Rice County, KS jobs, unemployment and layoffs

Rice County’s unemployment rate is 3.5%. No layoff notices here in the last 12 months.

Independent page. Not from or affiliated with the State of Kansas.

Looking for work in Kansas? See where you stand.

Not sure you match what employers here are hiring for? Get a free read on your fit, the jobs open near you and a plan for the weeks ahead.

Show me jobs near me

Rice County economy

  • 3.5%

    unemployment, Sep 2026

    3.3% the month before

  • 4,789

    in the labor force

    Source: BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics

  • 9,389

    people in Rice County

    Source: U.S. Census Bureau

  • $63,947

    median household income

    Source: Census ACS

  • 37%

    of workers in white-collar occupations

    Management, business, financial and professional; Census ACS

Rice County outlook: Cooling

Built from public Bureau of Labor Statistics and Census figures. It describes the area, not any one employer in it.

  • Private-sector jobs down 8.3% from 2022 to 2025
  • Population down 1.2% from 2020 to 2025
  • Unemployment 3.5%, up 0.2 points from a year ago

Learn and get funded in Rice County

Rice County layoffs

No layoff notices naming Rice County in the last 12 months are on file. The WARN Act covers employers with 100 or more workers, so smaller layoffs are not in it.

All layoff notices in the state

Colleges in Rice County

Colleges in Rice County
CollegeCityTypeStudents
Sterling CollegeSterlingPrivate non-profit 4-yearUnder 1,000

Workforce development and job centers

The public workforce board and American Job Centers serving Rice County. They offer free help with job search, training and filing for benefits.

Laid off in Kansas? How to file for unemployment in Kansas (steps, weekly amount and the appeal deadline).

  • Kansas Local Area I Workforce Development Board

    Atchison, Barber, Barton, Brown, Chase, Cheyenne, Clark, Clay, Cloud, Comanche, Decatur, Dickinson, Doniphan, Douglas, Edwards, Ellis, Ellsworth, Finney, Ford, Franklin, Geary, Gove, Graham, Grant, Gray, Greeley, Hamilton, Harvey, Haskell, Hodgeman, Jackson, Jefferson, Jewell, Kearny, Kiowa, Lane, Lincoln, Logan, Marion, Marshall, McPherson, Meade, Mitchell, Morris, Morton, Nemaha, Ness, Norton, Osage, Osborne, Ottawa, Pawnee, Phillips, Pottawatomie, Pratt, Rawlins, Reno, Republic, Rice, Riley, Rooks, Rush, Russell, Saline, Scott, Seward, Shawnee, Sheridan, Sherman, Smith, Stafford, Stanton, Stevens, Thomas, Trego, Wabaunsee, Wallace, Washington, Wichita

Other Kansas counties

All of Kansas

Laid off or looking for work in Rice County?

See what to do first and the jobs open near you.

See your options after a layoff

Sources: Census Bureau and BLS (county unemployment is not seasonally adjusted); layoff notices from Kansas’s published record; job counts from our live job board; IPEDS for colleges; CareerOneStop for workforce boards and job centers. Kansas unemployment benefits and severance rules.

Applying and hearing nothing back?

Find out where you stand: your odds, the jobs that fit you and a plan for the week ahead. Free. No résumé needed.

Already a member? Log in

Get my Market Reality Assessment

Job seekers in Rice County looking to you for help, or openings you cannot fill?

Leave your work email. We'll send how organizations use NextChapter to reach job seekers in Rice County.

See how organizations use it