Paola is a somewhat small city located in the state of Kansas. With a population of 5,738 people and three associated neighborhoods, Paola is the 60th largest community in Kansas. Much of the housing stock in Paola was built prior to World War II, making it one of the older and more historic cities in the country.

Paola real estate is some of the most expensive in Kansas, although Paola house values don't compare to the most expensive real estate in the U.S.

A relatively large number of people in Paola telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 7.51% of the workforce works from home. While this may seem like a small number, as a fraction of the total workforce it ranks among the highest in the country. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.

Being a small city, Paola does not have a public transit system used by locals to get to and from work.

In terms of college education, Paola is somewhat better educated than the 21.84% who have a 4-year degree or higher in the typical US community: 25.14% of adults 25 and older in the city have at least a bachelor's degree.

The per capita income in Paola in 2022 was $36,643, which is wealthy relative to Kansas, and upper middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $146,572 for a family of four. However, Paola contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

The people who call Paola home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Paola residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Paola include German, English, Irish, Scottish, and Norwegian.

The most common language spoken in Paola is English. Other important languages spoken here include Chinese and Italian.