About Lake Quivira
Lake Quivira is a small city on the west side of the Kansas City metro, built around a private lake and the Lake Quivira Country Club. Shawnee borders it on the south, east and west, and Kansas City, Kansas on the north.
The city covers about 1.5 square miles of land. About three quarters of its area is in Johnson County and the northern part is in Wyandotte County, according to the Census Bureau’s boundary files. The 2020 Census counted 1,014 residents and 405 housing units.
Club membership, lake rules, homes association dues and school boundaries change over time. Confirm them for a specific address before you rely on them, and ask Tom if you want help finding the right office.
How Lake Quivira began
The city’s history traces Lake Quivira to developer Charles Gault. Work on the dam began in the fall of 1927, and the dam was finished in June 1929. Crescent Beach and the first nine holes of the golf course were completed in the summer of 1930, and the course reached 18 holes in 1931.
Residents formed a homes association in 1941, later known as Quivira, Inc. By 1950 the club had become private and members-only, and in 1966 Lake Quivira became a gated, private community. On July 12, 1971 the Johnson County Board of Commissioners approved Lake Quivira as a third-class city. City Hall, at 10 Crescent Boulevard, was built in 1984, and a spillway improvement project was completed in 2024.
The lake and the club
Lake Quivira Country Club is at 100 Crescent Boulevard, Lake Quivira, KS 66217. Its 18-hole golf course is private and members-only, with a nine-acre practice facility. The club also has the lake and its beach, a clubhouse, tennis and pickleball courts and a community center. The lake is fed by natural springs.
A sonar survey completed in 2016 found the lake 47 feet deep at its deepest point, near the dam, with an average depth of 16.9 feet, according to the city. In February 2026 the city said it and Quivira, Inc. were looking at dredging parts of the lake, which was last dredged in the 1980s, and that Quivira, Inc.’s board had approved $15,000 for a new sonar map of the whole lake.
The club sells three kinds of membership:
- Foundation: the club says members who live inside the gates hold a Foundation membership, that it gives access to all amenities, and that it is mandatory.
- Country Club: the golf course and practice facility, the community center, tennis, the lake, the clubhouse and dining, and eligibility to register a boat.
- Fitness and Social: the community center, tennis, the waterfront beach, the clubhouse and dining.
The club also says people who do not live in Lake Quivira can join as members. It does not publish dues on its website, so ask the club for current fees, and ask the seller what the Foundation membership and Quivira, Inc. will cost for a specific home.
Where it is and getting around
Lake Quivira sits at the western edge of Shawnee, on the Johnson and Wyandotte county line. Holliday Drive leads from the city toward I-435.
By OpenStreetMap routing, and without traffic, the club is about 4.5 miles and 11 minutes from Shawnee City Hall and 12 miles and 23 minutes from the University of Kansas Medical Center. Downtown Kansas City is about 13 miles and 24 minutes away, the Country Club Plaza about 13 miles and 26 minutes, and Corporate Woods about 16 miles and 23 minutes by I-435. Kansas City International Airport is about 30 miles and 38 minutes, also by I-435. Rush-hour times will be longer.
Nearby neighborhoods
Lake Quivira is its own city, with its own government, police department and municipal court. The Shawnee Fire Department has answered its emergency calls since 2018. The streets just outside the gates are in Shawnee and Kansas City, Kansas, which have their own services and tax rates.
For the cities around it, see the Shawnee area guide and the Lenexa area guide.
Home styles and property types
The Census Bureau’s American Community Survey for 2020-2024 counts about 398 homes in Lake Quivira, all of them single-family detached. The median year built is 1964, with a margin of error of seven years.
The median value of owner-occupied homes in the city is $817,900 (margin of error $83,512, ACS 2020-2024). These are owners’ own estimates gathered by the census, not sale prices or appraisals.
To see what is on the market now, search homes for sale in Lake Quivira, or use the map of current listings near Lake Quivira Country Club on this page.
Homes association
Residents formed a homes association in 1941, later known as Quivira, Inc. The city describes it as a 501(c)(4) organization governed by a ten-member board of directors. It oversees the country club, including the golf course and the community and fitness center, the front gate, and road and grounds maintenance.
The City of Lake Quivira is responsible for police and fire protection, the water and sewer system, public roads inside the city, the city’s three dams, and construction codes and permits.
Quivira, Inc.’s assessments and the club’s dues are not published on the club’s website. Ask the seller for the current Quivira, Inc. assessments, rules and any transfer fee, and the cost of the club’s Foundation membership, and read the covenants listed in the title commitment.
Property taxes
Kansas taxes residential property at 11.5% of its appraised value. The assessed value is then multiplied by the mill levy, where one mill is $1 of tax per $1,000 of assessed value.
For 2025, the total levy in the Johnson County part of Lake Quivira is 110.574 mills:
| Taxing unit | Mills (2025) |
|---|---|
| Shawnee Mission USD 512 (including the 20-mill statewide school levy) | 50.886 |
| City of Lake Quivira | 26.185 |
| Johnson County | 17.290 |
| Johnson County Community College | 7.873 |
| Johnson County Library | 3.817 |
| Johnson County Park and Recreation | 3.023 |
| State of Kansas | 1.500 |
As an example, a home appraised at $600,000 has an assessed value of $69,000, and 110.574 mills on that comes to about $7,630 a year before any exemptions or special assessments.
Homes in the Wyandotte County part pay that county’s levies and Turner USD 202’s instead of Johnson County’s and Shawnee Mission’s. For 2025, the total levy there is 153.843 mills, by the Wyandotte County levy sheet filed with the state:
| Taxing unit | Mills (2025) |
|---|---|
| Turner USD 202 (including the 20-mill statewide school levy) | 56.263 |
| Wyandotte County | 35.704 |
| City of Lake Quivira | 26.185 |
| Kansas City Kansas Community College | 24.167 |
| Turner Recreation Commission | 5.065 |
| Wyandotte County Library | 4.959 |
| State of Kansas | 1.500 |
On the same $600,000 appraisal, 153.843 mills comes to about $10,615 a year before any exemptions or special assessments. Check which county a specific address is in on its tax bill.
In Johnson County, notices of appraised value go out on or before March 1, and an informal appeal must be filed within 30 days of the mailing date.
School districts
By the Census Bureau’s school district maps, Shawnee Mission USD 512 serves the Johnson County part of the city and Turner USD 202 the Wyandotte County part. Attendance boundaries go by address and can change, so look up each address with the district before you rely on it. District overviews: Shawnee Mission USD 512 and Turner USD 202.
Flood zones
FEMA’s National Flood Hazard Layer shows Zone AE flood areas, much of them regulatory floodway, over the lake and the stream valleys south of it, and a Zone A area along a stream in the northern part of the city. The rest of the city is mapped as Zone X.
Lots on the shore or beside a stream can fall inside these zones. Check any lot on FEMA’s Flood Map Service Center before you make an offer, and ask your lender whether flood insurance will be required.
