Overland Park Population Growth: Why Isn’t It in Kansas City’s Top 5?
By Joe Nelson, Retired Air Force, Nelson Home Group Team Leader and Mortgage Loan Originator
Overland Park population growth ran 3.3% between the 2020 Census and July 2025, which is why it does not appear on any list of the metro’s fastest-growing suburbs. It still added 6,439 residents in those five years, more than any city that beat it on the percentage ranking. Both statements are true at once, and the reason is the denominator.
This is the Tuesday companion to my pillar on the fastest-growing Kansas City suburbs, which has the full ranking and the method behind it.
Moving to Kansas City or thinking about it? Grab my free KC Relocation Guide. It covers the metro side by side, what to expect on both sides of the state line, and how to narrow a list of suburbs down to two.
How Much Has Overland Park Actually Grown Since 2020?
Lee’s Summit added 6,406 residents over the same five years, almost the same as Overland Park.
Overland Park had 197,238 residents at the April 2020 Census. The Census Bureau’s July 2025 estimate puts it at 203,677. That is a gain of 6,439 people over five years, or 3.3%.
For scale: Spring Hill, Kansas took the number one spot in the metro’s growth ranking by adding 2,825 residents. Overland Park added more than twice that many people and finished nowhere near the top of the list.
Set against its own history, Overland Park population growth has slowed from the pace it ran through the 1990s and 2000s. That changes the arithmetic without changing the direction. It is still adding a small town’s worth of people every five years.
Why Does Overland Park Population Growth Look Small as a Percentage?
A percentage is a fraction, and the denominator does most of the work. Add 2,825 people to a town of 7,952 and you get 35.5%. Add 6,439 people to a city of 197,238 and you get 3.3%. The second city absorbed far more human beings. The math just does not reward it.
This is not a quirk of Kansas City. It is why national fastest-growing-city lists are dominated by small suburbs on the edge of large metros. The Census Bureau’s own May 2026 release named Celina, Texas the nation’s fastest-growing city of 20,000 or more at 24.6%, a smaller percentage than Spring Hill posted over five years, and every one of the top five nationally sat in a Texas metro’s outer ring.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts, Vintage 2025 tables, accessed August 24, 2026. Growth calculated from the April 1, 2020 Census count to the July 1, 2025 estimate. Growth rank is among Kansas City metro cities with at least 5,000 residents in 2020.
Which Kansas City Suburbs Grew Faster, and by How Much?
Five cities beat Overland Park badly on rate. Spring Hill, Kansas at 35.5%. Parkville, Missouri at 27.8%. Basehor, Kansas at 19.6%. Raymore, Missouri at 16.1%. De Soto, Kansas at 15.8%. Raymore is the one to watch in that group, because it added 3,692 residents from a base of 22,941, which is the hardest version of that trick on the list.
| City | 2020 Census count | People added by July 2025 | Growth % | Growth rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overland Park, KS | 197,238 | +6,439 | +3.3% | Not top 10 |
| Lee’s Summit, MO | 101,108 | +6,406 | +6.3% | Not top 10 |
| Raymore, MO | 22,941 | +3,692 | +16.1% | 4th |
| Gardner, KS | 23,287 | +2,867 | +12.3% | 8th |
| Spring Hill, KS | 7,952 | +2,825 | +35.5% | 1st |
| Parkville, MO | 7,117 | +1,976 | +27.8% | 2nd |
| De Soto, KS | 6,118 | +965 | +15.8% | 5th |
Lee’s Summit, Missouri lands in the same position as Overland Park for the same reason. It added 6,406 residents, almost identical to Overland Park’s gain, and it reads as 6.3% growth because its 2020 base was about half the size.
Does Slower Percentage Growth Mean Overland Park Is Declining?
Celina, Texas led the national list at 24.6%, a smaller rate than Spring Hill’s 35.5%.
No. Overland Park added residents in every direction the data can measure it. What changed is the arithmetic, not the direction. A city of 200,000 that grows 3.3% in five years is adding a small town’s worth of people, and it is doing it on land that is mostly already built on.
One thing I am deliberately not going to tell you is that Overland Park is out of land. I could not verify that, and the city’s own adopted comprehensive plan points the other way, identifying southern growth areas tied to future sewer investment. The percentage is doing the work here, not a land shortage.
Building permit data says the same thing from a different angle. In the Home Builders Association of Greater Kansas City’s May 2026 report, Overland Park issued 40 single-family permits. Basehor, a Leavenworth County town of roughly 8,200 people, issued 55. Basehor is not a bigger housing market than Overland Park. It is a market with open land, and open land is what produces subdivision permits in batches.
So when you compare Overland Park population growth to a town posting 20% or 35%, you are mostly comparing starting sizes. Add the same number of houses to a city of 197,000 and to a town of 8,000 and only one of them produces a headline.
Which Number Should a Buyer Actually Care About?
Overland Park issued 40 single-family permits in May 2026. Basehor issued 55.
It depends on what you are trying to find out, so use them for different jobs.
Use the percentage when you want to know whether a place is changing character. A town growing 35.5% in five years is going to look and feel different in another five, with new schools, new traffic patterns and new retail. Use the headcount when you want to know the scale of the change. Just do not read either number as a measure of how the housing market is performing. For that you want current sales, active inventory and comparable-sale counts from Heartland MLS, which is what my latest Kansas City market update runs on.
For a seller, scale matters for a specific reason. Thin markets produce fewer comparable sales, which makes pricing less precise. That is true of a fast-growing small town as much as a shrinking one.
Wednesday’s companion post looks at the city that took the number one spot: buying a house in Spring Hill Kansas and what to ask first.
Thursday’s companion post takes the next question head on: does population growth raise home prices, and what fast growth actually changes for a buyer and a seller.
Friday’s companion post closes the series with which Kansas City cities led the March and May 2026 new home permit reports, and why a town of about 8,000 people out-permitted Overland Park.
Frequently Asked Questions
What was Overland Park’s population in 2025?
The U.S. Census Bureau’s July 1, 2025 estimate for Overland Park, Kansas is 203,677 residents. That is up from an April 1, 2020 Decennial Census count of 197,238, a gain of 6,439 people over roughly five years. Both figures come from Census QuickFacts, Vintage 2025 tables. Overland Park remains the largest city in Johnson County and the second largest in the state of Kansas.
Which Kansas City suburb added the most residents since 2020?
Among the cities on the fastest-growing ranking, Raymore, Missouri added the most at 3,692 residents. But Overland Park and Lee’s Summit each added more than 6,400 people, more than any city on that ranking, and neither one appears on it because the ranking is by percentage. Rate and volume are separate measurements and they produce different leaders.
Is a low growth percentage a bad sign for home values?
No. Growth rate measures population change, not home values, and the two do not move together reliably. Local supply, mortgage rates, and new construction competition move prices far more than a population percentage does. Thursday’s post works through what the research actually shows about population and prices.
Why do small towns dominate fastest-growing city lists?
Because percentage growth divides by the starting population. A town of 8,000 that adds 2,800 residents posts 35%, while a city of 200,000 that adds 6,400 posts 3.3%, even though the larger city absorbed more than twice as many people. The arithmetic rewards a small denominator, which is why national fastest-growing lists are full of outer-ring suburbs.
Does this ranking include Johnson County cities?
Yes. Johnson County, Kansas cities are included and two of the top five are there: Spring Hill and De Soto. Gardner, Kansas also qualified and finished eighth at 12.3%. Overland Park, Olathe, Lenexa and Leawood are all eligible under the 5,000 resident floor and none of them reached the top five on percentage growth.
Ready to Talk?
If you are trying to decide between an established Johnson County address and one of the towns growing three times faster, the honest answer depends on your timeline and how you expect to sell. My Overland Park guide and my Overland Park vs Olathe comparison cover the on-the-ground side, and my Kansas vs Missouri cost breakdown covers the state line. That is a short conversation and I am glad to have it. Call me or send me an email.
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Nelson Home Group, Keller Williams KC North, 1508 NW Vivion Rd, #205, Kansas City, MO 64118
Where do these numbers come from?
- All 2020 counts and July 2025 estimates: U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts, Vintage 2025 tables (PST045225), rows “Population, Census, April 1, 2020” and “Population estimates, July 1, 2025, (V2025)”, individual city pages accessed August 24, 2026.
- Celina, Texas at 24.6% and the Texas top five among cities of 20,000 or more: U.S. Census Bureau release CB26-80, May 14, 2026.
- Overland Park’s adopted comprehensive plan (Framework OP) defining southern growth areas driven by sanitary sewer investment: Johnson County Post, May 7, 2024.
- May 2026 single-family permits, Overland Park 40 and Basehor 55: Home Builders Association of Greater Kansas City, May 2026 Residential Statistics Report, published June 26, 2026.