What Changed in Salina last week?

Here's a quick look at what moved in Salina over the past few weeks, from the jail to rainfall, using the latest numbers through mid-October 2026.

💰 Sales tax

The state sent Salina $1,610,243 in local sales tax money in September, down from $1,678,013 in August but up from $1,498,033 a year earlier, according to the Kansas Department of Revenue.

So far this year, the city has received about 5% more than in the first nine months of 2025. Prices nationwide rose 3.7% over the past year, so much of that is higher prices, not more shopping.

🚔 Jail

• Oct. 18: 133 men and 30 women.
• Oct. 11: 130 men and 36 women.
• Oct. 18, 2025: 144 men and 31 women.

In September the jail held about 141 men and 35 women on a typical day, compared with about 148 men and 39 women in August and 151 men in September 2025. Weekly ups and downs of a few people are normal.

The big drop came earlier. From Jan. 1 through Oct. 17, the jail averaged about 194 men a day in 2022, 169 in 2024, 139 in 2025 and 138 this year. The lower level has held but isn't falling further.

Jail numbers depend on arrests, court timing and people held for other agencies, so they don't directly measure crime.

👮 Police reports

• Thefts: 75 in September and 57 in August. Oct. 1-15: 33, compared with 39 last year.
• Burglaries and home break-ins: 8 in September, down from 14 in August and 22 in September 2025. Oct. 1 to 15: 9, compared with 5 last year. Small numbers like these bounce around.
• Traffic tickets: 462 in September, up from 422 in August and 282 in September 2025.

From July 1 to Oct. 15, police took 239 theft reports, compared with 375 a year earlier, when thefts hit 141 in July and 112 in August. Salina311's theft numbers start in June 2025, so it's too soon to call this a lasting change.

More tickets means officers wrote more tickets, not that driving got worse.

🏠 Housing

The typical asking price for a Saline County home was $214,325 in September, up from $205,000 in August and $212,000 a year earlier, according to Realtor.com. Monthly bounces like that are common.

• Homes for sale: 94, up from 86 in August but down from 126 a year earlier.
• Newly listed homes: 60, up from 52 in August but down from 68 a year earlier.
• Homes sold, according to local Realtors: 66 in July, compared with 68 in June and 63 in July 2025.

The big jump came between 2021 and 2023, when the typical September price went from $135,225 to $222,950. It's been about flat since.

Fewer homes are coming up for sale, too. Sellers listed 72 to 88 new homes each September from 2018 through 2022, and 54 to 68 since 2023.

Statewide, the typical asking price was $296,000, and homes stayed on the market about 54 days, the same as here.

💼 Jobs

Saline County's unemployment rate was 3.9% in August, up from 3.7% in July and 3.8% a year earlier, according to early federal estimates. That's an ordinary wobble, and below the Kansas rate of 4.4%.

⛽ Gas prices

Across Kansas, regular gas averaged $3.98 a gallon on Oct. 18, according to AAA. That's down from $4.02 a week earlier and $4.14 a month earlier, but up from $2.75 a year ago.

🏥 Health

Stomach bugs were behind 12.7% of Saline County ER visits in the week ending Oct. 3, up from 10.1% the week before and down from 14.0% a year earlier. That's about where it usually runs.

🌧️ Rain and weather

The weather station at Salina's airport recorded 2.28 inches of rain from Oct. 1 through Oct. 16. The 30-year average for those days is 1.28 inches, and last year brought just 0.89.

September had 4.51 inches, against an average of 2.65, after a dry August with 2.08 inches against 3.71.

For the year, Salina is at 25.60 inches, close to the average of 26.47, so the wet fall has brought the year back to about normal.