Kansas City keeps growing, gained 13,000 people in 5 years, says new census data

Kansas City gained nearly 5,000 people for the second year in a row, new data estimates, as city leaders push for new housing and more investment across the city.

The U.S. Census Bureau released new population estimates on Thursday for every city and town in every state in the country. Kansas City, Missouri had an estimated 521,220 people in July 2025, according to the data, up from 516,539 in July 2024 and 508,128 in July 2020.

That’s an increase of more than 13,000 people since 2020, or about 2.58%.

“Kansas City’s population growth — outpacing our legacy industrial city peers — is a testament to our community’s investment in a safer, dynamic and affordable city that welcomes all,” Mayor Quinton Lucas said. “I am proud to be a mayor at a time in which it has never been better to be a Kansas Citian. Our momentum will continue.”

In a news release, the Census Bureau reported that population growth has slowed year-over-year nationwide. Large cities with 250,000 or more people grew by about 0.3% on average between 2024 and 2025 — but Kansas City beat that number, growing by 0.9% from 2024 to 2025.

Kansas City has slipped one spot down since 2020 to become the country’s 37th-largest city as Atlanta gained more than 30,000 people, according to the estimates.

On the other side of the state, St. Louis is estimated to have lost about 22,000 people between 2020 and 2025.

The annual numbers are estimates and not an exact census count, which the Census Bureau conducts every ten years. The next census will be in 2030, unless a community requests a special census of its population before then.

The last census in 2020 showed that Kansas City had fully recovered, as a whole, from its population decline since 1970. The new estimates indicate that Kansas City has hit its highest population yet, but they do not show where growth is happening on a neighborhood level.

Meanwhile, Kansas City, Kansas has also seen some population growth since 2020. Its population grew from 156,306 in 2020 to 157,805 in 2025, or up 0.96%.

Johnson County cities keep growing

Over in suburban Johnson County, some towns in the western and southern parts of the county saw significant growth between 2020 and 2025.

That includes De Soto, which grew more than 15% to 7,083 people, while Gardner grew more than 11% to 26,154 people, according to the estimates.

Spring Hill, which sits in Johnson and Miami counties, grew more than 33% since 2020 to 10,777 people, up from 8,192 in five years.

Overland Park, Johnson County’s largest city, reached 203,677, up from 197,835 in 2020 — about a 3% increase.

Olathe grew to 150,025 people, up from 141,549 in 2020, or up about 6%. Lenexa grew to 60,506 people, up from 57,528 in 2020, or up about 5.2%.

Merriam reached 11,509 people, up from 11,091 in 2020, or about 3.8% higher. Mission cracked 10,000 people in 2025, hitting 10,125, or 1.8% up from 9,945 in 2020.

Prairie Village had 23,008 people in 2025, up 0.2% from 2020. Leawood had 34,093 people in 2025, up 0.65% from 2020.

Independence has lost population since 2020

In Jackson County, Independence was estimated to have lost nearly 1,200 people between 2020 and 2025, going from 122,866 people in 2020 to 121,675 in 2025, about a 1% decrease.

Raytown’s population was also estimated to have gone down: about 2.3% from 29,838 in 2020 to 29,154 in 2025.

Blue Springs’ population went up 4.9% from 58,766 in 2020 to 61,632 in 2025, while Lee’s Summit’s population went up 5.9% from 101,565 in 2020 to 107,514 in 2025.

Grandview saw 0.45% of growth in five years, reaching 26,653 people in 2025.

Grain Valley and Oak Grove both saw notable growth between 2020 and 2025. Grain Valley grew 7.9% to 16,908 people, while Oak Grove grew 14.4% to 9,370 people, according to the estimates.

In Cass County, Belton grew nearly 9% to 26,193 people, up from 24,038 in 2020. Raymore grew 15.8% from 23,008 people in 2020 to 26,633 in 2025.

Peculiar went from 5,648 people in 2020 to 6,365 in 2025, or a 12.7% increase. Harrisonville lost about 90 people, going from 10,130 people to 10,040, or a 0.9% decrease, according to the census estimates.

Towns in Clay and Platte counties see growth

Kearney, in Clay County, has grown nearly 8% since 2020, reaching 11,296 in 2025.

North Kansas City, meanwhile, has grown nearly 23% from 4,569 people in 2020 to 5,613 people in 2025.

And Liberty has grown about 3.7%, going from 30,210 people in 2020 to 31,319 in 2025.

In Platte County, Riverside grew about 14.1%, going from 4,014 in 2020 to 4,581 in 2025.

Parkville grew nearly 22% in five years, going from 7,461 people in 2020 to 9,093 in 2025.

Smithville went from 10,482 people in 2020 to 11,160 in 2025, or about a 6.5% rise.

Platte City grew about 2.8%, from 4,779 people to 4,911 in five years. Weston grew about 5.5%, from 1,758 people to 1,855.