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Big city living isn't for everyone--but at the same time, urban areas certainly have their perks.
There's the culture, the food, the arts, the food, the energy, and you know, the food. But there are drawbacks. There's traffic, expensive parking, expensive housing--pretty much, expensive everything, depending on which big city you're looking at.
But that's where the suburbs come in--they have all of the benefits of being near big cities, without actually having to be big cities.
Of course, not all suburbs of Kansas City are created equally, which is precisely why we set out to find the best ones. So without further ado...
Here are the 10 best suburbs to live around Kansas City for 2021:
What's the best suburb of Kansas City? Fairway ranks as the best suburb of Kansas City for 2021 based on the most recent Census and FBI data. If you happen to be a resident of Fairway, you're probably not too surprised to find it on the top our list.
We'll tell you what makes each of these 10 Kansas City 'burbs better than the rest--but first, a bit about our methodology.
Note: This result may differ from our state wide data as we did not include commute times and crime for this analysis to allow for a larger selection of suburbs.
Feel free to check out some more reading about Missouri:
The 10 Best Kansas City Suburbs To Live For 2021
/10
Population: 3,960
Rank Last Year: 2 (Up 1)
Median Income: $111,995
Unemployment Rate: 0.6%
Poverty Rate: 2.2%
More on Fairway: Real Estate | Data
Fairway is always mentioned as one of the best suburbs in the Kansas City area. We'll tell you the good about "Awesome Fairway."
Everyone here is rich; families average $111,995 a year, which is the 5th highest in the Kansas City region. And only 0.63% are out of work. Homes average more than $376,700 each.
/10
Population: 3,574
Rank Last Year: 1 (Down 1)
Median Income: $250,001
Unemployment Rate: 1.8%
Poverty Rate: 0.5%
More on Mission Hills: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Mission Hills is the second best 'burb we looked at near Kansas City for 2021.
It ranks 1st for incomes in the area and only 1.99% of residents lack insurance, good for 4th best.
/10
Population: 34,670
Rank Last Year: 3 (No Change)
Median Income: $157,515
Unemployment Rate: 2.7%
Poverty Rate: 1.4%
More on Leawood: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Here in Leawood, it's really safe, and residents are just about as rich as you'll see in the Kansas City metro area.
The bad side? Schools are more crowded, and the cost of living puts a large part of the city out of reach for most families.
But price is based on demand and a lot of people want to live in Leawood.
/10
Population: 2,088
Rank Last Year: 4 (No Change)
Median Income: $127,321
Unemployment Rate: 2.7%
Poverty Rate: 2.3%
More on Weatherby Lake: Real Estate | Data
Weatherby Lake ranks as the 4th best suburb of Kansas City for 2021.
You won't find many better places to raise your kids in the region than in Weatherby Lake and the schools are some of the best around.
/10
Population: 97,275
Rank Last Year: 7 (Up 2)
Median Income: $89,969
Unemployment Rate: 2.8%
Poverty Rate: 4.6%
More on Lee's Summit: Real Estate | Data
Coming in as the fifth best is Lee's Summit.
Lee's Summit gets kudos for having the 14th most expensive homes in the Kansas City area, where houses sell for an average of $223,700. However, the cost of living here is among the highest in the area.
/10
Population: 6,247
Rank Last Year: 10 (Up 4)
Median Income: $91,299
Unemployment Rate: 0.5%
Poverty Rate: 3.3%
More on Greenwood: Real Estate | Data
Greenwood is proud of its 6th place finish on this list. And here's why.
Most residents have great jobs and the unemployment rate sits at 0.52% which is best in the area.
According to online reports, Greenwood is quickly becoming one of the more affluent suburbs in the Kansas City area, meaning you need to get in soon.
/10
Population: 2,120
Rank Last Year: 6 (Down 1)
Median Income: $104,333
Unemployment Rate: 1.4%
Poverty Rate: 3.4%
More on Lake Lotawana: Real Estate | Data
The 7th best suburb on our list goes to Lake Lotawana.
Lake Lotawana schools are some of the best in the region, and crime is really low. The cost of living makes it a lot more desirable for many families, especially first-time home buyers.
And, it's only 18.2 miles to downtown, which is a good thing.
/10
Population: 191,011
Rank Last Year: 8 (No Change)
Median Income: $86,487
Unemployment Rate: 3.0%
Poverty Rate: 4.9%
More on Overland Park: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Overland Park is growing quickly, and for a good reason. Crime is far below average, and most residents are gainfully employed. Even the cost of living is reasonable.
A solid 5.42% of people lack insurance, good for 20th in the area.
/10
Population: 21,196
Rank Last Year: 9 (No Change)
Median Income: $84,697
Unemployment Rate: 1.3%
Poverty Rate: 4.6%
More on Raymore: Real Estate | Data
Is 'Everything Better In Raymore?'
Almost.
It placed 9th on our list thanks to the fact that it's really expensive to live here, but the schools are great, so you get what you pay for in that regard.
/10
Population: 10,095
Rank Last Year: 13 (Up 3)
Median Income: $85,561
Unemployment Rate: 0.7%
Poverty Rate: 2.6%
More on Kearney: Real Estate | Data | Photos
And rounding out the top ten for 2021 is Kearney.
This city is far above average in every category, and the best part? It's far more affordable than the other cities listed above. So, you get a big bang for your buck here.
How We Determined The Best Suburbs Around Kansas City for 2021
Figuring out the best suburbs around Kansas City was pretty simple; we just needed to list several things that people like, and then find out which cities have the most of those things.
We threw a lot of criteria at this one in order to get the best, most complete results possible:
- Low unemployment rate
- High Median household incomes
- Population density (lots of things to do)
- High home values
- A lot of college educated people
- Low poverty
- High rate of insured families
Then we used the newest American Community Survey data for 2015-2019 to research each suburb.
FYI: We defined a suburb as being within 30 miles of Kansas City.
Additionally, we limited the analysis to places that have over 2,000 people. This left us with a grand total of 47 suburbs to evaluate around Kansas City.
We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 47 in each category, where 1 was the "best.
Next, we averaged the rankings for each place to create a quality of life index.
And finally, we crowned the city with the best quality of life index the "Best Suburb near Kansas City." We're lookin' at you, Fairway. You can download the data here.
Read on below to learn more about what it's like to live in the best of the best. Or skip to the end to see the list of all the suburbs ranked from best to worst.
Welcome to the Best Kansas City 'Burbs of 2021
We said it once and we'll say it again--life in the big city isn't for everyone. At least not all the time.
So if you're hankering for some of the amenities of a larger city like Kansas City, but don't want to deal with the drawbacks, one of these suburbs might just be for you.
For more Missouri reading, check out:
