Kansas Zombie Survival Index: 80/100

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The three tests

Kansas scored three times

A state that handles shamblers can get erased by sprinters. Here is how Kansas performs under each outbreak model.

Walking DeadThe Walking Dead

86

Slow zombies reward distance, local food, water, defensive terrain and the luxury of time. Kansas begins with about 2,977,220 people, but its real advantage is the resource-to-population ratio once you leave the main cities. USDA lists 44.6 million acres across 54,800 farm operations, with 5.85 million cattle and calves.

World War ZWorld War Z

75

Fast zombies turn transportation into a timing problem. A six-lane highway is useful right up until six lanes stop moving. Kansas has excellent route redundancy and few large in-state metros, which helps enormously — but the open approach terrain that makes escape easy also makes arrival exposed.

Last of UsThe Last of Us

79

Yes, we know they're not technically zombies. This is about keeping a settlement alive for years. Kansas has a functioning food-production base rather than a stockpile, and that is the right kind of asset — provided the well underneath it holds.

What helps

Open plains dominate, with the Flint Hills, river valleys and rolling eastern terrain offering better defensive geography
High Plains/Ogallala groundwater, eastern rivers, reservoirs and local aquifers
44.6 million acres in farm operations across 54,800 farms
5.85 million cattle and calves
1.87 million hogs, 4.952 billion pounds of milk, 942.5 million bushels of corn, 346.8 million bushels of wheat, 196.4 million bushels of soybeans and 252 million bushels of sorghum in 2025
19,356 MW of net summer capacity in 2024 with very large wind generation plus fossil and nuclear resources
Fort Riley, McConnell Air Force Base, Fort Leavenworth and Kansas National Guard forces

What hurts

Open terrain with few major natural barriers
Tornadoes, severe thunderstorms, drought, extreme heat, wildfire, blizzards and hail
Long-term groundwater depletion in the western half of the state
Major transport corridors become liabilities when everyone moves at once

Avoid Wichita and Kansas City-area corridors early, then favour the Flint Hills or another rural east-central community with dependable water, livestock, grain, wind power and hardened severe-weather shelter.

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The reason for the score

Kansas's zombie superpowers

Open plains dominate, with the Flint Hills, river valleys and rolling eastern terrain offering better defensive geography. These define how infected move, where people can hide, and which roads become mandatory. The best refuge is not the remotest place — it is where terrain plus water plus food plus energy plus access overlap.

1 · Agriculture at continental scale

44.6 million farm acres, 5.85 million cattle and enormous corn, wheat, soybean and sorghum production.

2 · Low population

Under three million people share that entire resource base.

3 · Wind

Kansas is one of the country's strongest wind-energy states, which matters enormously for distributed power in a long collapse.

4 · Space

There is a great deal of room to put distance between a settlement and any major population centre.

The catch

Water west of centre, and open ground

Water west of centre

A huge farm does not help if the well fails. Long-term groundwater stress is Kansas's most important settlement constraint.

Open terrain

Natural barriers are limited across much of the state.

Severe weather

Tornadoes, hail, drought, wildfire and blizzards all make appearances.

The framework

25 survival factors, scored 1–10

Every state is measured on the same 25 factors. Weighting shifts by scenario — terrain matters more against sprinters, agriculture matters more in a long collapse.

01 Population density Low population density 9/10

02 Major city exposure Few very large metros inside the state 8/10

03 Road escape capacity Excellent road and county-road redundancy 9/10

04 Freshwater availability Water is good in the east, stressed in the west 6/10

05 Agricultural capacity 44.6 million farm acres 10/10

06 Food self-sufficiency Massive cattle and grain production 10/10

07 Wilderness & remote land Large rural areas but limited true wilderness 8/10

08 Natural defensive terrain Mostly open; the Flint Hills improve terrain 4/10

09 Climate survivability Heat and cold extremes are significant 6/10

10 Winter zombie suppression Some winter suppression 6/10

11 Natural disaster risk Tornado, drought, hail and wildfire risk 4/10

12 Energy production Large generation system 8/10

13 Off-grid energy potential Elite wind potential 10/10

14 Medical resources Adequate cities, sparse rural coverage 7/10

15 Military & Guard presence Major Army and Air Force installations 8/10

16 Emergency management Experienced severe-weather management 8/10

17 Supply & logistics Strong central U.S. logistics 8/10

18 Infrastructure vulnerability Water depletion and exposed grid and ag systems are concerns 7/10

19 Survival resource availability Food, livestock, fuel and wind resources are outstanding 10/10

20 Evacuation & refuge potential Excellent rural refuge potential 9/10

21 Natural barriers & water access Few major natural barriers 5/10

22 Distance from population centers Huge areas far from major metros 9/10

23 Chokepoint & bridge dependency Road redundancy is excellent 8/10

24 Hunting, fishing & foraging Good hunting; fishing more limited than eastern states 7/10

25 Long-term settlement potential Very strong where water is dependable 9/10

Tactics

What works, by scenario

Strategy	Walking Dead	World War Z	Last of Us
Rural farm or ranch with independent water	Excellent	Very good if reached early	Excellent
Small agricultural town	Very good	Good	Excellent
Remote site with no food system	Good early	Very good for isolation	Poor long-term
Major highway evacuation	Good early, bad late	Terrible late	Poor after collapse
Major metro shelter	Poor	Terrible	Poor
Distributed renewable power	Very good	Good	Excellent
Hunting and fishing supplement	Very good	Good	Very good
One-road refuge	Risky	Risky	Risky

Geography

Where to be

Best overall

Flint Hills / east-central Kansas

Better terrain and water without giving up agricultural strength.

Rolling ground in an otherwise flat state
Dependable eastern water
Grazing and grain within reach
Away from both major metros

Runner-up

Rural northeast Kansas away from Kansas City

Good farms, water and rolling terrain.

Third

Central Kansas farm country with proven groundwater

Excellent food and space, but more exposed.

Where not to be

Avoid early

Kansas City metro fringe

Regional population spillover matters even when the city crosses a state line.

Avoid early

Wichita metro

Largest in-state concentration and a major transport hub.

Avoid

Western site without a verified long-term water plan

The Ogallala is not infinite.

Verdict

80 out of 100 · Grade B− · Rank #27

Kansas is built to keep survivors fed and powered. It offers huge wheat production, cattle, open land, wind energy, oil and gas, groundwater, and a relatively low population outside a handful of cities. The catch is exposure: flat terrain provides long sightlines but few natural defenses, while tornadoes, drought, extreme heat, winter storms, wildfire, and dependence on the declining Ogallala Aquifer could make isolated communities vulnerable over time.

Walking Dead 86. World War Z 75. Last of Us 79.

Avoid Wichita and Kansas City-area corridors early, then favour the Flint Hills or another rural east-central community with dependable water, livestock, grain, wind power and hardened severe-weather shelter.

See the national survey board

Method & sources

Where the numbers come from

The Zombie Survival Index is a fictional entertainment ranking that uses real public data as its inputs. Every state is scored on the same 25 factors under three outbreak models, and the overall number blends those results. All fifty states have been assessed and normalised against the same national scoring set.

U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Population Estimates and QuickFacts
USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, 2025 State Agriculture Overview
U.S. Energy Information Administration, State Electricity Profile
State water-resource and environmental agencies
State emergency-management agencies
U.S. Department of Defense and National Guard installation sources
State wildlife, hunting and fishing agencies
NOAA and state climatology and hazard sources