Is this KC suburb one of the best rental markets in the U.S.? What data shows & why
Another national ranking has listed Overland Park as one of the top destinations in the United States for living. This time, it’s for renting apartments.
A previous study released by personal finance website WalletHub said the Johnson County city was the second-best city in the United States to raise a family in 2024. The website’s new ranking, says Overland Park is the second-best city to rent an apartment in the country.
WalletHub collected data from organizations like the U.S. Census Bureau, Zillow and the Federal Bureau of Investigation as they looked at 182 rental markets in the country.
Using the data, they looked at 21 metrics like rental rates, mortgage payments, rental affordability, the cost of living and job availability. All metrics were graded on a scale of 100.
The metrics were divided into two categories: rental market and affordability, and quality of life. Overland Park ranked seventh in rental market and 32nd in quality of life, according to WalletHub. The Johnson County city has a high median income, which is used to calculate some of those affordability metrics and may have contributed to its high ranking.
On a scale of 100, Overland Park received a 61.35 for its total score. The top city to rent in the United States was Bismarck, North Dakota, and rounding out the top five was Scottsdale, Arizona; Sioux Falls, South Dakota; and Lewiston, Maine.
Wichita ranked 55th in the country, and Kansas City ranked 71st.
What metrics led to Overland Park’s ranking?
Statistics that led to Overland Park receiving its ranking include how much space a renter can get and how much they spend their income on rent, according to WalletHub.
The city has the highest average home square footage in the country, at 2,787 square feet, according to WalletHub’s data. The average resident only spends around 16% of their annual income on rent, which makes the city the fifth-best in the United States in rental affordability. In WalletHub’s analysis, it also found that around 16% of households in Overland Park pay more than half of their income for housing, which is the fourth-lowest in the country.
The finance website also says Overland Park is a great place for people who have or plan to have kids. Half of public schools in the city received a rating of 7 out of 10 or higher from Greatschools.org. Only 13 cities in the study had the same or higher percentages.
Is Overland Park affordable?
The finding about affordability might be surprising to some locals familiar with Johnson County’s history of fighting against apartment development and the expensive homes found in some parts of Overland Park.
Part of the explanation lies in how WalletHub calculated the affordability of each city. One metric, for example, is based on the median income in the city and what percentage of that income a typical apartment rent would cost. And Overland Park has a higher median income than many other cities.
According to a 2022 estimate by the U.S. Census data, Overland Park’s median income is nearly $97,000, about 40% higher than Kansas’ median income. It’s also higher than other cities compared in the WalletHub study.
So if you’re paying $1,378 a month (or about $16,500 annually), what the U.S. Census considers the median rent in Overland Park, and making $97,000, it is only 17% of your income. But if you’re paying the same rent in Kansas City and making the city’s median income of $62,175, it’s more like 27% of your income.
