About Kansas City
Kansas City, Missouri is the state’s largest city, with an estimated 521,220 residents on July 1, 2025. Its 314.5 square miles of land reach into four counties. Jackson County holds most of the city. Clay and Platte counties hold the part north of the Missouri River, the Northland, with about 200,000 of those residents. A sliver lies in Cass County.
The county matters when you buy: it decides who values the home, which property tax levies apply and where to appeal. Kansas City, Kansas is a separate city across the state line. For the differences between buying in Missouri and Kansas, see Buying across the state line and Moving to Kansas City.
Tom Staats is a REALTOR® with Keller Williams Realty Partners, licensed in Missouri and Kansas. For a purchase or sale in Kansas City, start with buying a home, selling your home or contact Tom.
Where it is and getting around
Interstates 70, 35, 29 and 435 and US 71 cross the city. From City Hall at 414 East 12th Street, the Kansas City International Airport terminal is about 19 miles north by US 169 and I-29, and Corporate Woods in Overland Park is about 19 miles southwest by I-35. Drive times are without traffic, from OpenStreetMap routing.
The KC Streetcar is a 6.5-mile, fare-free line with 32 stops, running from the Riverfront through downtown and along Main Street to UMKC. The Main Street extension opened on October 24, 2025, and the Riverfront extension to Berkley Riverfront opened in May 2026. Streetcars run every day, about every 10 minutes.
RideKC runs the region’s buses, including MAX bus rapid transit. A ride costs $2, or $1 at the reduced fare, and tap-to-pay fares stop at $4 a day.
Kansas City International Airport (MCI) opened its single terminal in February 2023, replacing the three older terminals. It has 40 gates.
Homes and neighborhoods
The Census Bureau counted 245,346 homes in Kansas City in its 2020-2024 American Community Survey. About 61% are single-family detached houses, the median home was built in 1969, and 55% of occupied homes are owner-occupied.
Age changes sharply from south to north. In the Jackson County part of the city, the median home dates from 1958 and 31% were built in 1939 or earlier. In the Clay and Platte County parts, the median homes date from 1992 and 1995, and close to 40% were built in 2000 or later.
Figures for each neighborhood below come from the census tract around it (ACS 2020-2024):
- Brookside, around the shops at 63rd Street and Brookside Boulevard: 58% of homes built in 1939 or earlier, 70% single-family detached. Construction of the Brookside Shops began in 1919.
- Waldo, around 75th Street and Wornall Road: 61% built in 1939 or earlier, 89% single-family detached. KCUR describes Waldo as running from Gregory Boulevard south to 91st Street and from Holmes Road west to the state line. Kansas City annexed the area as far south as 77th Street in 1909.
- Hyde Park, around the park of that name between Midtown and the Plaza: about half built in 1939 or earlier, with detached houses (41%) mixed with duplexes and apartment buildings. The neighborhood association’s area runs from 31st Street to 47th Street, between Gillham Road and Troost Avenue.
- Country Club Plaza: 97% of homes are in buildings of 10 or more units, with a median year built of 1951. The City’s neighborhood map draws it from about 46th Street south to Ward Parkway.
- River Market, on the north edge of downtown: 90% of homes are in buildings of 20 or more units. About 42% are in buildings from 1939 or earlier and 29% were built from 2010 to 2019. On the City’s neighborhood map it lies between the Missouri River and Interstate 70.
- The Northland, north of the river in Clay and Platte counties: more than half of homes were built in 1990 or later, and most are single-family detached houses. The name is also used for the rest of Clay and Platte counties, including separate cities such as Gladstone and Riverside.
Search homes for sale in Kansas City, or by ZIP code, such as 64113 around Brookside.
Home values
The Census Bureau’s median value of owner-occupied homes in Kansas City was $242,900 in the 2020-2024 American Community Survey, compared with $230,300 for Missouri. By county part of the city, the medians were $207,600 in Jackson County, $280,200 in Clay County and $323,800 in Platte County. In the census tracts around Brookside and Waldo they were $371,900 and $320,900.
These are owners’ own estimates gathered over five years, not sale prices. For a figure on one home, see home valuation and how home pricing works.
Property taxes and the earnings tax
Missouri assesses residential property at 19% of its market value (RSMo 137.115). Counties set new values as of January 1 of each odd-numbered year, so 2025 was a reassessment year and 2027 is the next. The tax is the assessed value divided by 100, times the combined levy for the address.
Jackson County publishes each taxing unit’s levy. These 2025 levies, for a Jackson County address in the Kansas City Public Schools district, add up to about $8.39 per $100 of assessed value:
| Taxing unit | 2025 levy per $100 assessed |
|---|---|
| State of Missouri | 0.0300 |
| Jackson County | 0.5556 |
| City of Kansas City | 1.5073 |
| Kansas City Public Schools | 5.4699 |
| Metropolitan Community College | 0.1767 |
| Kansas City Public Library | 0.4790 |
| Board for the developmentally disabled | 0.0728 |
| Community mental health fund | 0.0969 |
On a market value of $250,000, the assessed value is $47,500, and at that rate the bill would be about $3,984 a year. School and library levies depend on the address. In the same 2025 table, Hickman Mills C-1 is 6.1517, Raytown C-2 is 6.3200, Grandview C-4 is 5.6500, Center 58 is 4.9825 and Lee’s Summit R-7 is 4.7391. Clay and Platte County addresses use those counties’ levies, so look up the parcel with the county.
To dispute a value, appeal to the county Board of Equalization. Jackson County’s Board lists the third Monday in June as the deadline unless the Board extends it; in 2025 the deadline was July 14. Jackson County’s Assessment Department also offers an informal review. In Clay County, the appeal form is due by 5 p.m. on the second Monday in July. A Board decision can be appealed to the Missouri State Tax Commission. Missouri counties also tax vehicles and other personal property.
Kansas City has a 1% earnings tax on wages, salaries, commissions and other earned income. Residents pay it on all their earnings, wherever they work. People who live elsewhere pay it on pay for work done inside the city. State law (RSMo 92.111) requires the city to put the tax to voters every five years; they last renewed it on April 7, 2026, with more than 75 percent voting yes.
School districts
Fifteen public school districts overlap Kansas City’s limits, according to the National Center for Education Statistics’ 2025 boundary files. By area within the city, the largest are North Kansas City Schools and Kansas City Public Schools, followed by Platte County R-3, Park Hill, Hickman Mills C-1, Grandview C-4, Raytown C-2, Liberty, Center 58, Lee’s Summit R-7, Smithville R-II and Independence. Small areas fall in the Belton, Kearney and Blue Springs districts.
The district follows the address, not the city name, ZIP code or neighborhood name. Look up each home with the district or on the NCES School & District Navigator. District pages: Kansas City Public Schools, North Kansas City Schools, Park Hill, Platte County R-3, Raytown C-2, Grandview C-4, Lee’s Summit R-7, Liberty, Independence and Smithville.
Several districts publish their own boundary maps, including Raytown C-2, Lee’s Summit R-7, Liberty, Independence and Grandview C-4. See also how school attendance boundaries work and buying a home in the Northland school districts.
Utilities
- Water, sewer and stormwater: KC Water serves about 170,000 residential and business customers in Kansas City. Start service online or at 816-513-1313, at least one business day ahead. Stormwater is billed on the area of hard surfaces on the lot.
- Electricity: the Missouri Public Service Commission lists Evergy Missouri Metro, formerly Kansas City Power & Light. Federal EIA data also show Evergy Missouri West and electric cooperatives serving parts of the four counties, so confirm the provider for an address.
- Natural gas: Spire Missouri, which the PSC lists with a separate western Missouri customer line.
- Trash and recycling: check the pickup day for an address with the city’s 311 line.
- Internet: providers change from street to street. The FCC National Broadband Map lists them by address.
The PSC’s utility locator shows electric and gas providers for an address.
Parks and places
Kansas City Parks and Recreation maintains 222 parks on more than 12,000 acres, 158 miles of trails and bikeways, 29 lakes and 48 fountains. The boulevard and parkway system began with a master plan by landscape architect George E. Kessler for the 1892 Park Board, and work started in 1893 on Independence and Gladstone Boulevards.
- Swope Park, 1,805 acres and the city’s largest park, with the Kansas City Zoo, Starlight Theatre, the Lakeside Nature Center, golf courses and hiking trails. Thomas Swope gave the first 1,334 acres in 1896.
- The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, where admission is free every day.
- Union Station, opened in 1914, and the National WWI Museum and Memorial.
- The 18th and Vine Jazz District, with the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and the American Jazz Museum.
Flood zones
FEMA maps flood zones along the Missouri River and along streams such as the Blue River. On the Missouri River, FEMA’s flood map shows accredited levee units, including the Central Industrial District and East Bottoms units on the south bank and the North Kansas City and Birmingham units on the north bank. Land behind an accredited levee is mapped as Zone X, an “area with reduced flood risk due to levee”, which is lower risk but not no risk.
Search any address on FEMA’s Flood Map Service Center before you make an offer, and ask your insurer for a flood quote on a home near a mapped zone.
