Stockton is a city in and the county seat of Rooks County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 1,480. Stockton was founded in 1872. A large share of the first settlers were cattle dealers, or stockmen, and they named their new home Stocktown, or as it soon became Stockton. Stockton was incorporated as a city in 1879.