# Rush County, Kansas: Power, Data Centers and the Local Economy Home to La Crosse-Brookdale Township and La Crosse No data center or power plant project is on record in Rush County, but the national build-out still reaches it through its utility bill, its labor market and the projects next door. Rush County is home to La Crosse-Brookdale Township and La Crosse. Next door, Ellis County has 1 data center. Unemployment was 4.0% in August 2026, against 2.8% in 2019. 2 MW of that came online in 2019 or later, mostly petroleum. Employers here counted 1,029 jobs in 2025, down 3.9% from 2019. -3.9% total jobs since 2019, now 1,029 58 MW of operating power plants, mostly wind 11.44¢ per kWh for Midwest Energy Inc - (KS) residential customers, 2024 ## Cities and towns in Rush County Rush County is home to La Crosse-Brookdale Township and La Crosse. La Crosse-Brookdale Township1,304 residents La Crosse1,225 residents Pioneer Township345 residents Otis286 residents Hampton-Fairview Township227 residents Lone Star Township225 residents Center Township192 residents Bison168 residents McCracken148 residents Big Timber Township138 residents Rush Center136 residents Banner Township124 residents Garfield Township105 residents Liebenthal92 residents Alexander-Belle Prairie Township77 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 Rush County | Measure | Then | Now | Change | Rank in Kansas | |---|---|---|---|---| | Population (2020 → 2025) | 2,940 | 2,845 | ▼ 3.2% | 81st of 105 by size | | Total jobs (2019 → 2025) | 1,071 | 1,029 | ▼ 3.9% | 76th of 105 by growth | | Average annual pay (2019 → 2025) | $34,599 | $45,954 | ▲ 32.8% | — | | Unemployment rate (2019 → August 2026) | 2.8% | 4.0% | ▲ 1.2pts | — | | Generating capacity added since 2019 | — | 2 MW | | — | | Generating capacity retired since 2019 | — | 0 MW | | — | Its power plants have 58 MW of capacity, 87% of it wind. Midwest Energy Inc - (KS) is the largest utility serving Rush County, one of 4 with territory here. Its residential customers paid an average 11.44¢/kWh in 2024, below the 13.97¢ median for Kansas utilities. 2,845 people live here, down 3.2% since 2020. ## Who powers Rush County ### Utilities with service territory in Rush County | Utility | Ownership | Service | Residential customers (systemwide) | Residential price, 2024 | Commercial share of sales | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | Midwest Energy Inc - (KS) | Cooperative | Bundled | 29,832 | 11.44¢ | 25% | | Western Coop Electric Assn Inc | Cooperative | Bundled | 5,799 | 14.17¢ | 79% | | City of La Crosse - (KS) | — | — | — | — | — | | Lane-Scott Electric Coop, 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 | 51 MW | 87% | | Petroleum | 8 MW | 13% | | Largest plants | Owner | Technology | MW | Since | |---|---|---|---|---| | Alexander Wind Farm LLC | SRIV Partnership LLC | Wind | 51 MW | 2015 | | La Crosse | City of La Crosse - (KS) | Petroleum | 8 MW | 1962 | ## The Rush County labor market | Industry (2025) | Jobs | Average pay | Concentration vs U.S. | |---|---|---|---| | All industries | 1,029 | $45,954 | 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 Rush County No data center, local measure or delayed project is on record in Rush County. Kansas has 24 local measures on record statewide. ## Rush County and its neighbors Of the 5 counties that border Rush County, Ellis 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 | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Rush County | 2,845 | ▼ 3.9% | 58 MW | — | — | — | | Barton County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kansas/barton-county) | 24,790 | ▼ 6.2% | 101 MW | — | — | — | | Ellis County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kansas/ellis-county) | 29,075 | ▼ 0.8% | 308 MW | — | 1 | — | | Ness County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kansas/ness-county) | 2,617 | ▼ 4.1% | 213 MW | — | — | — | | Pawnee County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kansas/pawnee-county) | 5,991 | ▼ 5.2% | 16 MW | — | — | — | | Russell County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kansas/russell-county) | 6,581 | ▲ 3.3% | 51 MW | — | — | — | ## More of Kansas [All Kansas countiesThe state power page and county mapOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kansas)[Ellis County29,075 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kansas/ellis-county)[Barton County24,790 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kansas/barton-county)[Russell County6,581 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kansas/russell-county)[Pawnee County5,991 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kansas/pawnee-county)[Ness County2,617 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kansas/ness-county) ## Rush County, answered from the record ### Who provides electricity in Rush County, Kansas? 4 utilities have service territory in Rush County in the EIA-861 2024 report: Midwest Energy Inc - (KS), Western Coop Electric Assn Inc, City of La Crosse - (KS), Lane-Scott Electric Coop, Inc. The largest, Midwest Energy Inc - (KS), charged residential customers 11.44¢/kWh on average in 2024. ### What power plants are in Rush County? 2 operating plants with 58 MW of capacity. The largest is Alexander Wind Farm LLC (51 MW, wind). ### Are there data centers in Rush County? The SAVRN Data Center Map has no data center in Rush County. The nearest activity on record is next door in Ellis County. ### Is Rush County adding jobs? Employers counted 1,029 jobs in 2025 against 1,071 in 2019 (-3.9%, BLS QCEW). ### Does Rush County have a data center moratorium? No county-level measure is on record for Rush County. Kansas has 24 local measures statewide, listed on the state page. --- Canonical: https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kansas/rush-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/).