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Garden City, Missouri

Garden City is a small town of about 1,600 people in Cass County, Missouri. Its population has held about steady since 2020. A typical home costs about 2.7 years of the typical household's income, compared with 4.1 across the U.S. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Kansas City, is about 43 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
1,617
down 1% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$176,200
Cass County prices up 16% since 2022
Household income
$65,260
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Kansas City area
92.5
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
12 miles
Harrisonville, MO
To Kansas City
43 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 7.5% below the U.S. average in the Kansas City metro area.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 2.7 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhoodThe FBI has no 2025 figures for Garden City itself. Many small towns are patrolled by the county sheriff, so call the sheriff's office and ask what calls they get most.
  • Schools in townNo public schools inside the town. The nearest high school is Sherwood High, about 7 miles away.
  • A hospital close byCass Regional Medical Center in Harrisonville, about 12 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityKansas City is about 43 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Garden City meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$176,200U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 16%Cass County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$925 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$65,260U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
63%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$1,448 a yearMissouri: $1,948
Homes built before 1940
15%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
3%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
4%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
92.5U.S. average = 100 (the Kansas City metro area)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 16% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Kansas City metro area, not Garden City alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2025 estimate
1,6172020: 1,634
Median age
38 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
21%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
27%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
9%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
8%U.S.: 6%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work
Schools, health care and social services (20%); retail (17%); manufacturing (17%)
Unemployment rate
4%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
28 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
7%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
5%U.S.: 12%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Cass Regional Medical Center, Harrisonville, MO, about 12 miles away. It's a critical access hospital (a small rural hospital with 25 or fewer beds). Medicare gives it 4 of 5 stars.

Nearest general hospital: Bates County Memorial Hospital, Butler, MO, about 23 miles away. Medicare gives it 3 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

There are no public schools inside Garden City itself. The nearest public high school is Sherwood High, about 7 miles away.

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on Missouri's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Internet

Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet
54%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
86%U.S.: 91%

Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Weather

January average low
21°F
July average high
88°F
Days 90°F or hotter
37 a year
Nights at or below freezing
106 a year
Rain and melted snow
42.7 inches a year
Snow
15 inches a year
Elevation
919 feet

Weather stations: Pleasant Hill Wfo (18 miles away) and Kingsville (14 miles away, rain and snow). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Cass Regional Medical Center, Lee's Summit, Kansas City.

Cass County is in a metro area of 1 million people or more (USDA rural-urban code 1, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Harry S Truman National Historic Site30 miles
  • Fort Scott National Historic Site57 miles

Read about Garden City's history on Wikipedia.

Know Garden City?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Smaller places

  • La Tour, MO (unincorporated)132 people, 7 miles
  • East Lynne, MO312 people, 8 miles
  • Creighton, MO340 people, 8 miles
  • Urich, MO478 people, 13 miles
  • Strasburg, MO123 people, 14 miles
  • Kingsville, MO251 people, 14 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.