Everything You Need to Know About Relocating To Kansas City
Kansas City. There is a small-town feel everywhere you turn, and the smell of award-winning BBQ is in the air. Kansas City has many nicknames, “The City of Fountains,” “The Paris of the Plains,” and more, but there is more than meets the eye about this city found smack dab in the center of the country.
In fact, Kansas City just might be one of America’s best kept secrets.
Should you relocate to Kansas City? From the family activities and schools to the arts and nightlife, you’ll find something for every lifestyle on both sides of the state line in the KC metro.
How Family-Friendly is Kansas City?
Maybe you are considering a move to Kansas City and are wondering how family friendly Kansas City is and what it’s like to raise a family here. Kansas City is an all around terrific place to raise a family for many reasons.
Kansas City School Districts
First of all, the schools. There are over 74 school districts in the Kansas City area. The Blue Valley School district is ranked year after year as one of the best school districts in the United States. Blue Springs, Lee’s Summit, DeSoto, Park HIll, Olathe, and Liberty School Districts follow in that order. All of which are nationally recognized as excellent school districts. With innovative project-based learning styles and so many extracurricular activities, your children will have an exceptional education as well as the opportunity to engage in their interests and develop their talents.
There are also many distinguished private school options available such as The Pembroke Hill School, The Barstow School, and Notre Dame de Sion School which pride themselves on innovative, high-quality education in atmospheres that embrace diversity.
Youth Sports in Kansas City
Kansas City loves it’s sports, and youth sports in the Kansas City area are top-notch. With Overland Park Soccer Complex and the Blue Valley Soccer Club, Overland Park was named by Livability the number one soccer city in the United States. The Kansas City Soccer Dome offers year round soccer leagues for children and adults.
All across the Kansas City Metro area you can find dedicated youth sports clubs with committed coaches and excellent training facilities. Kansas City Football and Cheer offers flag and tackle football as well as cheerleading. Baseball fields are scattered all across the Kansas City Area with multitudes of leagues and associations. These are just a few of the many sports opportunities available for kids in Kansas City.
If you are considering moving to Kansas City and your child is an athlete, you can be assured they will thrive in the Kansas City youth sports programs.
| Soccer | Sporting Kansas City (2012 U.S. Open Cup Champions, 2013 MLS Cup Champions) | Sporting Kansas City II (USL) | Sporting KC Youth Soccer Kansas State Youth Soccer Association SPORTING Blue Valley |
| Baseball | Kansas City Royals (2015 World Series Champions) | Kansas City T-Bones | The 3 & 2 Baseball Club of Kansas City, Missouri NKCA Baseball League Kansas City YMCA Youth Baseball and T-Ball |
| Football | Kansas City Chiefs (2020 & 2023 Super Bowl Champions) | Kansas City Kapitals (National Gridiron League) | KC Outlaws Youth Football League Blue Valley Football Club Missouri Wolverines Youth Football |
| Hockey | No NHL Team (yet!) | Kansas City Mavericks (ECHL) | Kansas City Youth Hockey Association |
What Can I Do for Fun With My Kids In Kansas City?
Kansas City itself is a super family-friendly city with Many activities for kids to enjoy all across the city. From downtown to the suburbs, there are always new and exciting places to discover.
Union Station contains Science City where your children can have a blast exploring science with hands-on activities. Additionally Union Station is home to a Planetarium and a children’s theater, Theatre for Young America, where your kids can learn to love and appreciate theatre at a young age.
Crown Center, in addition to shops and restaurants, boasts an aquarium, LegoLand (your lego lovers will love this!) and Kaleidoscope, a fun and colorful studio run by Hallmark where your kids can unleash their creativity and make fun projects…for free!
These are just a few downtown highlights. No matter the season, there are always wholesome activities, fit for the family, across Kansas City; it’s an all around great place to raise a family. Check out our blog post Blake’s Guide To Your Kansas City Staycation for more awesome information about all that Kansas City offers for families.
If you are looking for outdoor fun for the family; parks, trails, and fountains are plentiful in Kansas City. If you’re looking to make a splash, there are also lakes in every direction. Whether it’s an afternoon at Smithville Lake right outside Kansas City or a weekend trip to Table Rock Lake or Lake of the Ozarks, there are so many places where you can enjoy a day or weekend outdoors with the family. Visit orchards or hike the Weston Bluffs Trail along the Missouri River in Weston following the historic path of Lewis and Clark or spend a day at Shawnee Mission Park and Lake.
We promise, your weekends as a family will never be boring if you choose to call Kansas City your hometown. It may even be a hard decision when it comes to which place you are going to take the kids this weekend.
Where Should I Move in Kansas City?
One fantastic thing about Kansas City is that you really have the best of both worlds. If you currently live in a big city and want to raise your kids in the suburbs but don’t want to lose all the culture a larger city has to offer, Kansas City is an ideal option. Kansas City has been called “Paris of the Plains” and “The City of Fountains” with both the city itself and its suburbs boasting a fantastic food and arts scene. Take a trip downtown to the Crossroads Art District for First Fridays, where local artists and galleries showcase their latest works. I
You can enjoy the suburban family lifestyle you desire for your family and still be within 20 minutes of everything the downtown area has to offer. Need we say more? Live in the suburbs and still enjoy the perks of a smaller city with awesome culture, just a short drive away, with relatively little traffic.
There are dozens of suburbs and small towns in the Kansas City area, each with its own unique perks. Check out the Neighborhood Guide on our website for more information about the various Kansas City neighborhoods. You can find a town or a suburb for whatever kind of lifestyle you are looking for. If it’s an upscale suburban utopia with high end shops and restaurants, Overland Park or Leawood in Kansas fits the bill, for old timey charm in a downtown neighborhood choose Waldo, and for a scenic and eclectic town right outside the city, check out Parkville, Missouri. From smaller, rural towns with quick and easy access to the city to charming downtown neighborhoods near locally owned restaurants and stores, there is a place for everyone in Kansas City.
Finding a Job in Kansas City
The Kansas City job market shows steady growth, with Kansas City being home to large companies such as Cerner, University of Kansas Health Systems, Garmin, H&R Block, and Hallmark. Education and health are the top growing industries with construction following. And because Kansas City has a solid economic foundation with industries such as finance, transportation and construction.
Garmin is headquartered in Kansas City and the city itself is known for its vibrant entrepreneurial community with many innovators launching new businesses and tech ideas. Being that it is right in the center of America, Kansas City is the crossroads of the fiber of the nation and is gaining a reputation as being an excellent city for startups, having already been the birthplace of many well-known companies, including AMC Theatres, Black & Veatch, H&R Block, Lockton Companies. Kansas City also boasts over 100,700 jobs in technology as well as over 3,900 tech firms.
We can’t talk about rising industries in Kansas City without talking about the food scene. The food scene in Kansas City is gaining recognition nationally, with everything from the acclaimed BBQ to upscale farm-to-table concepts. It’s not uncommon to hear about new openings of modern, eclectic bars and various ethnically diverse restaurants ever so often. Kansas City is quickly becoming a foodie destination and makes an excellent choice for those looking for jobs in the food industry.
Kansas City is steadily climbing the ranks of top job markets in the US and as a growing city is a promising place to establish your career. For those full of the entrepreneurial spirit or find interest in freelance work, Kansas City is home to many coworking spaces where individuals can rent workplaces or office space, like WeWork, Spark KC, and Novel Coworking.
Is it Expensive to Live in Kansas City?
If you are looking for a city with a high quality of life and lower cost of living, look no further than KC. Kansas City’s housing market is well below the national average of costs of homes. The kind of home you will be able to afford here compared to various other cities with higher living costs will absolutely amaze you. When you take a look, you’re going to wonder why you haven’t relocated to Kansas City sooner.
The average household income in Kansas City is higher than the national average, so combine that with general lower costs of living in every category other than food costs and you have an overall higher quality of living than you will find elsewhere in the country.
Think of all the fun trips and experiences your family will be able to enjoy when all your money is not spent on high living costs. Check out our blog post Moving To Kansas City? What Does It Really Cost? for more great information about making the move to Kansas City.
The Music and Arts Scene in Kansas City
Known as “The City of Artists” Kansas City is an artist’s city and the arts play a prominent role in the city’s culture. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art is a destination in and of itself, here you will find a rich cultural experience with consistently new and engaging exhibits. Past exhibits showcased at the Nelson include “Queen Nefertari: Eternal Egypt” and “Through the Eyes of Picasso.” Described on the website as “Where the power of art engages the spirit of community,” the Nelson embodies the essence of the art scene of Kansas City, powerful, soulful art in the context of community and diversity.
The Kauffman Center for The Performing Arts has been recognized as one of the World’s 15 Most Beautiful Concert Halls and is home to the Kansas City Ballet, Lyric Opera, and Kansas City Symphony as well as featured shows and performances.
The culture and lifestyle you will be able to enjoy in Kansas City is simply unparalleled. And let’s not forget the jazz clubs in a city known for its jazz and blues legacy. Embedded in the history of Kansas City is the legacy of modern jazz. The transformation of traditional New Orleans jazz into the American jazz we know today and the invention of Kansas City swing and blues happened right here in Kansas City and you can visit the oldest “jazz house” in the United States at The 18th and Vine Jazz district.
Kansas City is also gaining a reputation for the revival of it’s speakeasies. As a city that never went through prohibition, speakeasies are a major part of the history of Kansas City and are now seeing a revival across the downtown area. This screams Kansas City culture and is a part of what makes our city so unique.
If you decide to make your home in “The City of Fountains,” you will find a cultural destination in a city that feels like home.
Is Kansas City A Good Place To Retire?
We’ve talked about kids and jobs, but what if you are looking for a great community where you can retire and enjoy the free time that comes with it. Kansas City is the place for you as well.
The rich, cultural aspects of Kansas City make it an extremely diverse and fascinating city, and as a retiree you will have all the more time to experience this.
With Kansas City’s low cost of living, your retirement funds will last longer and create a better standard of living than many other idyllic retirement locations. And because Kansas City is so centrally located, traveling to other destinations all over the country is relatively simple. You can catch a non-stop flight at Kansas City International Airport and be at either coast in under three hours! And beautiful destinations such as the Ozarks or the Rocky Mountains are within easy driving distance.
If sitting back and taking it easy is not your style, Kansas City’s booming entrepreneurial scene doesn’t stop with the “30 under 30.” There is a foundation within the Kansas City startup community just for “seniorpreneurs” who want to turn all the years of wisdom and honing their craft into valuable businesses.
Excellent healthcare is another great benefit to retiring in Kansas City. Kansas City’s area hospitals rank in the top 50 hospitals nationwide by US News and World Report. Kansas and Missouri are both listed in the top 10 states for affordable healthcare for seniors.
Visitors are Welcomed in Kansas City
Now that we’ve sufficiently discussed what makes Kansas City amazing for everyone from families to retirees, it makes sense to say that for any individual, moving to Kansas City, is a great decision. Because KC has so much to offer you, family, and friends, you can rest assured that your loved ones are going to want to come visit. You will have so many interesting and exciting places, not to mention so much great food, to introduce family and friends to when they come to visit.
And who knows, because KC is so great for everyone, they may just join you here.
