“The Definition of a Family-Friendly Town”: All About the Overland Park, KS Rent-to-Own Market

Are you looking to move to a clean city with excellent schools and low crime rates, where you can affordably live in a home that meets all your needs and where you can comfortably raise a family? Then Overland Park, KS, maybe the city for you.

Overland Park is a family-friendly suburb of Kansas City and is located approximately 20 minutes southwest of the metropolitan hub in Johnson County (1). It’s also the second largest city in Kansas with approximately 197,000 residents (2).

According to the 2017 American Community Survey, the average age of residents in Overland Park was 37.9 years old (3). Most of the residents (56%) are between the ages of 19-64 years old while 15.4% are over 65 years old, 22.9% are under 18 years old and 5.7% are under five years old, according to the 2020 Census (2).

Just over 61% of the Overland Park population has a bachelor’s degree while 97% of people have at least a high school diploma. In turn, the unemployment rate in Overland Park is extremely low, coming in at just 3.6% (1).

The plethora of employment in Overland Park is, in part, impacted by some of the country’s largest companies being headquartered there including T-Mobile (which employs around 5,000 people in “OP”), H&R Block and Hallmark (1).

Overland Park jobs also pay well enough where employees and residents can live comfortably. The median household income for an OP resident ranges from $87,629 (in 2020; 2) to $100,079 (1).

Along with the ample employment opportunities and the very solid median household income, Overland Park has been bestowed with ten honors and awards that boast how good of a place it is to live–in 2022 alone–including:

2nd cleanest city in the US according to LawnStarter
15^th best city for jobs in the US according to WalletHub
8th happiest city in the US according to WalletHub
1st best city to buy a house in the US according to Niche
4th best city to raise a family in the US according to Niche
8^th best public schools in the US according to Niche
14^th best city to retire in the US according to Niche (4)

By simply visiting websites like Redfin, Realtor® or Niche, you’ll be able to see how great the Overland Park public schools truly are. In fact, Redfin rates at least five elementary schools of 58 in the area with a 9-out-of-10 rating, at least four middle schools of 20 with an 8-out-of-10 rating, one middle school with a 9-out-of-10 rating, at least four high schools of 13 with an 8-out-of-10 rating and one high school with a 9-out-of-10 rating (5).

OP’s 83 parks and open spaces within its city limits also allow for families and residents to walk, bike, hike, fish and enjoy the outdoors in general until their hearts are full and content (1). Since the city has a ton of green space, it makes sense Redfin awarded OP with only a 35 WalkScore® (meaning it’s car-dependent) and a 46 BikeScore® (meaning it’s only somewhat bikeable from end-to-end). It also only gave it a 16 TransitScore® meaning there’s minimal reliable public transit (5).

In general, does Overland Park already sound like an intriguing place to move? Then you’ll want to learn more about this nearly picture-perfect Kansas City suburb.

Overland Park Housing Market

Just like much of the country, the cost of homes in Overland Park has skyrocketed since the COVID-19 pandemic. Since April 2021 alone, home prices have gone up by 9.1% in OP (5). As of June 2022, the median listing price of homes according to Redfin is around $442,000, though Realtor® claims the median listing price is $400,000 (6).

As of one year ago, homes would last on the market for 13 days before going under contract, but now they’re averaging 11 days on the market before going under contract. As such, the Overland Park housing market is a competitive one, with Redfin awarding it an 82/100 competitive score. Many potential homebuyers are forced to outbid each other in multiple offer situations and even forgo or waive certain contingencies, which can be viewed as unethical in certain circles.

To give you an idea of what houses are closing for in the OP area, some of the final listings from June 2022 include:

A $235,000 sale for a 2-bedroom, 1-bathroom, 900 sq. ft-single-family home
A $275,000 sale for a 4-bedroom, 2 ½ bathroom, 3,345 sq. ft-single-family home
A $330,000 sale for a 3-bedroom, 2 ½ bathroom, 1,665 sq. ft-single-family home
A $390,000 sale for a 4-bedroom, 2 ½ bathroom, 2,316 sq. ft-single family home
A $800,000 sale for a 4-bedroom, 4 ½ bathroom, 4,305 sq. ft-single family home
A $950,000 sale for a 4-bedroom, 4 ½ bathroom, 4,097 sq. ft-single family home (5)

Overland Park Neighborhoods

There are 65 neighborhoods in Overland Park and most are considered phenomenal places to live (6). Some of the most popular neighborhoods to live in include Oak Park, Nall Hills and Arrowhead Trails.

Oak Park

Oak Park, a community of around 9,500 residents, is rated as an A+ neighborhood to live in by Niche (7). 26% of the families there have children, which makes sense as the public schools there are highly rated. Niche has also named Oak Park as the fourth best neighborhood in OP.

According to Realtor®, Oak Park’s median home listing price is around $320,000 (6). Around 80% of residents own their homes in the neighborhood while 20% of residents are renters (7). Oak Park features a lower median rent cost as it comes in at only $955 per month while the median household income for the area comes in at just a shade under $88,500.

One of the attractions in the Oak Park neighborhood is the Oak Park Park (8). This is a 16.8-acre green space which includes an open playground for children to enjoy and a wooded area for hiking. There are also many different restaurants, coffee shops and other parks for the neighborhood residents to enjoy.

Nall Hills

Nall Hills, a community around 6,300 residents, also has an A+ neighborhood rating from Niche (9). 22% of the families in the close-knit community have kids, which also makes sense as Niche has deemed it the fifth best neighborhood in Overland Park.

The suburban neighborhood’s median home listing price is hovering around $325,000 while 84% of homes are owned by the residents and 16% are rented. The median rent cost for the area comes in a little higher at $1,136 per month while the median household income averages out to be around $92,800.

If you thought the Oak Park Park was big, you’ll be surprised to hear the Nall Hills Park is nearly double the size at 28-acres (10). It runs along Indian Creek and also contains a playground for children to run around and have fun. It also has great biking and hiking trails along the river which also extend into the neighborhood.

Arrowhead Trails

The Arrowhead Trails neighborhood is on the smaller side as only approximately 1,900 people reside there, but it finds itself in the top-15 of OP communities with the lowest cost of living and in the top-20 of OP communities for young professionals (11).

The public schools in Arrowhead Trails are considered to be just “above average” despite the fact 29% of families in the neighborhood have children.

Additionally, the median home listing price in Arrowhead Trails is around $233,000. 71% of residents own their own home in this community while 29% are renters. The average rent cost in Arrowhead Trails is $1,076 per month while the median household income is just a shade over $69,000.

Some other popular Overland Park neighborhoods have the following median home listing prices:

$225,000 in Historic Overland Park
$250,000 in Millburn
$278,000 in Glenwood Estates
$400,000 in Wycliff
$1 million in Mills Farm (6)

Overland Park’s Rent-to-Own Market

According to the 2020 Census, there were nearly 80,000 households in Overland Park with an average of 2.41 people per household (2). Of those 80,000 homes, approximately 63% of them were owner-occupied. This means approximately 37% of homes have renters living in them.

Before the housing boom, the 2020 Census claimed the average amount a renter in Overland Park paid per month was around $1,200. Now, Realtor® estimates renters pay up to $3,600 per month to rent a place to live in OP (6).

As of June 2022, Realtor® claims there are around 126 homes for rent in the Overland Park area while HomeFinder claims there are 20 rent-to-own properties available (12). One thing to note about these 20 rent-to-own homes is they all don’t necessarily have Overland Park addresses, though they tend to at least be suburbs of Kansas City, both on the Kansas side and on the Missouri side.

Monthly rent on these rent-to-own properties ranges from $760 per month for a 2-bedroom, 1-bathroom, 1,150 sq. ft-single-family home to $2,987 per month for a 5-bedroom, 5-bathroom, 2,545 sq. ft-single-family home.

Cost of Living in Overland Park

Aside from having awesome, family-friendly neighborhoods and abundant, well-paying jobs, Overland Park features an 8.7% lower cost of living than the national average, despite average costs in the area rising by 17% from May 2021 to May 2022 (13).

In comparison, to live in Overland Park costs 94.8% lower than living in a city like San Francisco, CA.

In all major categories, OP is less expensive than the national average. These categories include transportation (9.1% lower), utilities (15.2% lower), housing (18.1% lower), food (21.7% lower) and healthcare (22% lower).

You may also find relief at the pump if you’re an Overland Park resident. While the national average for a gallon of gas is costing buyers $4.96 per gallon, the Kansas City, KS, area was averaging $4.60 per gallon of gas on June 8, 2022 (14). This price is currently the highest ever recorded average price in the Kansas City, KS, area for gas. In 2021, gas prices in the KC-area sat at $2.86 per gallon.

Are you considering making the move to family-friendly Overland Park, KS? Then you’ll want to do some additional research to find out if traditionally purchasing a home, renting a place or signing a rent-to-own agreement in the area is the right decision for you and your family.

Additional Resources

(1) — Money.com’s Section on Overland Park

(2) — Census.gov

(3) — About Overland Park

(4) — Overland Park Awards and Recognition

(5) — Redfin – Overland Park Housing Market

(6) — Realtor® – Overland Park Housing Market

(7) — Niche – Oak Park

(8) — Oak Park Park

(9) — Niche — Nall Hills

(10) — Nall Hills Park

(11) — Niche — Arrowhead Trails