3rd congressional district. Most of
Jackson, all of
Jefferson and the remaining part of
Marshall counties moved from the district to the 1st congressional district. The counties of
Chase,
Geary,
Lyon,
Marion,
Morris and
Wabaunsee all moved from the 1st congressional district to the district.
2000 demographics Following redistricting after the
2000 U.S. census, there were 672,102 people, 257,856 households, and 173,309 families residing in the district. The
population density was 47.6/mi2 over a land area of . There were 280,213 housing units at an average density of 19.8/mi2. The
racial makeup of the district is 89.01%
White, 5.06%
Black or
African American, 1.26%
Native American, 0.97%
Asian, 0.06%
Pacific Islander, 1.52% from other races, and 2.12% from
two or more races.
Hispanic or
Latino of any race were 3.81% of the population. There were 257,856
households, out of which 34.60% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.48% were
married couples living together, 9.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.79% were non-families. 26.73% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.63% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.49 and the average family size was 3.02. In the district the population distribution by age is 25.34% under the age of 18, 11.88% from 18 to 24, 27.54% from 25 to 44, 21.70% from 45 to 64, and 13.54% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35.3 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.08 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.85 males. The
median income for a household in the district is $37,855, and the median income for a family was $47,095. Males had a median income of $32,033 versus $24,230 for females. The
per capita income for the district was $18,595. About 7.1% of families and 11.2% of the population were below the
poverty line, including 12.0% of those under age 18 and 9.3% of those age 65 or over. Among the population aged 16 years and older, 64.5% was in the civilian
labor force and 1.9% were in the
armed forces. Of the employed civilian workers, 20.6% were government workers and 7.5% were
self-employed. Management, professional, and related occupations employed 32.3% of the work force and sales and office occupations employ 25.4%. Only 0.8% were employed in farming, fishing, and forestry occupations. The largest employment by industry was: educational, health and social services, 24.5%; manufacturing, 12.3%; and retail trade, 11.4%. Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting, and mining industries only employed 3.0%. == Composition ==