The Oregon, California and Santa Fe Trails all started in this Kansas City suburb, which is also the hometown of President Harry S. Truman. About 120,000 people live in Independence, and downtown Kansas City is about 10 miles west.
Most visitors come for the history. The Truman Presidential Library and Museum, the Truman home, the National Frontier Trails Museum and the historic courthouse on Independence Square make an easy full day. Day to day it is an ordinary, affordable Midwestern city with older housing stock and a cost of living well below the national average. The honest tradeoffs are crime and weather. Violent crime is above the national average, especially in older western and northern parts, and car theft is common. Spring brings hail and tornado risk, summers are hot and humid, and the occasional winter ice storm hits.
Cities with a similar character, anywhere on the site.
Out of 10. Open any score to see how it’s worked out. “Data-based” scores come from published figures; “Hey! En Route estimate” scores are worked out from what we know about the city; “Hey! En Route rating” scores were set by our editors.
- Known as
- Queen City of the Trails; Home of President Harry S. Truman; Gateway to the West (Oregon, California and Santa Fe Trails starting point); Jackson County seat (co-seat with Kansas City)
- Founded
- 1827 platted and named the county seat of Jackson County; 1849 incorporated as a city
- Languages
- English; Spanish; Vietnamese; Marshallese and other Pacific Island languages; Chinese; Arabic
- Airports
- Kansas City International (MCI), about 30 miles northwest; Kansas City Downtown (MKC), about 15 miles northwest, general aviation only; Lee's Summit Municipal (LXT), about 15 miles south, general aviation only
- Tipping
- Restaurants 18-20%; bars $1-2 per drink; taxis and rideshare 15-20%; hotel housekeeping $3-5 per night; bellhops $2-5 per bag; counter service optional
About this data
Metro figure 2,270,682 is the Kansas City MO-KS MSA, shared with Kansas City MO (not the anchor city here). Population is Census Vintage 2025 (July 1, 2025) via QuickFacts (121,675); land area 77.99 sq mi from Census; median home value $172,900 and median gross rent $1,109 are Census ACS 2020-2024. Independence is Missouri's fifth-largest city; crime figures and cost-of-living index are approximate. Elevation, coordinates, founding, event months, hotel ranges, tipping, cost-of-living index, airport distances, crime figures and 1BR rent are approximate or from general knowledge and not verified in this pass; property type and market notes are qualitative. Official URLs found via search results but not load-tested; page fetches for tourism sites were not completed, so confidence is moderate.
