Renters return to Lawrence: Five things to know

From left, Aladdin Al-Montair and Sami Sayegh were just a few of the many KU students moving into their apartments for the upcoming school year on Thursday, July 31, 2014.

Lawrence will feel younger today — and maybe a bit more harried too.

Aug. 1 is the traditional day that new apartment leases begin for thousands of Kansas University students who live off campus. Bars, restaurants, retailers, U-Haul companies and anyone else looking to make a dollar in Lawrence, circle today on the calendar as the day the summer doldrums end. Here are five facts about how Lawrence’s annual influx of renters impact the community.


KU students: 24,612

4,900 on-campus beds are available.

Housing in Lawrence: 53.9 percent rental

Rental property makes up just 32.5 percent of housing across Kansas.

Median monthly rent in Lawrence: $859

That’s $127 more per month than the state’s median rent of $732.

Average spent on back-to-school purchases: $899

That’s how much college students or their parents are projected to spend, which is down from $916 in 2014.

Number of Traffic tickets: ?

That one is tough to predict, but anyone you has lived in Lawrence very long can tell you stories of students who learn the hard way that Kentucky and Tennessee streets are one-way.

— Sources: U.S. Census Bureau’s 2013 American Community Survey; Kansas University; National Retail Federation