Gladstone, Missouri
Area Profile
27,207 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Gladstone, in Clay County.
Gladstone ranks in the top 10% of published city profiles for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 3.5% and median household income of $79,271.
Housing is more affordable relative to local incomes than in most published city profiles: rent takes 16% of median household income and the median home is 2.9 times it.
Natural-hazard exposure is lower than in most comparable published city profiles, placing Gladstone in the top 18% for physical resilience.
At a glance
Jobs & opportunity
Unemployment of 3.5% is lower than 84% of the 3,904 measured US cities.
Employment grew 0.6% over the past year, to 14,171 employed residents.
32% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 72% of measured US cities.
| Metric | Value | Compared with peers | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income ±$5,864 | $79,271 | Top 34% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Per capita income ±$3,494 | $43,839 | Top 25% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Poverty rate | 11.0% | Top 50% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Average commute | 24.5 min | Bottom 38% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Bachelor's degree or higher | 31.7% | Top 28% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Employment | 14,171 | Bottom 12% | June 2026 |
| Employment change (3 years) | 2.6% | Top 17% | June 2026 |
| Employment change (year over year) | 0.6% | Top 17% | June 2026 |
| Labor force | 14,678 | Bottom 12% | June 2026 |
| Labor force participation | 64.9% | Top 35% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Mean annual wage | $66,550 | Bottom 41% | 2025 OEWS |
| Median annual wage | $50,820 | Bottom 47% | 2025 OEWS |
| Unemployment change (year over year) | -0.5% | Bottom 17% | June 2026 |
| Unemployment rate | 3.5% | Bottom 16% | June 2026 |
| Occupation | People employed | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| General and Operations Managers | 31,080 | $90,490 |
| Registered Nurses | 29,650 | $83,040 |
| Retail Salespersons | 26,110 | $34,320 |
| Cashiers | 24,160 | $30,700 |
| Stockers and Order Fillers | 23,580 | $36,850 |
| Customer Service Representatives | 22,240 | $44,350 |
Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Housing & affordability
How it’s calculated →Median rent of $1,088 takes 16% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.
A median home costs 2.9 times median household income here, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.
| Metric | Value | Compared with peers | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home price to income | 2.92 | Top 50% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Homeownership rate | 68.4% | Bottom 35% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Housing units ±422 | 12,476 | Top 5% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median gross rent ±$69 | $1,088 | Top 40% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median home value ±$9,804 | $231,500 | Top 39% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Rent as a share of income | 16.5% | Bottom 34% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Vacancy rate | 5.7% | Bottom 32% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.
Growth & development
How it’s calculated →An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.
Population has grown 2% since 2020, reaching 27,579 in 2024.
Permit activity has fallen for 3 consecutive years.
Population is still rising, but more slowly than in the preceding year.
New construction is predominantly single-family: only 0% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.
At 0.1 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.
Weather & climate
6 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 90°F and January a low of 22°F.
Normal annual precipitation is 38.1 inches, including 11.0 inches of snow.
| Metric | Value | Source period |
|---|---|---|
| Annual precipitation | 38.1" | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Annual snowfall | 11.0" | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average January low | 22°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average July high | 90°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Comfortable months | 6 | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Seasonal temperature swing | 50°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today.
Physical risk
The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are tornado, heat wave and hail.
Low or minimal exposure: cold wave, inland flooding, ice storm, winter weather, landslide, lightning, wildfire, earthquake, strong wind, drought.
Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.
Safety
How it’s measured →These are deaths, not offences. AreaProfile does not publish reported crime, and this is not a substitute for it — it says nothing about burglary, theft or assault.
Clay County records 4.6 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.
Firearm deaths of all intents run at 18.5 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, because nationally most firearm deaths are suicides.
Drug overdose deaths run at 17.3 per 100,000 residents in Clay County.
Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides. The two columns overlap and should not be added.
Age-adjusted rates from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC for Clay County as a whole — these rates are not published below county level. A county can hold both a dense city centre and a suburb whose experience of it is nothing alike, so this describes the county around Gladstone rather than Gladstone itself. That is why AreaProfile shows these figures and does not put them in the Area Score. Where fewer than ten deaths were recorded the count is suppressed at source, and a rate built on single figures moves sharply between releases. What this measure has that reported crime does not: a death certificate is filed whether or not the local police agency submitted a return that year, so the figures stay comparable between places and over time.
What this profile does not cover
Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.
- Reported crime
- The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer is the only source for reported offences with national coverage and a published method, and it requires an API key AreaProfile does not hold. Arrest counts, news volume and commercial “safety scores” are not substituted in the meantime. What is published above under Safety is a different measurement — deaths rather than offences, from death certificates rather than police returns — and it covers no property crime at all.
- Taxes
- No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, transparent methodology and update cadence. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
- Full cost of living
- No public source publishes one with national coverage and a documented method. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings.
Access
3 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 10 miles away.
| Airport | Code | Distance | Longest runway |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kansas City Intl | MCI | 10 mi | 10,801 ft |
| Rosecrans Meml | STJ | 43 mi | 8,061 ft |
| Topeka Rgnl | FOE | 62 mi | 12,803 ft |
Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.
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Other cities in Kansas City, MO-KS
Same metropolitan area, measured the same way| City | County | Population | Area Score | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kansas City | Jackson County | 510,612 | 68 | vs Gladstone |
| Overland Park | Johnson County | 200,306 | 76 | vs Gladstone |
| Kansas City | Wyandotte County | 155,135 | 58 | vs Gladstone |
| Olathe | Johnson County | 145,057 | 78 | vs Gladstone |
| Independence | Jackson County | 121,740 | 63 | vs Gladstone |
| Lee's Summit | Jackson County | 103,656 | 79 | vs Gladstone |
| Shawnee | Johnson County | 68,542 | 77 | vs Gladstone |
| Blue Springs | Jackson County | 59,965 | 79 | vs Gladstone |
| Lenexa | Johnson County | 58,384 | 78 | vs Gladstone |
| Leavenworth | Leavenworth County | 37,195 | 66 | vs Gladstone |
| Leawood | Johnson County | 33,809 | 74 | vs Gladstone |
| Liberty | Clay County | 30,689 | 76 | vs Gladstone |
Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.
Similar places
Matched on AreaProfile signals, not geographyCompare
Put Gladstone side by side with a similar place.
Data & methodology
| Used for | Source | Source period | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access | Federal Aviation Administration Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service | NASR current cycle | 28-day NASR cycle |
| Physical risk | Federal Emergency Management Agency National Risk Index | National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0) | Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current) |
| Climate | NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly) | 1991-2020 Normals | Every ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period) |
| Jobs | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Local Area Unemployment Statistics | June 2026 | Monthly |
| Jobs | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics | 2025 OEWS | Annual (spring release) |
| Demographics | U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program | July 1, 2024 estimate | Annual (vintage released each spring) |
| Development | U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey | 12 months ending July 2026 | Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month |
| Demographics, Housing, Income, Jobs | U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File) | 2024 ACS 5-Year | Annual (5-year estimates released each December) |
| safety | U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics Provisional county-level mortality by intent | April, 2025 to March, 2026 | Quarterly, with a rolling twelve-month window alongside complete calendar years |
Profile recalculated August 30, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology or browse every source.