MO · Jackson County · 508,090 (2020) · 36th-largest US city · Central time
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri lies where the Kansas River joins the Missouri, on the state line with Kansas. It is the largest city in Missouri and the thirty-sixth in the United States.
- State
- Missouri
- County
- Jackson County (parts in Clay, Platte and Cass)
- Population (2020)
- 508,090
- Rank
- 36th in the US
- Coordinates
- 39.10°N, 94.58°W
- Time zone
- Central
- Metro area
- about 2.2 million
- State capital
- No – Jefferson City
Where Kansas City is
Kansas City is at 39.10°N, 94.58°W in Jackson County, with the city limits reaching north across the Missouri River into Clay and Platte counties and south into Cass County. At about 315 square miles it is larger in area than most cities of its rank. The city sits on bluffs above the Missouri at roughly 900 feet above sea level, at the great bend where the river turns from flowing south to flowing east. Kansas City, Kansas, a separate city of about 156,000, adjoins it across the state line. Jefferson City, the state capital, is 155 miles east; St. Louis 250 miles east and Omaha 185 miles north.
Population and rank
The 2020 Census counted 508,090 residents, ranking Kansas City 36th in the US and first in Missouri — St. Louis, once far larger, fell to about 301,000. Kansas City has grown slowly since 2000 after decades of decline. The Kansas City metropolitan area covers 14 counties in Missouri and Kansas and has about 2.2 million people, the 31st-largest metro in the country; roughly 60 percent of it is on the Missouri side. The name is confusing on purpose: the Kansas City on the Missouri side is the older and larger one.
Geography
- Missouri River — the longest river in North America; here it receives the Kansas (Kaw) River and turns east toward St. Louis. See the Missouri River map.
- Kansas River — enters from the west at Kaw Point, in Kansas City, Kansas; Lewis and Clark camped at the confluence in 1804.
- Bluffs and hills — downtown, Quality Hill and the Northland stand on limestone bluffs; the Blue River drains the east side of the city.
- Prairie edge — the city sits at the boundary of the tallgrass prairie and the eastern woodlands; the Great Plains begin a little further west.
Nearest large cities
Kansas City is near the centre of the contiguous US; St. Louis, Omaha, Wichita and Des Moines are all within four hours. Distances are approximate road miles from downtown.
| City | State | Road distance (mi) | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Omaha | NE | 185 | N |
| Oklahoma City | OK | 350 | SW |
| Minneapolis | MN | 440 | N |
| Memphis | TN | 455 | SE |
| Denver | CO | 600 | W |
Is Kansas City the state capital?
No. Missouri's capital is Jefferson City, a city of about 43,000 on the Missouri River 155 miles east, chosen in 1821 for its central position. Kansas City is not even a county seat — Independence holds that role in Jackson County — but it is, since the 2020 count confirmed St. Louis's decline, the largest city in the state by a margin of more than 200,000. It is also not the capital of Kansas, which is Topeka, 65 miles west.
Related maps
- Missouri map — the state with its 114 counties and one independent city.
- Jefferson City — the state capital, 155 miles east.
- US cities map.
- Missouri River and Great Plains maps.
- Nearby: Omaha, Kansas, Topeka.
- West North Central division · Central Time Zone.