Every number, with its source.

KC metro median sale price

The metro-wide median for June 2026 across the Heartland MLS — the MLS the agents here actually close in, not a national portal's estimate. SOURCING CAUTION: KCRAR's live link (kcrar.stats.showingtime.com/docs/lmu/x/HeartlandMLS) is a rolling 'latest month' URL, NOT a permalink — it silently re-points to a new month's PDF and will stop supporting this figure. sourceUrl therefore points to an archived snapshot of the June 2026 edition, captured 2026-07-14. When refreshing this stat, re-archive the new edition and update every article that quotes the metro median.

Heartland MLS / Kansas City Regional Association of REALTORS — Local Market Update, June 2026 · as of 2026-06-30

Johnson County, KS median sale price

Three months ending May 2026. The Kansas side's premium is real: Johnson County runs roughly $187k above Jackson County — and it has essentially stopped rising (+0.2% YoY).

Redfin — Johnson County, KS Housing Market · as of 2026-05-31

Jackson County, MO median sale price

Three months ending May 2026. Cheaper than Johnson County but appreciating far faster (+6.8% vs +0.2%).

Redfin — Jackson County, MO Housing Market · as of 2026-05-31

Kansas City, MO (city) median sale price

City limits only — not the metro. Competitors routinely swap these two figures; they differ by $40k.

Redfin — Kansas City, MO Housing Market · as of 2026-05-31

KC metro median home value (owner-estimated)

This is what owners think their home is worth, not what homes sold for. It is NOT the median sale price — do not use it as one.

U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024 1-Year Estimates (via Census Reporter), Kansas City MO-KS Metro Area · as of 2024-12-31

KC metro median household income

Pair this with the median sale price: KC's price-to-income ratio is the whole affordability argument.

U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024 1-Year Estimates — Kansas City MO-KS Metro Area · as of 2024-12-31

Missouri residential assessment ratio

Missouri taxes you on 19% of your home's market value. The mill levy is applied to that 19%, not to the full price.

Missouri Revised Statutes § 137.115 (subclass 1, residential real property) · as of 2026-07-14

Kansas residential assessment ratio

Kansas taxes only 11.5% of market value. This is why Kansas mill levies look terrifying next to Missouri's and still produce a smaller bill.

Kansas Statutes Annotated § 79-1439 (real property used for residential purposes) · as of 2026-07-14

Kansas City, MO earnings tax

THE signature KC gotcha: 1% of earned income, owed by everyone who LIVES in KCMO *and* everyone who WORKS in KCMO — including people who live in Kansas and commute in. Living in Overland Park does not exempt you if your office is downtown. Nonresidents can claim a refund (Form RD-109NR) only for whole days physically worked outside the city.

City of Kansas City, MO — Finance Dept., Earnings Tax (E-Tax); codified at Code of Ordinances ch. 68, art. VI · as of 2026-07-14

KCMO earnings tax annual revenue

Roughly $374M a year — which is why the tax is not going away. VERIFY: kcmo.gov blocks automated fetches; this figure was read from the city's own page text but was not confirmed by opening the page directly.

City of Kansas City, MO — Finance Dept., Earnings Tax page · as of 2026-07-14

Total property tax levy — KCMO in Jackson County (KC school district)

Tax code 001 = Kansas City city + Kansas City school district (levy 5.4699 of the total). Levies vary by tax code across the county — Lee's Summit code 013 is 8.6832; Center district code 007 is 7.7337.

Jackson County, MO Collector — 2025 Real Estate Tax Levy Schedule, tax code 001 · as of 2025-12-31

Effective property tax rate — KCMO in Jackson County

Stated arithmetic, not an official published rate: 0.19 × 8.3882/100 = 1.594%. On a $300,000 house that is about $4,781/yr. Show the math on the page — do not present this as a government-published figure.

Derived: Jackson County 2025 levy schedule (8.3882 per $100) × Missouri 19% assessment ratio (RSMo 137.115) · as of 2025-12-31

Total mill levy — Overland Park in Shawnee Mission school district (USD 512)

Summed from the county's own levy sheet: State 1.500 + County 17.290 + Parks 3.023 + Library 3.817 + Overland Park 14.540 + USD 512 (15.435 + 20.000 school general + 7.451 bond + 8.000 capital = 50.886). VERIFY against a real Overland Park tax bill — some parcels also carry fire, drainage or township levies not included here.

Derived from Johnson County Clerk — 2025 Mill Levies for Johnson County, Kansas (K.S.A. 79-2001(a)) · as of 2025-12-31

Effective property tax rate — Overland Park, Johnson County

0.115 × 91.056/1000 = 1.047%. THE HEADLINE FINDING: Johnson County's effective rate is LOWER than KCMO/Jackson's 1.59%, despite Kansas's scarier-looking mill levy — because Kansas assesses at 11.5% and Missouri at 19%. Excludes the Kansas $75k residential exemption from the 20-mill state school levy. VERIFY with a real bill before publishing.

Derived: Johnson County 2025 mill levy sheet (91.056 mills) × Kansas 11.5% assessment ratio (K.S.A. 79-1439) · as of 2025-12-31

Wyandotte County mill levy (county fund, 2026 budget)

County fund only; the KCK city levy is a separate 36.219 mills on top. Both exceed the revenue-neutral rate. NOT a total levy — schools are extra. Replace with the Unified Government's own adopted budget document before publishing.

Unified Government of Wyandotte County/KCK 2026 budget, as reported by KSHB 41 · as of 2025-08-31

Effective property tax rate — Clay County, MO

NOT COMPUTED. The Clay County levy sheet is a component list (county funds, city, fire/ambulance, MCC, library, school) that must be summed per tax code. Anchors from the sheet: KC city levy 1.5073; North Kansas City school district #74 levy 5.4943; average school levy 4.8247. Sum the applicable components, then multiply by Missouri's 19% ratio.

Clay County Clerk — 2025 Valuations, Tax Levies, School District Enumerations · no verified date

Effective property tax rate — Platte County, MO

NOT VERIFIED. No primary Platte County levy sheet was retrieved. Pull the Platte County Clerk's levy sheet (or the State Auditor's certified rates), sum the components for the relevant tax code, and multiply by 19%. Do not publish a number until this is done.

Missouri State Auditor — Property Tax Rates by County · no verified date

Missouri vehicle personal property assessment ratio

Missouri bills you every year for owning a car: 33⅓% of NADA trade-in value × your local levy, due December 31. A $30,000 car is assessed at $10,000. Newcomers are routinely blindsided by this.

Missouri Revised Statutes § 137.115 (tangible personal property) · as of 2026-07-14

Kansas vehicle property tax assessment ratio

YES, KANSAS HAS ONE TOO — a widely-repeated myth says only Missouri taxes cars. Kansas takes 20% of the vehicle's depreciated class value × the county average tax rate, collected at annual registration. Different mechanism, same annual bill.

Kansas Statutes Annotated § 79-5105(b) (motor vehicle tax) · as of 2026-07-14

Missouri top individual income tax rate

Missouri's top rate kicks in at just $9,436 of taxable income (single) — so in practice almost every working household pays the top rate. Eight graduated brackets from 2.0%.

Tax Foundation, State Individual Income Tax Rates and Brackets, 2026 (compiled from state statutes and DOR forms) · as of 2026-01-01

Missouri top bracket threshold (single filer)

The 'graduated' Missouri income tax is effectively flat for anyone earning a normal salary — the top rate starts under $10k.

Tax Foundation, State Individual Income Tax Rates and Brackets, 2026 · as of 2026-01-01

Kansas top individual income tax rate

Two brackets only (5.20% / 5.58%, top rate above $23,000 single). Kansas's income tax is higher than Missouri's at every income level — a real cost of the Kansas side that its cheerleaders skip.

Tax Foundation, State Individual Income Tax Rates and Brackets, 2026 (compiled from state statutes and DOR forms) · as of 2026-01-01

Kansas bottom individual income tax rate

Kansas's FLOOR rate (5.20%) is higher than Missouri's CEILING rate (4.70%). Consolidated into two brackets by SB 1 (2024 special session).

Tax Foundation, State Individual Income Tax Rates and Brackets, 2026 · as of 2026-01-01

Kansas top bracket threshold (single filer)

$46,000 for married filing jointly.

Tax Foundation, State Individual Income Tax Rates and Brackets, 2026 · as of 2026-01-01

Missouri state sales tax rate

The lowest state-level sales tax of the two — but Missouri makes it all back in local add-ons.

Missouri Department of Revenue — Statewide Sales/Use Tax Rate Tables, 2026 · as of 2026-01-01

Missouri average combined sales tax

State 4.23% + average local 4.22%. Ranks 12th highest in the nation.

Tax Foundation, State and Local Sales Tax Rates, Midyear 2026 · as of 2026-07-01

Missouri maximum local sales tax add-on

Missouri's low 4.225% state rate is a mirage — local jurisdictions can stack up to 6.25% on top, pushing some KC-area checkouts past 10%.

Tax Foundation, State and Local Sales Tax Rates, Midyear 2026 · as of 2026-07-01

Kansas state sales tax rate

Kansas front-loads its sales tax at the state level (6.5% vs Missouri's 4.225%) and adds less locally.

Tax Foundation, State and Local Sales Tax Rates, Midyear 2026 · as of 2026-07-01

Kansas average combined sales tax

State 6.50% + average local 2.21%. Ranks 9th highest nationally — slightly worse than Missouri's 8.44%.

Tax Foundation, State and Local Sales Tax Rates, Midyear 2026 · as of 2026-07-01

Kansas maximum local sales tax add-on

Lower ceiling than Missouri's 6.25%.

Tax Foundation, State and Local Sales Tax Rates, Midyear 2026 · as of 2026-07-01

Average KC Water monthly residential bill

KC Water's own published average: $142.77/month — NOT the ~$120 that gets repeated across relocation blogs. Wastewater ($88.84) is the biggest line, driven by the 2010 EPA federal consent decree and the Smart Sewer Program running through 2040. This is the honest con: KC's water bill is a genuine cost-of-living penalty.

KC Water — FAQ: Your Water and Wastewater, Fiscal Year 2027 (May 1, 2026 – April 30, 2027) · as of 2026-05-01

KC Water bill — water portion

Based on average usage of 5.07 CCF (3,792 gallons)/month. Rose $2.93 on May 1, 2026.

KC Water — FAQ: Your Water and Wastewater, FY2027 · as of 2026-05-01

KC Water bill — wastewater (sewer) portion

Sewer costs MORE than the water itself — 62% of the bill. That is the EPA consent decree in your mailbox. Rose $4.89 on May 1, 2026.

KC Water — FAQ: Your Water and Wastewater, FY2027 · as of 2026-05-01

KC Water bill — stormwater fee

Based on 2,500 sq ft of impervious surface. No increase for FY2027.

KC Water — FAQ: Your Water and Wastewater, FY2027 · as of 2026-05-01

Missouri average home insurance premium (HO-3)

The regulator's number, not a lead-gen site's. CAUTION: this is 2022 data — the newest NAIC has — and premiums have risen sharply since. Quote-aggregator sites claim $1,721 to $4,514 for KC; treat all of those as marketing, not data.

NAIC, Dwelling Fire, Homeowners Owner-Occupied... Insurance Report: Data for 2022 (published May 2025), Table 4 · as of 2022-12-31

Kansas average home insurance premium (HO-3)

Slightly CHEAPER than Missouri on the regulator's data — the opposite of the 'Kansas is Tornado Alley so it costs more' folk wisdom.

NAIC, Homeowners Insurance Report: Data for 2022 (published May 2025), Table 4 · as of 2022-12-31

U.S. average home insurance premium (HO-3)

The countrywide baseline, same methodology and same year — so the comparison is apples-to-apples.

NAIC, Homeowners Insurance Report: Data for 2022 (published May 2025), Table 4, countrywide · as of 2022-12-31

Missouri home insurance vs. national average

MYTH-BUSTER: on regulatory data Missouri is only ~6% above the national average — not the 40–79% that quote-comparison sites imply. The pain in KC is not the average premium; it is the percentage hail deductible (see kc-wind-hail-deductible-typical).

Derived: NAIC 2022 Table 4 — Missouri HO-3 $1,668 vs countrywide HO-3 $1,569 · as of 2022-12-31

Typical KC wind/hail deductible

THE REAL STORY, BUT UNVERIFIED TO A PRIMARY SOURCE. Multiple industry sources agree KC-area wind/hail deductibles are now a PERCENTAGE of dwelling coverage (commonly 1–2%), not a flat dollar amount — so a $400k home carries a $4,000–$8,000 hail deductible, not $1,000. This is the single most under-reported cost of owning here. MUST be confirmed against actual carrier filings or the Missouri Dept. of Commerce & Insurance before we publish a number.

Multiple Missouri insurance/restoration industry sources; no state regulatory publication located · no verified date

KC metro average commute

23.7 minutes, not the '22 minutes' every competitor copies from each other. Still comfortably below the national average — KC's commute is genuinely good, we just refuse to round it prettier than it is.

U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024 1-Year Estimates — mean travel time to work, Kansas City MO-KS Metro Area · as of 2024-12-31

KC metro population

The 15-county, two-state metro — roughly four times the population of Kansas City, MO proper.

U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024 1-Year Estimates — Kansas City MO-KS Metro Area · as of 2024-12-31

KC metro unemployment rate

May 2026, straight from the BLS API. Down from 3.8% in May 2025. Labor force: 1,216,251.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics (series LAUMT292814000000003), not seasonally adjusted · as of 2026-05-31

U.S. unemployment rate

Same month, same seasonal-adjustment basis as the KC metro figure, so the comparison is honest: KC 3.5% vs U.S. 4.1%.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (series LNU04000000), not seasonally adjusted · as of 2026-05-31

Missouri cost of living index (U.S. = 100)

Statewide, tied 7th-lowest in the U.S. Housing is the driver at 76.1; healthcare is nearly at par (98.0). This is Missouri, NOT Kansas City — see kc-cost-of-living-index.

Missouri Economic Research and Information Center (MERIC), Cost of Living Data Series, Q1 2026 (from C2ER survey) · as of 2026-03-31

Kansas City cost of living index (U.S. = 100)

DELIBERATELY NULL. Kansas City is NOT among MERIC's participating Missouri cities, so the authoritative C2ER index does not cover it. Competitors publish 8%, 9%, 11%, and 'ExtraSpace: 11%' below national — none cite a source, and Dani Beyer contradicts herself (9% on one page, 11% on another). Until we buy the C2ER COLI data for the KC MSA, we say so rather than picking a competitor's number. Anchor cost-of-living claims on line items we CAN source (water, taxes, insurance, median price) instead of a composite index.

No primary source located — Kansas City does not participate in the C2ER/MERIC survey · no verified date

Kansas City, MO violent crime rate

NULL ON PURPOSE. Secondary aggregators put KCMO at roughly 1,478–1,547 per 100k for 2024 (vs a ~359 national rate — about 4x), but they disagree with each other and none is primary; one widely-surfaced source reports a homicide rate of '6.1 per 100k', which is arithmetically impossible for a city with ~129 homicides and ~510k people. Pull the number from FBI CDE or KCPD directly. TWO FRAMING RULES when we do: (1) this is Kansas City, MO CITY — not the 2.25M-person metro, and Johnson County is one of the safest large counties in the U.S.; (2) violent crime here is heavily geographically concentrated, so a citywide rate badly misdescribes most neighborhoods. Publish the concentration, not just the rate.

FBI Crime Data Explorer / KCPD Crime Statistics — not yet retrieved from primary source · no verified date

KCMO 911 average answer time

CLAIM KILLED. The '7–10 minute 911 hold time' that circulates in KC relocation content is NO LONGER TRUE. As of January 2026 the average wait is 20 SECONDS, after KCPD cut wait times ~60% during 2025 and filled every funded call-taker position for the first time since 2020. Do not repeat the old figure. If we discuss the 2022–23 staffing crisis, date it explicitly as history.

KCPD (Capt. Caleb Lenz, Board of Police Commissioners briefing), reported by KCTV5, Feb 24 2026 · as of 2026-01-31

Fountains maintained by KC Parks

48 publicly-owned fountains are switched on each spring for Fountain Day. This is the defensible number — the famous '200+' counts privately-owned ones too.

Kansas City Parks & Recreation · as of 2024-06-27

Total registered fountains in the KC area

Sources say 'more than 200', so treat 200 as a FLOOR, not an exact count — render it as '200+'. KC claims more fountains than any city outside Rome; that specific superlative is folklore and we should not assert it.

City of Fountains Foundation · as of 2026-07-14