Kansas City

Prairie Village

Johnson County22,874 residentsShawnee Mission Pub Sch
75
B
Suburbgrade score

3rd of 25 Kansas City suburbs. Strong on commute & transport and schools, held back by cost of living.

Launch-day rule. Residents is not counted for Prairie Village yet: no poll responses so far. The overall score of 75 is computed on the other six categories, re-normalised to 100%. Answer the poll →

What living here is actually like
Written summary in preparation This page is waiting for its written summary, and for a person to check it. Until then it is excluded from search engines.

What Prairie Village is like to live in, by category

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

Housing & affordability

18% of the score · 72/100
B−
Median home value$435,700
Kansas City $287,300
Median rent$1,794/mo
Kansas City $1,249/mo
Cost-burdened households28%
Kansas City 28%

Schools

18% of the score · 80/100
B+
Within-state proficiency90th pct
Kansas City median 83rd pct
Student–teacher ratio15.4
Kansas City median 14.1
Graduation rate90%
Kansas City median 93%
EDFacts SY2021–22 · NCES CCD 2024–25 · EDFacts ACGR SY2018–19Full page →

Cost of living

14% of the score · 61/100
C
Housing cost index128
Kansas City 100
Eff. tax rate1.11%
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 · 86/100
A−
Mean commute19.6 min
Kansas City 23.2 min
Under 30 minutes83%
Kansas City 70%
Transit stops / sq mi1.0
Kansas City median 0.0 · within 2 miles

Amenities

12% of the score · 75/100
B
Restaurants & cafés75
Kansas City median 27 · within 2 miles
Groceries6
Kansas City median 3 · within 2 miles
Parks124
Kansas City median 32 · within 2 miles

Employment & income

12% of the score · 74/100
B
Median household income$113,530
Kansas City $83,460
Unemployment3.0%
Kansas City 4.0%
Professional occupations66%
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 Prairie Village 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 Prairie Village on cost of living

Prairie Village's weakest grade is C. Six suburbs are within 25 miles and score higher on the same four inputs.

SuburbCost of livingMedian home valueEff. tax rateOverall
Grandview10 mi from Prairie VillageB$189k1.20% 47 D Gladstone16 mi from Prairie VillageB$232k1.10% 67 C+ Independence17 mi from Prairie VillageB−$173k1.08% 50 D+ Belton13 mi from Prairie VillageB−$203k0.94% 56 C− Merriam4 mi from Prairie VillageB−$263k1.04% 68 B− Liberty21 mi from Prairie VillageB−$283k1.08% 66 C+
Cost-of-living index composed in-house from housing cost, utilities, effective property tax and local sales tax · Median home value: ACS 2020–24 · Effective property tax: ACS 2020–24

Common questions about living in Prairie Village

Is Prairie Village, KS a good place to live?

Prairie Village scores 75 out of 100, 3rd of 25 Kansas City suburbs. It is strongest on commute & transport and weakest on cost of living. Every weight behind that score is published on the methodology page.

Is Prairie Village expensive to live in?

Cost of living grades C. The median home is $435,700, 52% above the Kansas City median, and the effective property tax rate is 1.11%. $1,794/mo is the median gross rent.

How good are the schools in Prairie Village?

Schools grade B+. The districts serving Prairie Village sit at the 90th pct within-state proficiency percentile, with a 90% graduation rate and a 15.4 student–teacher ratio. Prairie Village is served by Shawnee Mission Pub Sch. Proficiency is only ever compared inside the same state.

How long is the commute from Prairie Village?

The mean commute is 19.6 min, with 83% of workers travelling under 30 minutes and 27% working from home. Transit density is 1.0 stops per square mile.

Can you walk anywhere in Prairie Village?

Within two miles there are 6 groceries, 75 restaurants and cafés and 124 parks, which grades B on amenities.

Are the homes in Prairie Village old or new?

The median home in Prairie Village was built in 1959 — 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. 87% 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.