# Elk County, Kansas: Power, Data Centers and the Local Economy Elk County is not a build-out site today. It feels the boom through the grid it shares, the utilities that serve it and the work nearby. Elk County is home to Howard Township and Howard. Employers here counted 628 jobs in 2025, up 8.1% from 2019. Unemployment was 5.2% in August 2026, against 4.5% in 2019. Its power plants have 200 MW of capacity, 100% of it wind. Evergy Kansas Central, Inc is the largest utility serving Elk County, one of 3 with territory here. Its residential customers paid an average 14.29¢/kWh in 2024, above the 13.97¢ median for Kansas utilities. +8.1% total jobs since 2019, now 628 200 MW of operating power plants, mostly wind 14.29¢ per kWh for Evergy Kansas Central, Inc residential customers, 2024 ## Cities and towns in Elk County Elk County is home to Howard Township and Howard. Howard Township706 residents Howard570 residents Wildcat Township483 residents Longton Township352 residents Moline337 residents Longton284 residents Greenfield Township254 residents Elk Falls Township188 residents Grenola151 residents Paw Paw Township121 residents Elk Falls110 residents Liberty Township108 residents Union Center Township102 residents Oak Valley Township85 residents Painterhood Township59 residents Residents are 2025 Census estimates for the part of each city, town or township inside this county. Census publishes no annual estimate for unincorporated communities. ## What changed in Elk County | Measure | Then | Now | Change | Rank in Kansas | |---|---|---|---|---| | Population (2020 → 2025) | 2,480 | 2,458 | ▼ 0.9% | 93rd of 105 by size | | Total jobs (2019 → 2025) | 581 | 628 | ▲ 8.1% | 12th of 105 by growth | | Average annual pay (2019 → 2025) | $24,581 | $37,601 | ▲ 53.0% | — | | Unemployment rate (2019 → August 2026) | 4.5% | 5.2% | ▲ 0.7pts | — | | Generating capacity added since 2019 | — | 0 MW | | — | | Generating capacity retired since 2019 | — | 0 MW | | — | 2,458 people live here, down 0.9% since 2020. ## Who powers Elk County ### Utilities with service territory in Elk County | Utility | Ownership | Service | Residential customers (systemwide) | Residential price, 2024 | Commercial share of sales | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | Evergy Kansas Central, Inc | Investor Owned | Bundled | 341,806 | 14.29¢ | 44% | | Evergy Kansas South, Inc | Investor Owned | Bundled | 302,508 | 14.25¢ | 32% | | Caney Valley El Coop Assn, Inc | — | — | — | — | — | Customer counts, prices and sales shares cover each utility's whole system in the state, not only this county. Commercial sales include data centers. ### Operating power plants | Technology | Capacity | Share | |---|---|---| | Wind | 200 MW | 100% | | Largest plants | Owner | Technology | MW | Since | |---|---|---|---|---| | Caney River Wind Project | Caney River Wind Project | Wind | 200 MW | 2012 | ## The Elk County labor market | Industry (2025) | Jobs | Average pay | Concentration vs U.S. | |---|---|---|---| | All industries | 628 | $37,601 | 1.00 | Concentration is the BLS location quotient: 1.0 means the industry holds the same share of local jobs as it does nationally. Industry rows count private employers; cells BLS suppresses are left out. ## Data centers and local rules in Elk County No data center, local measure or delayed project is on record in Elk County. Kansas has 24 local measures on record statewide. ## Elk County and its neighbors Of the 6 counties that border Elk County, Wilson County carries the most build-out activity: data centers, planned generation and operating plants combined. [[[[[[ | County | Population | Jobs since 2019 | Operating MW | Planned MW | Data centers | Local measures | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Elk County | 2,458 | ▲ 8.1% | 200 MW | — | — | — | | Butler County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kansas/butler-county) | 69,484 | ▲ 4.3% | 223 MW | — | — | — | | Chautauqua County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kansas/chautauqua-county) | 3,321 | ▼ 1.2% | 1 MW | — | — | — | | Cowley County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kansas/cowley-county) | 34,382 | ▼ 3.3% | 41 MW | — | — | — | | Greenwood County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kansas/greenwood-county) | 5,826 | ▼ 11.7% | — | — | — | — | | Montgomery County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kansas/montgomery-county) | 30,177 | ▼ 2.2% | 100 MW | — | — | — | | Wilson County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kansas/wilson-county) | 8,299 | ▼ 19.5% | 6 MW | 65 MW | — | — | ## More of Kansas [All Kansas countiesThe state power page and county mapOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kansas)[Butler County69,484 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kansas/butler-county)[Cowley County34,382 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kansas/cowley-county)[Montgomery County30,177 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kansas/montgomery-county)[Wilson County8,299 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kansas/wilson-county)[Greenwood County5,826 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kansas/greenwood-county) ## Elk County, answered from the record ### Who provides electricity in Elk County, Kansas? 3 utilities have service territory in Elk County in the EIA-861 2024 report: Evergy Kansas Central, Inc, Evergy Kansas South, Inc, Caney Valley El Coop Assn, Inc. The largest, Evergy Kansas Central, Inc, charged residential customers 14.29¢/kWh on average in 2024. ### What power plants are in Elk County? 1 operating plant with 200 MW of capacity. The largest is Caney River Wind Project (200 MW, wind). ### Are there data centers in Elk County? The SAVRN Data Center Map has no data center in Elk County. ### Is Elk County adding jobs? Employers counted 628 jobs in 2025 against 581 in 2019 (+8.1%, BLS QCEW). ### Does Elk County have a data center moratorium? No county-level measure is on record for Elk County. Kansas has 24 local measures statewide, listed on the state page. --- Canonical: https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kansas/elk-county Updated: 2026-10-08. Refreshed weekly by SAVRN from EIA, BLS, BEA, Census and the SAVRN trackers. License: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).