Blue SummitMO
A town of 1,156.
Is Blue Summit a good place to live?
The best of Blue Summit’s subject grades is an A+ for cost of living; the weakest is a D− for health. 37% of residents live below the poverty line in Blue Summit, above both the Missouri town median (14%) and the median of U.S. towns (9.6%). Only 16 of Missouri’s 419 towns score lower on health. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 79% of U.S. towns. Blue Summit has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
What makes Blue Summit stand out
Where Blue Summit beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Jobs vs. working residents
| Widest gap | Blue Summit | MO |
|---|---|---|
| More uninsured adults | 20.8% | 8.7% |
1,156 people, and everyone knows the way
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
How Blue Summit grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Missouri), ordered by how far Blue Summit is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Arrowhead Stadium and 34 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Blue Summit. Close and well known come first.
Big draw3 mi Stadium & arenaArrowhead Stadium
3 mi Stadium & arenaKauffman Stadium
5 mi Park & preserveSubTropolis
6 mi Theme parkWorlds of Fun
5 mi Stadium & arenaCPKC Stadium
5 mi Stadium & arenaT-Mobile CenterPhoto credits
Arrowhead Stadium: Ichabod, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Kauffman Stadium: Mysteryman28, Public domain · SubTropolis: ErgoSum88, Public domain · Worlds of Fun: Tkexb173 at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · CPKC Stadium: elisfkc2, CC BY-SA 2.0 · T-Mobile Center: Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0
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Moving to Blue Summit: who provides what
Blue Summit is unincorporated, so Jackson County and regional agencies provide most services.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Blue Summit.
Blue Summit stands out in Missouri and nationally: a larger share of its adults report frequent mental distress
Nearly a third of Blue Summit adults worry about having enough food, where Missouri’s towns sit at 15% and U.S. towns at 14%. Among 248 Missouri towns, just 4 have a higher share of adults who say their health is fair or poor than Blue Summit. Add to that, in Blue Summit, 35% of adults feel lonely. Of 32 CDC measures, Blue Summit beats the Missouri average on 1 and trails it on 25.
| Blue Summit | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 35% | 22% | 19% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 17% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 23% | 19% | 17% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 15% | 14% |
| What stands out | Blue Summit | MO |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 6.7% | 8.6% |
| More uninsured adults | 20.8% | 8.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Blue Summit has 2.4 jobs for every working resident, and 550 people commute in
2.2% of working residents work locally in Blue Summit. Since 2013, Blue Summit has added 147 jobs, to 555 in 2023. For Blue Summit, the mean commuting time is 27 minutes. The top destinations are Kansas City (31%), Independence (11%) and North Kansas City (5%).
| Blue Summit | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 2.2% | 13% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 27 minutes | 22 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $59,000 | $62,000 | $80,000 |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Blue Summit has four seasons and hot summers
The midsummer high for Blue Summit comes to 88°F.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The biggest natural risk in Blue Summit is inland flooding, at a moderate overall level
FEMA puts 52% of Blue Summit’s expected hazard losses down to inland flooding, and 21% to tornadoes. Expected damage from storms and floods is higher here than in 58% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
0% of Blue Summit is conserved land
Count the trails in 1 park or preserve and they come to 0.2 miles. Blue Summit’s trail network density is 0.4 miles per square mile.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Fire Fighters Park | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Everything we know about Blue Summit
Colleges nearby
17 within 15 miles of the center of Blue Summit
About 8 of every 100 Blue Summit residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Missouri.
Every workday, about 550 people come to Blue Summit for work
Where Blue Summit’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
About Blue Summit
Census-Designated Place in Missouri, United States
Blue Summit is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) lodged between Kansas City and Independence in Jackson County, Missouri, United States. It is part of the Kansas City metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, Blue Summit had a population of 658. It is located in the Independence School District, and is zoned to Korte Elementary, Nowlin Middle School, and Van Horn High School. It was previously in the Kansas City, Missouri School District, where it was zoned to West Rock Creek Elementary School, Nowlin Middle School, and Van Horn High School. Metropolitan Community College has the Independence school district in its taxation area. The community is served by Missou…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 0.5 sq mi
- Elevation
- 896 ft
Questions about Blue Summit
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Blue Summit, MO expensive?
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades A+.