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. Paola has an unusually large stock of pre-World War II architecture, making it one of the older and more historic cities.

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.

Telecommuters are a relatively large percentage of the workforce: 7.51% of people work from home. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce it is high relative to the nation. 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.

The overall education level of Paola is somewhat higher than in the average US city of 21.84%: 25.14% of adults 25 and older in the city have at least a bachelor's degree.

The per capita income in Paola in 2018 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.