Butler is a county in Kansas, United States, about 25 miles east of Wichita. It had a population of 67,380 at the 2020 census, an estimated 68,287 by 2024, and covers 1,447 square miles (3,750 km2) — the largest county by area in Kansas — centred near 37°45′N 96°51′W.
El Dorado is the county seat, and Andover is the county’s most populous city; El Dorado’s postal code is 67042. The county holds 13 incorporated cities and 11 unincorporated communities across 29 townships, and it runs on Central Time. Its FIPS code is 20015.
Towns & Villages in Butler County
Butler County has 24 named places on record: 13 incorporated cities and 11 unincorporated communities with no city government of their own. Two of the unincorporated places, Beaumont and Rosalia, are also census-designated places (CDP) with their own population counts; Unincorp. covers the rest, mostly former railroad stops with no formal boundary.
| Place | Type | Township | Pop. | ZIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| El Dorado | City · seat | El Dorado | 12,870 | 67042 |
| Andover | City | Bruno | 14,892 | 67002 |
| Augusta | City | Augusta | 9,256 | 67010 |
| Rose Hill | City | — | 4,185 | 67133 |
| Douglass | City | Douglass | 1,555 | 67039 |
| Towanda | City | Towanda | 1,447 | 67144 |
| Benton | City | Benton | 943 | 67017 |
| Leon | City | Little Walnut | 669 | 67074 |
| Whitewater | City | — | 661 | 67154 |
| Potwin | City | — | 421 | 67123 |
| Elbing | City | — | 226 | 67041 |
| Cassoday | City | — | 113 | 66842 |
| Latham | City | — | 96 | 67072 |
| Rosalia | CDP | Rosalia | 149 | 67132 |
| Beaumont | CDP | — | 36 | — |
| Haverhill | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Keighley | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Bois d’Arc | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Brainerd | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| De Graff | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Gordon | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Lorena | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Midian | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Pontiac | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
The county’s 2010–2024 scrape list also carried “Clay Center,” a duplicate “Beaumont” row and a string of mobile-home-park names (Andover MH Estates, Hanks MH Park, Sunset 77 MH Park and others). Clay Center is a real city, but it sits in Clay County, more than 100 miles north — it never belonged on this page. The mobile-home-park entries are private developments inside Andover, Augusta, El Dorado and Leon, not separate places, so this list drops them.
Geography
Butler County sits in south-central Kansas, where the flat Wichita lowlands in the county’s west give way to the rolling, rock-ribbed Flint Hills across its eastern half. Of its 1,447 square miles, 1,430 are land and 17 are water, about 1.2 percent. El Dorado Lake, a reservoir on the Walnut River just north of the county seat, holds most of that surface water and supplies the region’s municipal water and flood control.
Harvey County lies to the northwest, Marion County to the north, Chase County to the northeast, Greenwood County to the east, Elk County to the southeast, Cowley County to the south, and Sumner County to the southwest. Harvey County, Marion, Chase, Greenwood, Elk and Cowley counties all border Butler directly; Sumner County has no live profile on this site to link to.
Demographics
Butler County had a population of 67,380 at the 2020 census, up from 59,482 in 2000, and the latest estimate puts the county near 68,287 residents as of 2024. Andover and Augusta are the two largest communities, together holding more than a third of the county’s population. Median household income runs $81,610 (2024 estimate), well above Kansas’s statewide figure of $70,333 (2023 ACS). Population density works out to about 47 people per square mile of land, low by national standards but typical for a rural Kansas county anchored by a handful of Wichita-commuter suburbs.
Economy & Local Life
Manufacturing employs the most workers in the county, about 5,052 people, followed by health care and social assistance at 4,625 and educational services at 4,309. The El Dorado Refinery, on the northeast edge of the county seat, is the largest oil refinery in Kansas, with a capacity of 135,000 barrels a day. Butler Community College, also based in El Dorado, serves students across the county and beyond. Andover is home to Vornado Air, a fan and heater manufacturer, and functions largely as a Wichita bedroom community. Cassoday, in the county’s Flint Hills southeast, calls itself the “Prairie Chicken Capital of the World” and draws thousands of riders each month, March through November, for the Cassoday Bike Run.
History
The Kansas territorial legislature authorized Butler County on 25 August 1855, naming it for Andrew Pickens Butler, a US senator from South Carolina and a co-author of the 1854 Kansas-Nebraska Act. El Dorado became the county seat and was later incorporated as its own city.
Oil defined much of the county’s 20th-century history. Geologists found the El Dorado oil field in 1915 using scientific mapping rather than guesswork, one of the first US discoveries made that way, and by 1918 the field supplied 12.8 percent of the country’s oil output. Twin disasters bracket the mid-century: an F4 tornado killed 13 people in El Dorado on 10 June 1958, and an F5 tornado killed 13 more in Andover on 26 April 1991, destroying roughly 300 homes. In 2010, builders ran the Keystone-Cushing Pipeline’s second phase north to south through the county, drawing local controversy over tax exemptions and environmental risk.
Getting There
Interstate 35 (the Kansas Turnpike) clips the county’s southwestern corner near Andover and Rose Hill. US-54 and US-77 cross the county, along with Kansas routes 96, 177, 196 and 254.
- Wichita — about 25 miles west of El Dorado
- Newton — about 30 miles northwest
- Winfield — about 35 miles south
- Emporia — about 45 miles northeast
Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport, roughly 30 miles west of El Dorado, is the nearest major commercial airport. Amtrak’s Southwest Chief stops at Newton, the closest station, connecting to Kansas City and points west toward Albuquerque and Los Angeles.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Butler County located?
It sits in south-central Kansas, about 25 miles east of Wichita, bordered by Harvey, Marion, Chase, Greenwood, Elk, Cowley and Sumner counties.
What is the population of Butler County?
67,380 at the 2020 census, with a 2024 estimate near 68,287.
How big is Butler County?
1,447 square miles (3,750 km2), of which 1,430 square miles are land — the largest county by area in Kansas.
What is the county seat of Butler County?
El Dorado, home to the state’s largest oil refinery and Butler Community College.
How many towns and cities are in Butler County?
13 incorporated cities — El Dorado, Andover, Augusta, Rose Hill, Douglass, Towanda, Benton, Leon, Whitewater, Potwin, Elbing, Cassoday and Latham — plus 11 unincorporated communities including Rosalia and Beaumont.
What ZIP codes does Butler County use?
67042 for El Dorado, 67002 for Andover, 67010 for Augusta, and separate codes for each of the other eleven incorporated cities and Rosalia; the smaller unincorporated places use a neighboring town’s ZIP.
What is Butler County known for?
The 1915 El Dorado oil field, once responsible for over a tenth of US oil output, and the Flint Hills prairie that covers its eastern half.
More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Kansas.