Shawnee County, KS jobs, unemployment and layoffs

Shawnee County’s unemployment rate is 4.0%. No layoff notices here in the last 12 months. 107 open professional jobs are in its cities.

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

Shawnee County economy

4.0%
unemployment, Sep 2026
3.7% the month before
90,817
in the labor force
Source: BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics
178,315
people in Shawnee County
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
$66,043
median household income
Source: Census ACS
40%
of workers in white-collar occupations
Management, business, financial and professional; Census ACS

Where Shawnee County ranks

Where Shawnee County placed in our monthly rankings, month by month. Each month stays online at its own address.

November 2026

#22Fastest-growing job markets in the Midwest+5.4% · of 100
#25Counties with the most jobs in AI-exposed sectors in the Midwest24% · of 100

Shawnee County outlook: Steady

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

Private-sector jobs up 5.4% from 2022 to 2025
Population down 0.1% from 2020 to 2025
Unemployment 4.0%, up 0.3 points from a year ago
Sectors adding the most jobs: professional & technical (+2,179 jobs), health care (+1,258 jobs)
Sectors losing the most jobs: admin & staffing (−812 jobs), management of companies (−314 jobs)

Learn and get funded in Shawnee County

Which AI skills each kind of job asks for, with the pay premium.
Your local workforce board and American Job Centers: training vouchers and re-employment help.
Grants and funding for job seekers, ranked for your state and situation.
Unemployment benefits by state, if you are between jobs.

Shawnee County layoffs

No layoff notices naming Shawnee 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

Employers hiring most in Shawnee County

Employers with the most open professional roles in this county’s cities. The county is taken from each job’s city, so roles with no city are not counted.

Colgate Palmolive10 open roles
Ardent Health6 open roles
Boys & Girls Clubs Of America4 open roles
Army National Guard Units3 open roles
Advisors Excel2 open roles
Aprio Advisory Group2 open roles
Behavioral Health Solutions2 open roles
Equity Bank2 open roles
Foley Equipment2 open roles
ITC Holdings2 open roles

Colleges in Shawnee County

Colleges in Shawnee County
College	City	Type	Students
Washburn University	Topeka	Public 4-year	5,000–9,999

Workforce development and job centers

The public workforce board and American Job Centers serving Shawnee 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

KANSASWORKS Topeka Workforce Center
Topeka · Comprehensive · 785-235-5627
M-F 8:00 a.m - 5:00 p.m.

Cities in Shawnee County

Topeka107 jobs

Other Kansas counties

All of Kansas

Laid off or looking for work in Shawnee 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 Shawnee 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 Shawnee County.

See how organizations use it