Kansas is a part of the Midwestern United States.
Kansas [ ˈkænzəs ] is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States . Midwestern United States . Although the region is often defined in a number of ways , the Census Bureau 's definition consists of 12 states in the north central United States : Illinois , Indiana , Iowa , Kansas , Michigan , Minnesota , Missouri , Nebraska , North Dakota , Ohio , South Dakota , and Wisconsin . Other large Midwest cities include ( in order by population ) : Indianapolis , Columbus , Detroit , Milwaukee , Kansas City , Omaha , Minneapolis , Cleveland , Wichita and St. Louis . Chicago and its suburbs form the largest metropolitan statistical area with 9.8 million people , followed by Metro Detroit , Minneapolis -- St. Paul , Greater St. Louis , Greater Cleveland , Greater Cincinnati ( without the Kentucky portion ) , Kansas City metro area , and the Columbus metro area . Wichita, Kansas . is the largest city in the state of Kansas and the 50th-largest city in the United States .