Kansas City

Wyandotte County155,135 residents3 school districts
48
D+
Suburbgrade score

24th of 25 Kansas City suburbs. Strongest on commute & transport, held back by housing & affordability.

Launch-day rule. Residents is not counted for Kansas City yet: no poll responses so far. The overall score of 48 is computed on the other six categories, re-normalised to 100%. Answer the poll →

What living here is actually like
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What Kansas City is like to live in, by category

Bars show Kansas City against Kansas City. Weights are published in full.

Housing & affordability

18% of the score · 34/100
F
Median home value$167,400
Kansas City $287,300
Median rent$1,123/mo
Kansas City $1,249/mo
Cost-burdened households33%
Kansas City 28%

Schools

18% of the score · 38/100
D−
Within-state proficiency25th pct
Kansas City median 83rd pct
Student–teacher ratio15.5
Kansas City median 14.1
Graduation rate79%
Kansas City median 93%
EDFacts SY2021–22 · NCES CCD 2024–25 · EDFacts ACGR SY2018–19Full page →

Cost of living

14% of the score · 63/100
C+
Housing cost index86
Kansas City 100
Eff. tax rate1.40%
Kansas City 1.09%
Local sales tax8.69%
Kansas City median 8.44%
Composed in-house · ACS 2020–24 · ACS 2020–24 · Tax Foundation state average, January 1, 2026Full page →

Commute & transport

14% of the score · 66/100
C+
Mean commute22.4 min
Kansas City 23.2 min
Under 30 minutes73%
Kansas City 70%
Transit stops / sq mi1.9
Kansas City median 0.0 · within 2 miles

Amenities

12% of the score · 49/100
D+
Restaurants & cafés27
Kansas City median 27 · within 2 miles
Groceries3
Kansas City median 3 · within 2 miles
Parks17
Kansas City median 32 · within 2 miles

Employment & income

12% of the score · 41/100
D−
Median household income$62,401
Kansas City $83,460
Unemployment5.8%
Kansas City 4.0%
Professional occupations28%
Kansas City 45%

Residents

12% of the score · inactive
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No responses yet. Residents is excluded from the score until eight people answer.

Ask the people who live here

Twelve yes/no questions, one tap each. No dataset knows whether the yards are kept or whether anyone talks to their neighbours. Answers feed the Residents grade, which needs eight responses before it counts.

0 responses·Residents category: waiting for first responses·Live

Nobody has answered for Kansas City yet. If you live here, you can be the first.

Is it quiet at night?
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Do you feel safe walking after dark?
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Can you walk to a grocery store?
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Is it good for young children?
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Are yards and streets well kept?
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Tap either button to answer — no account neededAll twelve questions →

Better than Kansas City on housing & affordability

Kansas City's weakest grade is F. Six suburbs are within 25 miles and score higher on the same four inputs.

Median home value: ACS 2020–24 · Ownership rate: ACS 2020–24

Common questions about living in Kansas City

Is Kansas City, KS a good place to live?

Kansas City scores 48 out of 100, 24th of 25 Kansas City suburbs. It is strongest on commute & transport and weakest on housing & affordability. Every weight behind that score is published on the methodology page.

Is Kansas City expensive to live in?

Cost of living grades C+. The median home is $167,400, 42% below the Kansas City median, and the effective property tax rate is 1.40%. $1,123/mo is the median gross rent.

How good are the schools in Kansas City?

Schools grade D−. The districts serving Kansas City sit at the 25th pct within-state proficiency percentile, with a 79% graduation rate and a 15.5 student–teacher ratio. Kansas City is served by Kansas City, Piper-Kansas City Unified School District 203 and Turner-Kansas City. Proficiency is only ever compared inside the same state.

How long is the commute from Kansas City?

The mean commute is 22.4 min, with 73% of workers travelling under 30 minutes and 9.2% working from home. Transit density is 1.9 stops per square mile.

Can you walk anywhere in Kansas City?

Within two miles there are 3 groceries, 27 restaurants and cafés and 17 parks, which grades D+ on amenities.

Are the homes in Kansas City old or new?

The median home in Kansas City was built in 1961 — older than the Kansas City median of 1980. That is a median, so a town can be half post-war and half new-build and still land there. 77% of homes are houses rather than flats.

Every answer is built from the figures on this page, with their sources and as-of dates on the methodology page.