Wichita, KS (population: 374,803) has seventeen landscape design schools within a 500-mile radius of its city center. Texas Tech University, the highest ranked school in this group with a landscape design program, has a total student population of 30,049. It is the 150th highest ranked school in the USA and the 3rd highest in the state of Texas (#1 is Rice University).
Landscape Design students from Wichita schools who go on to become landscape designers, landscape architects, landscapers, landscape supervisors, etc. have a good chance at finding employment. For example, there are 10,510 people working as designers alone in the US, and their average annual salary is $50,420. Also, Landscaping and groundskeeping workers make on average $25,340 per year and there are about 859,960 of them employed in the US today.
Wichita lies in Sedgwick county, which is one of the 67 counties in Kansas. Overall, the Wichita area has 295,670 total employed workers according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, with a 2.3% unemployment rate, $18.81/hr average worker wage, and a $39,110 average annual salary.
Of the 17 landscape design schools with a 500-mile radius of Wichita, only 12 have a student population over 10k. After taking into account tuition, living expenses, and financial aid, Saint Louis University-Main Campus comes out as the most expensive ($31,255/yr) for landscape design students, with Kiamichi Technology Center-McAlester as the lowest, reported at only $1,310/yr.
| Name | State | Population | # of Schools | Avg School Rank | Total Programs | Distance from Wichita |
| North Newton | KS | - | 1 | 30.3056 | 44 | 26.4 miles |
| El Dorado | KS | - | 2 | 14.14 | 133 | 27.6 miles |
| Winfield | KS | - | 1 | 53.8865 | 62 | 36.4 miles |
| Arkansas City | KS | - | 1 | 16.4747 | 36 | 46.5 miles |
| Lindsborg | KS | - | 1 | 18.8974 | 70 | 63.8 miles |
| Ponca City | OK | - | 2 | 30.535 | 26 | 69.4 miles |
| Pratt | KS | - | 1 | 19.626 | 18 | 76.6 miles |
| Salina | KS | 46,677 | 4 | 21.0387 | 91 | 79.6 miles |
| Great Bend | KS | - | 1 | 20.0068 | 110 | 90.6 miles |
| Enid | OK | 48,152 | 2 | 30.1217 | 45 | 93.2 miles |