Known as the Air Capital of the World, Wichita is the state of Kansas, as well as a major aircraft manufacturing hub. It has been ranked in CNN/Money and Money magazine as the ninth best big city to live in, in the United States. The city is home to six major aircraft manufacturing companies and McConnell Air Force Base. Wichita is located in South Central Kansas on the Arkansas River, and is the county seat of Sedgwick County. It is also the home of a National Weather Service Forecast Office which serves portions of central, south-central, and southeast Kansas.

Wichita is the 51st largest city in the United States with an estimated population of 354,865 in the year 2005.[1] The Wichita Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), which encompasses Sedgwick, Butler, Harvey, and Sumner counties, has a 2004 estimated population of 584,671 persons residing in 245,159 households, making it the 82nd largest MSA in the United States.