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- Kansas City, Missouri
How walkable is Kansas City, Missouri?
By Oscar Higson-Spence. Updated
Kansas City, Missouri has a walkability score of 61 out of 100 across the 5 km around its center, which makes it somewhat walkable: some errands can be done on foot. It is the joint 38th most walkable of the 58 cities ranked in the United States, with 2 others.
What's within walking distance of the center
1,171 shops, restaurants, parks and other everyday places are mapped within a 30 minute walk of central Kansas City, Missouri. The nearest grocery is about 6 minutes away on foot. It earns full or nearly full points for groceries, restaurants & bars, shopping, coffee, banks, parks and culture & entertainment.
Groceries
- Kcgroceryservice.com, 7 min
- The Sundry, 8 min
Restaurants & bars
- The Rochester, 1 min
- Pokesan, 1 min
Shopping
- Encompas, 1 min
- Something White Bridal Boutique, 2 min
Coffee
- Starbucks, 4 min
- Messenger Coffee, 4 min
Banks
- BOK Financial, 5 min
- Arvest Bank, 5 min
Parks
- Oppenstein Brothers Memorial Park, 8 min
- Ilus Davis Park, 11 min
Schools
- Gordon Parks Elementary School, 12 min
- School of Economics, 13 min
Books & libraries
- Turnsol Books, 12 min
- Kansas City Public Library, 13 min
Culture & entertainment
- B&b Theatres Mainstreet Kc At The Power & Light District, 4 min
- Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, 4 min
Measured from the center at 39.0958, -94.5815, the point near Kansas City, Missouri's middle with the most places in walking range. Walking times assume 80 m per minute along an estimated street route.
Street layout
Within 800 m of the center there are about 72 street intersections per km², and blocks average 118 m long. Sparser streets or longer blocks reduce the score by 1%, since they make walks longer than the straight-line distance suggests.
How far walkability reaches
Kansas City, Missouri's score of 61 is the average across the 5 km around its center, the point with the most everyday places within a walk. Walkability averages 86 within 1 km of the center, 63 from 1 to 3 km out and 56 from 3 to 5 km out. 14 of the 91 points within 5 km fall on water or on land without streets, such as hillsides, forest or farmland, and are left out, so the score describes only the built-up part. 39% of the sampled area scores 70 or more, where most errands can be done on foot. Walkability falls off steeply away from the center, so check a specific address on the map.
- 90+
- 70–89
- 50–69
- 25–49
- 0–24
Each hexagon is the score at a point, 1 km from its neighbours, across the 5 km around central Kansas City, Missouri. Rings mark 1, 3 and 5 km from the center. Gaps are water or land without streets.
| Area | Score | Scoring 70+ |
|---|---|---|
| Center | 95 | 100% |
| Within 1 km | 86 | 86% |
| 1 to 3 km out | 63 | 48% |
| 3 to 5 km out | 56 | 27% |
Nearby cities
| City | Distance | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Omaha, Nebraska, United States | 267 km | 54 |
| Wichita, Kansas, United States | 287 km | 53 |
| Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States | 351 km | 50 |
| Oklahoma City, United States | 481 km | 57 |
| Memphis, Tennessee, United States | 596 km | 57 |
Questions about walking in Kansas City, Missouri
Is Kansas City, Missouri a walkable city?
Partly. Kansas City, Missouri has a walkability score of 61 out of 100 across the 5 km around its center, which makes it somewhat walkable: some errands can be done on foot. Its center scores 95. The score covers about 80 km² around the busiest point rather than the whole city, and suburbs further out are usually less walkable, so check a specific address on the map. It ranks joint 38th of 58 cities in the United States and joint 439th of 690 worldwide on How Walkable.
What is the most walkable city in the United States?
New York City is the most walkable of the 58 cities ranked in the United States, with a score of 93. Kansas City, Missouri ranks joint 38th with 61.
How does Kansas City, Missouri compare with nearby cities?
Kansas City, Missouri is more walkable than its nearest ranked neighbours: it scores 61, against Omaha, Nebraska (54, 267 km away), Wichita, Kansas (53, 287 km away) and Tulsa, Oklahoma (50, 351 km away).
Which part of Kansas City, Missouri is most walkable?
Kansas City's most walkable area is its center, the point near the middle of the city with the most places in walking range, which scores 95. Walkability averages 86 within 1 km of it. Beyond 2.5 km, it holds up best to the south (averaging 81) and falls most to the north-west (38).
Why is Kansas City, Missouri's score different from its Walk Score?
Walk Score's city scores average every neighborhood within the city limits, weighted by where people live, so they count outer suburbs that the 5 km around Kansas City, Missouri's center leaves out, and they are usually lower. Address by address the two agree closely: across 46 addresses in the United States and Canada, How Walkable's scores were 5.9 points from Walk Score's on average, as the accuracy study at howwalkable.com/accuracy shows.
How is Kansas City, Missouri's walkability score calculated?
For Kansas City, Missouri it is the average of 77 points spaced 1 km apart within 5 km of its busiest point, leaving out water and land without streets; 30 of them score 70 or more. Each point counts groceries, restaurants, shops, cafés, banks, parks, schools, libraries and cultural venues within a 30 minute walk, gives nearer places more weight, and loses up to 20% where streets are sparse or blocks are long, using open map data from Overture Maps (release 2026-09-23.1) and OpenStreetMap. It measures what is within a walk, not what the walk is like: pavements, traffic, safety, hills and heat are not part of the score.
This page is generated from open map data with a published walkability method, explained in the methodology. Places from Overture Maps release 2026-09-23.1. City position and population from GeoNames.
Ask about walking anywhere in ChatGPT with the How Walkable app, for example "How walkable is Kansas City, Missouri?"