Overland Park, Kansas


Overland Park is the largest city in Johnson County, Kansas, United States, and the second-most populous city in the state of Kansas. It is one of four principal cities in the Kansas City metropolitan area and the most populous suburb of Kansas City, Missouri. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 197,238.

History

In 1905, William B. Strang Jr. arrived and began to plot subdivisions along an old military roadway, which later became the city's principal thoroughfare. He developed large portions of what would later become downtown Overland Park.
On May 20, 1960, Overland Park was officially incorporated as a "city of first class", with a population of 28,085. Less than thirty years later, the population had nearly quadrupled to 111,790 in 1990, increasing to 173,250 as of the 2010 census. Overland Park officially became the second largest city in the state, following Wichita, Kansas, after passing Kansas City, Kansas in the early 2000s.
Population growth in the city can mainly be attributed to the traditional greenfield suburban development, appreciated on the city's annexation map. Overland Park's last annexation attempt, in 2008, garnered widespread news coverage after massive outcry from affected residents. Overland Park now has a combined land area of and spans nearly the full north–south length of Johnson County. Since the expansion of Overland Park, state legislators have amended laws governing annexations to require a majority vote of affected residents in all future annexations over.
On April 13, 2014, a pair of shootings committed by a lone gunman occurred at the local Jewish Community Center of Greater Kansas City and Village Shalom, a local Jewish retirement community. A total of three people were killed in both shootings. The suspected gunman was described as a man in his seventies. He was later identified as a Neo-Nazi. He was Frazier Glenn Miller, Jr. He was taken into custody.

Geography

Overland Park is located in northeastern Kansas at the junction of Interstate 435 and U.S. Route 69 immediately east of Olathe, the county seat. The city center is roughly south-southwest of downtown Kansas City, Missouri.
The city lies on the northern edge of the Osage Plains, a few miles south of the Kansas River. One of the river's tributaries, Turkey Creek, flows northeastward through the extreme northern part of the city. South of Turkey Creek, the majority of the city lies in the watershed of the Blue River. Several of the river's tributaries run east-northeast across the city; from north to south, these include Indian Creek, Tomahawk Creek, and Negro Creek. In the far southern part of the city, two more tributaries, Coffee Creek and Wolf Creek, join to form the main stem of the Blue River itself.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of of which is land and 0.53 square mile is water.
Overland Park is a principal city of the Kansas City metropolitan area, and it borders other communities on all sides. These include Kansas City, Kansas, to the north, Mission and Prairie Village to the northeast, Leawood to the east, Stilwell to the south, Olathe and Lenexa to the west, and Shawnee and Merriam to the northwest. Most of Overland Park, specifically the part of it lying north of 159th Street, lies within the area of Johnson County referred to as Shawnee Mission.

Climate

Overland Park lies in the transition zone between North America's humid subtropical climate and humid continental climate zones, typically experiencing hot, humid summers and cold, dry winters.

Surrounding cities

Demographics

2020 census

The U.S. Census accounts for race by two methodologies. "Race alone" and "Race alone less Hispanics" where Hispanics are delineated separately as if a separate race.
According to the 2020 United States census, the racial makeup was 75.04% White alone, 4.60% Black alone, 0.35% Native American alone, 9.31% Asian alone, 0.05% Pacific Islander alone, 2.55% Other Race alone, and 8.10% Multiracial or Mixed Race.
According to the 2020 United States census, the racial and ethnic makeup was 73.19% White alone, 4.49% Black alone, 0.22% Native American alone, 9.28% Asian alone, 0.04% Pacific Islander alone, 0.42% Other Race alone, 4.54% Multiracial or Mixed Race, and 7.82% Hispanic or Latino.

2010 census

As of the 2010 United States census, there were 173,372 people, 71,443 households, and 45,516 families residing in the city. The population density was. There were 76,280 housing units at an average density of. The racial makeup of the city was 84.4% White, 4.3% African American, 0.3% American Indian, 6.3% Asian, 2.1% from other races, and 2.5% from two or more races. Hispanics and Latinos of any race were 6.3% of the population.
There were 71,443 households, of which 30.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.0% were married couples living together, 8.4% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.2% had a male householder with no wife present, and 36.3% were non-families. 29.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.41, and the average family size was 3.04.
The median age in the city was 37.8 years. 24.7% of residents were under the age of 18; 7.4% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 28.2% were from 25 to 44; 27.6% were from 45 to 64; and 12.3% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 48.3% male and 51.7% female.
The median income for a household in the city was $71,513, and the median income for a family was $93,293. Males had a median income of $65,210 versus $43,413 for females. The per capita income for the city was $39,319. 4.9% of the population and 3.3% of families were living below the poverty line, including 6.5% of those under the age of 18 and 4.9% of those 65 and older.

Metropolitan area

Overland Park is the most populous suburb of Kansas City, Missouri. It has a lower detached single family housing rate than Kansas City and has more people commuting into it than out making its daytime population 235,000. It is a principal city of both the Kansas City, MO–KS Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Kansas City–Overland Park–Kansas City, MO–KS Combined Statistical Area.

Economy

The service sector constitutes most of the local economy. Health care, retail trade, professional and technical services, finance and insurance, and information technology are the city's five largest industries. Companies with headquarters in the city include Black & Veatch, Ash Grove Cement Company, and Compass Minerals. The city seeks to attract technology companies in particular, such as Netsmart Technologies which relocated its headquarters there in 2011. Restaurant chain Applebee's was headquartered in the city from 1993 to 2007. It is also home to the Overland Park Xchange building, the 3rd largest office building in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area totalling 735,000 square feet of office space.
As of 2014, 71.8% of the population over the age of 16 was in the labor force. 0.1% was in the armed forces, and 71.7% was in the civilian labor force with 68.1% being employed and 3.7% unemployed. The composition, by occupation, of the employed civilian labor force was: 53.0% in management, business, science, and arts; 26.2% in sales and office occupations; 11.3% in service occupations; 4.0% in natural resources, construction, and maintenance; 5.5% in production, transportation, and material moving. The three industries employing the largest percentages of the working civilian labor force were: educational services, health care, and social assistance ; professional, scientific, management, administrative, and waste management services ; and retail trade. T-Mobile is the largest employer in the city followed by Shawnee Mission School District, Johnson County Community College, Blue Valley School District, Black & Veatch, OptumRx, the City of Overland Park, Yellow Corporation, Overland Park Regional Medical Center, and Waddell & Reed.
The cost of living in Overland Park is below average; compared to a U.S. average of 100, the cost of living index for the city is 88.2. As of 2014, the median home value in the city was $225,000, the median selected monthly owner cost was $1,712 for housing units with a mortgage and $570 for those without, and the median gross rent was $974.
It was home to the Sprint Corporation before its merger with T-Mobile in 2020. Part of its former corporate campus was sold in 2019 to a firm named Occidental Management. Telephone company Embarq formerly had its national headquarters in Overland Park before its acquisition by CenturyTel in 2009; the company still employs several hundred people in Gardner.

Top employers

According to the city's 2016 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the city are:
#Employer# of Employees
1T-Mobile6,300
2Shawnee Mission School District3,974
3Blue Valley School District3,313
4Black & Veatch Engineering Consultants2,649
5Johnson County Community College2,377
6OptumRx2,000
7Waddell & Reed Financial1,350
8Overland Park Regional Medical Center1,200
9City of Overland Park1,142
10Empower Retirement1,000

Government

Under state statute, Overland Park is a city of the first class. Since 1963, it has had a mayor-council-manager form of government. The city council consists of 13 members popularly elected every four years with staggered terms in office. For representative purposes, the city is divided into six wards with two members elected from each ward. The mayor is the 13th member, elected at-large. The council sets policy for the city, annually identifies city priorities for the Kansas Legislature and the United States Congress, and authorizes ordinances, resolutions, contracts, and agreements. The council meets on the first and third Monday of each month. The mayor presides over council meetings, appoints members to resident boards and commissions, meets with constituents, and signs ordinances, resolutions, contracts, and agreements authorized by the council. The city manager administers city operations and implements policies set by the city council.
Overland Park lies within Kansas's 3rd U.S. Congressional District, which is represented by Sharice Davids. For the purposes of representation in the Kansas Legislature, the city is located in the 6th through 8th, 10th, 11th, 21st, and 37th districts of the Kansas Senate and the 8th, 16th, 19th through 24th, 27th through 29th, and 48th districts of the Kansas House of Representatives.