Lawrence, Kansas

So far in 2026, 362 single-family homes have sold in Lawrence through the three local MLSs at a median of $365,000, about $200 per finished square foot. In 2025 the median was $342,950 across 460 sales.

Lawrence homes that sold so far in 2026 carried a median annual property tax bill of $4,664, about 1.30% of the sale price. In 2025 it was $4,320 (1.28%).

Most do not. In the Heartland MLS records we reviewed, about 10% of recent Lawrence sales listed HOA dues. Dues vary by neighborhood, so we confirm them for each home.

In Heartland MLS records, about 2% of recent Lawrence sales were homes built within the last two years. Active builders in MLS records include Drippe Homes, Form&Function.

In Heartland MLS records over the past 10 years, Lawrence homes that closed in April sold for the highest share of original list price (median 100%), and homes closing in April had the shortest median time on market (6 days).

Lawrence is the county seat of Douglas County and the sixth-largest city in Kansas. The U.S. Census Bureau estimated its population at 96,367 as of July 1, 2025.

Per the U.S. Census Bureau (2020–2024), the median value of owner-occupied homes in Lawrence is $292,700. Search current listings for live, address-specific pricing.

Public schools in Lawrence are part of Lawrence USD 497, which operates about 12 elementary schools, 4 middle schools, and 2 high schools.

Lawrence is known as the home of the University of Kansas, for its Free-State founding in 1854, and for its historic Massachusetts Street downtown.

Lawrence sits west of the Kansas City metro along I-70 and K-10. The Census Bureau reports a mean commute of about 19.8 minutes for Lawrence workers.

Often yes. The city’s 2023 permit guide allows ADUs in RS40, RS20, RS10, RS7, MU and CN1 districts with registration and a size cap of 960 square feet or 33 percent of the main home’s living area. The new Land Development Code took effect April 2025 and expanded housing options, so confirm the current rule for your lot with Planning.

Yes, hens and ducks are allowed without a permit, up to one bird per 500 square feet of lot (maximum 20). Roosters are not allowed and coops must be 5 feet from neighbors’ lines.

The City of Lawrence provides trash, recycling, water and sewer service. Evergy supplies electricity and Black Hills Energy supplies natural gas.

No. Fireworks are prohibited in city limits, with only novelty items allowed and sparklers permitted June 27 to July 5.

A city license is required and rules changed in Jan. 2026. Check current zoning and license limits with Planning and Development Services before buying.

Yes. Lawrence requires rental dwelling units to be licensed with the city under City Code Chapter 6, Article 13. The license fee is $15 per unit, and a share of each owner’s units is inspected. You can reach the rental licensing program at 785-832-7700 or rentallicensing@lawrenceks.org.

According to The Lawrence Times, a new Costco is set to open in Lawrence at the end of October 2026, near the K-10 corridor on the edge of the city. Check Costco’s store locator for the opening date and hours.

Yes. In July 2026 the City Commission approved a two-year moratorium on large-scale data centers while staff study long-term rules. In September 2026 the Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Commission voted 6-1 to require a special use permit, with public hearings, for any proposed data center. City staff plan to seek public feedback starting this winter, hold public meetings in summer 2027 and draft standards in 2028.

Lawrence voters were asked to raise the city’s transit sales tax from 0.2% to 0.3% and extend it through March 31, 2037. Unofficial results on Nov. 3, 2026 show the measure passed. The higher rate takes effect April 1, 2027 (30 cents per $100 spent, up from 20 cents). Results become official at the county canvass on Nov. 16, 2026.

Yes. On Aug. 18, 2026, the City Commission approved annexing and rezoning about 288 acres west of K-10 between Sixth Street and Bob Billings Parkway for the Beacon Landing project. A separate request to annex 177 more acres southwest of K-10 and Sixth Street received a 4-3 Planning Commission recommendation for denial on Aug. 24, 2026, although majorities supported rezoning parts of it for R-3 and R-5 housing. That request goes to the City Commission next, which would need at least a 4-1 vote to override the denial recommendation.

Not right now without an exemption. Lawrence adopted a 24-month data center moratorium in July 2026, and as of Oct. 20, 2026, any future data center also needs a special use permit with public hearings before the Planning Commission and City Commission.

9.35% inside city limits as of October 2026 (state, Douglas County and city combined), and 2.85% on groceries (local tax only; Kansas dropped its state sales tax on food on Jan. 1, 2025). Nearby, rates run from 7.975% in Lake Quivira to 9.975% in Fairway. Rates can differ by address. Look up any address with the Kansas Department of Revenue rate locator. Source: Kansas Department of Revenue, October 2026.

Yes. The Kansas Turnpike Authority plans to widen 9 miles of I-70 to six lanes from near the North Lawrence interchange east toward Linwood and Tonganoxie. Construction is scheduled for as early as March 2027 through June 2029.

Not as proposed. On Oct. 13, 2026, the Lawrence City Commission voted against setting a hearing on a STAR bond district that would have included Costco’s sales tax revenue, and it directed staff not to pursue a district that includes Costco. The developers can still pursue the projects.

It didn’t fail. Unofficial results show Lawrence voters approved raising the transit sales tax from 0.2% to 0.3%, starting April 1, 2027 and running through March 31, 2037. Before the vote, city transit staff had said that without the increase, city bus routes could be cut to three or four. The results become official at the Nov. 16, 2026 county canvass.

The vacant building at 700 New Hampshire St. is proposed for climate-controlled self-storage, with 5-by-5 and 5-by-10-foot units, no outdoor storage and hours of 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. The Historic Resources Commission approved the plans, and the Planning Commission unanimously recommended a special use permit in late October 2026. The City Commission makes the final decision.

No. The roughly $26.5 million in bonds the City Commission approved on Oct. 6, 2026, are revenue bonds repaid from water and sewer utility fees, not property taxes, according to the city’s finance director.

From Nov. 1 through March 31, the city suspends nonpayment shutoffs whenever forecast lows stay below 35°F for 24 hours, and resumes them once lows are 35°F or higher for 24 hours. Customers at least two months and $150 past due can request a payment arrangement of up to three months with 50% paid upfront.

GFiber is building its fiber network across Lawrence, according to an October 2026 city update. Contractors place small markers in yards before work starts nearby. The city does not list which addresses can order service, so check availability for a specific address directly with GFiber.

Douglas County is drafting them now. The Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Commission is scheduled to consider draft regulations on Dec. 16, 2026, and the proposal would go to the Douglas County Commission in early 2027. As of late October 2026, no applications for a battery storage site had been filed.

Yes. On Oct. 6, 2026, the Lawrence City Commission adopted an updated bikes plan that sets bicycle safety and infrastructure priorities for the next five years. It is a system-level plan; specific bikeway projects will be selected later.

Yes, through a private service. Starting Nov. 3, 2026, Compost Collective KC offers curbside food-scrap pickup in Lawrence for $20 a month every other week or $30 a month weekly. The City of Lawrence’s compost facility accepts yard waste only, and city trash service does not collect food scraps.

Yes. As of late October 2026, Bob Billings Parkway between Wakarusa Drive and Kasold Drive is reduced to one lane in each direction for storm sewer repairs, resurfacing and reconstruction. The City of Lawrence says the work is scheduled to finish before the end of 2026.

Grover Barn is at 2819 Stone Barn Terrace. The 1858 barn was designated a National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom site in 2018. The City of Lawrence owns it and currently uses it for storage, and a community group has proposed rehabilitating it as a public education center.

Yes. Part of Wakarusa Drive just south of Clinton Parkway has been closed since Aug. 19, 2026, for KDOT’s South Lawrence Trafficway (K-10) expansion. KDOT extended the closure by 45 days in October after finding utility conflicts and has not announced a reopening date. The 27th Street exit onto Wakarusa Drive is the suggested alternate route.

Yes, briefly. Extra base repairs pushed back the repaving of Tennessee Street between 6th and 9th streets. Crews pave the parking lanes Nov. 6, 2026, and the remaining through lane starting Nov. 9, followed by punch-list work. Parking is prohibited on the west side of the street through Nov. 11.

Yes. The city offers payment arrangements of up to three months for accounts at least two months past due with a balance of $150 or more, if the customer has not had an arrangement in the previous 12 months. Half of the balance is due upfront, and the remaining payments are due on the monthly bill date. The request form is on the city’s website.

In unincorporated Douglas County, fireworks sales and discharge are currently allowed only July 1 through July 4. As of Oct. 21, 2026, county commissioners were discussing whether to expand those dates, but no change had been voted on.

Yes. A National Weather Service forecasting center is planned for the 100,000-square-foot Phase IV building at KU Innovation Park on KU’s West Campus. In October 2026 a building permit valued at $8.9 million was filed for 15,254 square feet of NWS lab and office space, and the building is expected to be finished in 2027.

Regular meetings are held Tuesdays at City Hall, 6 E. Sixth St., with the regular meeting starting at 5:45 p.m. Meetings are no longer livestreamed on YouTube. To watch or comment remotely, join by Zoom; recordings are posted the next day. Written comments are due by email by noon on the day of the meeting.

It is a roughly $808.7 million University of Kansas project that renovates the football stadium and adds a conference center and a mixed-use district next to it with a hotel, student housing, parking, retail and an outdoor plaza. The city approved up to $94.6 million in local incentives in August 2025, including STAR bonds, a 2% community improvement district sales tax across most of campus, and tax increment financing at the stadium.

No. The STAR and community improvement district bonds for KU’s Gateway project are repaid only from new sales tax, property tax and CID sales tax revenue generated in the district. If that revenue isn’t enough, neither the City of Lawrence nor KU is obligated to pay the difference. The City Commission took up issuing up to $75 million in STAR bonds and up to $25 million in CID bonds on Nov. 3, 2026.

The city’s 2025 retail market report, based on September 2025 data, found 17.9% of downtown Lawrence retail space vacant, or about 295,749 of 1.65 million square feet. That’s up from 13.6% in 2018. Citywide, retail vacancy was 9.6%, and North Lawrence was 25.5%.

No. Lawrence’s noise ordinance has no set quiet hours. It applies around the clock and bans noise loud enough to disturb neighbors of ordinary sensitivity (City Code 14-413 to 14-415). Officers judge each case, often after a neighbor complaint, and repeat problems can lead to a property being treated as a nuisance under city code. Lawn mowers, air conditioners, trash pickup and active construction are exempt.

Yes, with a city permit. Neighborhood and community groups can apply for a street closure or right-of-way permit for block parties and street events. Amplified music at an officially permitted event is an exception to the noise ordinance, and temporary activities planned by community, school, university or government groups are exempt.

Yes. The KU Gateway community improvement district adds a 2% sales tax on most of the KU campus for about two decades, and that revenue, along with new campus sales taxes and stadium property tax increment, repays the Gateway bonds the City Commission voted to issue on Nov. 3, 2026.

Yes. A roughly 150-room hotel is part of the Gateway mixed-use district next to the stadium, and KU has reported an agreement with Marriott, with details still being finalized. KU expects to set the hotel’s final maximum price in June 2027, and the city’s hotel-related bond money will be held in escrow until then. At the Nov. 3, 2026 City Commission meeting, a KU official said the hotel could open by the end of 2028.

The City of Lawrence collects yard waste weekly on your trash day, year-round as winter weather permits; set it out by 6 a.m. in compostable paper yard waste bags or a city 95-gallon brown yard waste cart (no plastic bags). Brush bundles can be up to 5 feet long, 18 inches in diameter and 65 pounds, tied with string or twine; limbs 1 inch or more in diameter, sod, soil, rock and food scraps are not collected. Questions go to Solid Waste Customer Service at 785-832-3032.

Yes, according to unofficial Nov. 3, 2026 results. The city transit sales tax is set to rise from 0.2% to 0.3% on April 1, 2027, and run through March 31, 2037. Results become official after the Douglas County canvass on Nov. 16, 2026.

Not currently. The 159-megawatt Kansas Sky Energy Center planned for farm fields in northern Douglas County is on hold under a temporary court injunction while a lawsuit challenging the county’s approval is pending. As of late October 2026, the jury trial is set for July 12-16, 2027, and the project’s conditional use permit expires April 13, 2027.

Not anymore. The Public Incentives Review Committee, which included city, county and school board members, was dissolved in 2024 when the city restructured its advisory boards. Incentive requests now go directly to the City Commission. As of late October 2026, the city’s economic development director said there was no plan to bring the committee back.

As of Nov. 6, 2026, Moody’s rates the City of Lawrence Aa1 (issuer and general obligation bonds) with a stable outlook, and Aa2 for its water and sewer utility revenue bonds.

The Lawrence Outdoor Aquatic Center renovation is in its second phase. Phase one (locker rooms and main entrance) was done before the 2026 season, and the city says the full project is on track to finish by May 2027.

Yes. In October 2026 the City Commission joined a pilot under the Kansas Abandoned Housing Act. Nonprofits can ask a court for control of homes vacant at least 90 days and tax delinquent, then rehab and sell them as affordable homeownership. Partners plan about three houses in the first 12 to 18 months.

The owner or occupant of a property next to a public sidewalk must remove snow or ice from that sidewalk within 48 hours after the snowfall ends or the ice forms, according to the City of Lawrence.

According to the City of Lawrence, city code treats e-bikes as regular bicycles, so bicycle traffic rules apply. Sidewalk riding is not allowed in the Downtown Commercial District, and e-bike riders must yield to pedestrians. Class 3 e-bikes (motor assist up to 28 mph) are not allowed for riders under 16, and helmets are required for riders 15 and younger.

Yes. The library plans a branch of about 6,400 square feet at 3514 Clinton Parkway in the Parkway Plaza Shopping Center, the former Beauty Brands space. It will be the library’s first location outside its downtown building at 707 Vermont St.; a Nov. 9, 2026 Lawrence Times report said it is expected to open next summer.