Living in Lee's Summit, Missouri

Living in Lee’s Summit

Lee’s Summit is a city in eastern Jackson County, Missouri, and it extends south into Cass County. The Census Bureau estimated its population at 107,514 on July 1, 2025, up from 101,108 in the 2020 Census.

The town was platted as Strother in 1865 and incorporated as the Town of Lee’s Summit in November 1868. According to the city, “Summit” marks the highest point on the railroad between Kansas City and St. Louis, and “Lee” comes from Dr. Pleasant Lea, an early settler.

Tom Staats is a REALTOR® with Keller Williams Realty Partners in Overland Park, licensed in Missouri and Kansas, and he works with buyers and sellers in Lee’s Summit. See buying a home and selling a home.

Where Lee’s Summit is and getting around

Lee’s Summit is southeast of Kansas City, and US 50, I-470, M-291 and M-150 run through it.

From City Hall at 220 SE Green Street, OpenStreetMap routing puts downtown Kansas City about 21 miles and 31 minutes away without traffic, mostly by US 50, I-435 and I-70. The Country Club Plaza is about 17 miles (28 minutes), Corporate Woods in Overland Park about 18 miles (25 minutes) and Kansas City International Airport about 43 miles (56 minutes).

Amtrak’s Missouri River Runner, between Kansas City and St. Louis, stops at the city’s train depot on SW Main Street downtown. RideKC’s Lee’s Summit Express (Route 550) runs weekday commuter trips to downtown Kansas City from the park and ride near US 50 and Chipman Road, between 5 and 7 a.m. and between 4 and 6 p.m. RideKC Lee’s Summit, run by OATS, offers on-demand weekday trips within the city, booked 24 hours ahead.

Homes and neighborhoods

By the Census Bureau’s 2020-2024 American Community Survey, Lee’s Summit has 42,240 housing units. About 72% are single-family detached houses, about 9% are attached single-family homes such as townhouses, and about 14% are in buildings with five or more units. The median home was built in 1994, and about 36% were built in 2000 or later.

Jackson County’s plat records show when and where the city’s subdivisions were recorded:

• Downtown: the oldest plats sit around downtown, such as Walnut Grove, recorded in 1910.
• Lakewood: about 5 miles north of City Hall around the Lakewood lakes, platted in stages from 1974, mostly in the 1990s.
• Winterset: about 3 miles west of City Hall, with plats such as Winterset Park and Winterset Gardens recorded from 1990 on.
• Longview Farm and New Longview: about 4 miles west of City Hall near Longview Road, platted from 1987 to 1999 and from 2005 to 2024, beside the farm R. A. Long began in 1912 on about 1,700 acres.
• Eagle Creek: about 3 miles southwest of City Hall, platted from 1998 to 2020.
• Raintree Lake: at the south edge of the city along the Cass County line, first platted in 1974 and 1975, with later plats recorded through 2012.

Browse homes for sale in Lee’s Summit.

Home values in Lee’s Summit

The median value of owner-occupied homes in Lee’s Summit was $340,900 in the 2020-2024 American Community Survey. That is a census estimate, not a sale price. For a particular home, the county’s appraised value is on its parcel record. For a pricing review of your own home, start with the home valuation page.

Property taxes in Lee’s Summit

Missouri assesses residential property at 19% of its market value. The assessor sets market value as of January 1 of each odd-numbered year, and that value carries into the following even year. The tax is the assessed value times the levy, which is stated per $100 of assessed value. Taxes are due by December 31.

For a home in the Jackson County part of the city and the Lee’s Summit R-7 district, the 2025 levies were:

At that rate, each $100,000 of market value is $19,000 of assessed value and about $1,382 a year in tax. An address in another school district pays that district’s levy instead: 5.1685 for Blue Springs R-IV, 5.6500 for Grandview C-4 and 6.1517 for Hickman Mills C-1 in 2025. Homes in the Cass County part of the city pay Cass County’s levies. Levies are set each fall, and after a reassessment Missouri requires districts to roll them back so revenue grows only by inflation, up to 5%, plus new construction.

The Jackson County reassessment. In 2023 the county’s reassessment raised assessments by an average of about 30%, and by more than 100% on some properties. More than 54,000 owners appealed. In August 2024 the Missouri State Tax Commission found the county had not done the physical inspections and notices state law requires for increases over 15%, and ordered those increases rolled back. For 2025 the Commission ordered that a home’s assessed value could not exceed its corrected 2024 value plus 15%, except for new construction and improvements, and the county agreed to comply in May 2025.

Appeals. Appeals go to the Jackson County Board of Equalization and deal with market value, not the tax amount. In 2025 the filing deadline was July 14, the second Monday in July, and the board valued homes as of January 1, 2025. Board decisions can be appealed to the State Tax Commission. The next countywide reassessment year is 2027.

Jackson County’s senior property tax credit lets an owner 62 or older, living in the home as their only primary residence, hold the tax bill at the amount for the year they qualify.

School districts

The city’s school district map shows five districts inside Lee’s Summit. The Lee’s Summit R-7 School District covers most of the city. The northern part is in the Blue Springs R-IV School District, the west edge in the Hickman Mills C-1 and Grandview C-4 districts, and the south edge in the Raymore-Peculiar R-II School District. In Jackson County’s tax records, about 78% of the Jackson County part of the city is in Lee’s Summit R-7 and about 14% in Blue Springs R-IV.

District lines do not follow city limits or subdivision names, so look up each address with the district before you buy. See Lee’s Summit R-7, Blue Springs R-IV, Grandview C-4 and Raymore-Peculiar R-II, and how school attendance boundaries work.

Utilities in Lee’s Summit

• Water and sewer: Lee’s Summit Water Utilities, a city department. To start service, call 816-969-1900 or visit the Customer Service Center at 1200 SE Hamblen Road. The city buys treated water from Kansas City and Independence, which draw from the Missouri River and wells near it, and its system can supply up to 32.5 million gallons a day. The Little Blue Valley Sewer District treats the city’s wastewater.
• Trash and recycling: the city does not collect trash. Residents hire a licensed hauler, and every licensed hauler must offer curbside recycling on request, for an added fee. In October 2026 the city listed nine licensed residential haulers: AAA Disposal, Constable Sanitation, Countywide Disposal, GFL Environmental, KC Disposal, Republic Services, Valet Services, Waste-N-Away Disposal and Waste Management.
• Electricity: Evergy. The Missouri Public Service Commission describes Evergy Missouri West’s service territory as including the city of Lee’s Summit (order issued December 17, 2025).
• Natural gas: Spire. Spire Missouri’s tariff lists Lee’s Summit among the communities served by Spire Missouri West (tariff sheet effective December 23, 2021).

Electricity and natural gas are private utilities, not city services. Confirm the providers for a specific address when you start service.

Parks and places

• City parks: Lee’s Summit Parks and Recreation runs the city’s parks, including Legacy Park, with an amphitheater, and Lea McKeighan Park.
• Longview Lake: a 930-acre Jackson County lake just west of the city, with a beach, a full-service marina, campgrounds and the Fred Arbanas Golf Course.
• Fleming Park: the largest Jackson County park, with 7,809 acres of land on Woods Chapel Road. It holds Lake Jacomo (970 acres, with a 25-horsepower limit for motorboats) and Blue Springs Lake (720 acres, with a beach and a marina on NE Bowlin Road in Lee’s Summit), plus Missouri Town 1855 and the Kemper Outdoor Education Center.
• Downtown Lee’s Summit: Downtown Lee’s Summit Main Street, a nonprofit, runs a farmers market and events such as Downtown Days and Oktoberfest.

Flood zones

Lee’s Summit has taken part in FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and the city’s current flood insurance rate maps took effect January 20, 2017. FEMA’s mapped flood zones in and around the city follow the Little Blue River, the East Fork Little Blue River, Big Creek, Cedar Creek, Little Cedar Creek, Mouse Creek and May Brook, along with tributaries that feed the Lakewood lakes, Prairie Lee Lake and Raintree Lake. Most mapped areas are Zone AE, and some include regulatory floodways.

Any work in a mapped flood hazard area, even fill or tree clearing, needs a floodplain development permit from the city. A home in that area with a federally backed mortgage must carry flood insurance. Check any address on FEMA’s Flood Map Service Center before you make an offer.

See also Blue Springs, moving to Kansas City and buying across the state line.