Leawood, KS
What Leawood is actually like
Modern Leawood traces to the 1920s, when Oscar G. Lee, a retired Oklahoma police chief, relocated to Johnson County — the city's name blends his surname with "wood." It formally incorporated on November 30, 1948, as a third-class city with fewer than 2,000 residents, and grew steadily as a planned, low-density suburb along the state line (Wikipedia).
Leawood's commercial identity today centers on Town Center Plaza, an open-air shopping center that opened in 1996 and has cycled through anchor tenants — Jacobson's, then The Jones Store, then Macy's — while building a roster of upscale national retailers with limited other Kansas City-area presence, including Crate & Barrel, Restoration Hardware and Brooks Brothers (Wikipedia). The city is also home to the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection, the largest Methodist congregation in the country with roughly 22,000 members, including a 2017 stained-glass installation valued at $3.4 million (Wikipedia).
The 2023 Census Bureau estimate put Leawood's population at 33,980, essentially flat from 33,902 at the 2020 census, across 15.2 square miles that stretch more than 9 miles north-south but only about 2 miles east-west — a narrow strip running along the state line (Wikipedia). It's also one of the metro's wealthiest cities: median household income was $156,538 in the Census Bureau's 2016-2020 estimate, with 57.9% of residents holding a bachelor's degree or higher (Wikipedia).
Home values in Leawood
The typical Leawood home was worth $801,761 as of July 31, 2026, up 7.3% over the prior year, per the Zillow Home Value Index — the highest typical value among the Johnson County suburbs in this guide.
Evenings and weekends
Town Center Plaza is the city's evening-and-weekend hub, with upscale shopping, dining and a mix of national and local tenants (Wikipedia). Ironwoods Park's amphitheater hosts the city's recurring outdoor "Sundays in the Park" concert series in season, per ArtsKC.
Getting around
Leawood is car-dependent — a Walk Score around 22, among the lowest of the suburbs covered in this guide, reflecting its low-density planned layout. RideKC bus service runs under Johnson County Transit's own routes rather than KCATA's, following Johnson County's August 2022 withdrawal from KCATA's management agreement; there is no rail transit here.
Leawood FAQ
Is Leawood, KS a good place to live?
Leawood is one of the metro's most affluent, planned suburbs, with a median household income above $150,000 and Town Center Plaza's upscale shopping; the tradeoff is the metro's highest typical home value among the cities in this guide (around $802,000 in mid-2026) and a car-dependent, low-density layout (Walk Score 22).
What county is Leawood, KS in?
Leawood is entirely within Johnson County, Kansas, running along the Kansas-Missouri state line.
What school district serves Leawood, KS?
Leawood is split between Shawnee Mission USD 512 and Blue Valley USD 229, depending on address.
How far is Leawood from downtown Kansas City, Missouri?
About 12 miles via US-69 and State Line Road, roughly a 20-minute drive outside rush hour.
Nearby alternatives*We're not ranking these — every place has real trade-offs, and which ones matter is up to you.
Overland Park
Overland Park borders Leawood to the west.
Prairie Village
Prairie Village borders Leawood to the north.
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