Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 3,209, settled in 1904.
Sugar Creek gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $174K, 2.1 years of the Kansas City metro’s $83K median household income. It grades C− overall, 184th among Missouri's 247 graded towns. The low prices come with trade-offs. Residents are less healthy than 92% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates, and its crime rate is higher than 87% of U.S. towns, with 12 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. On the plus side, it has 8 miles of trail. Sugar Creek’s property crime rate is 26.2 per 1,000 residents, where Missouri’s towns sit at 12.4 and U.S. towns at 9.9. River Bluff Nature Reserve, at 313 acres with 2.4 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
Where Sugar Creek beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
6.8% of the town is conserved land, across 8 parks and preserves.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Missouri), ordered by how far Sugar Creek is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,657 in 1930, a peak of 4,755 in 1970, 3,271 in 2020. The archive holds 9 old photos and papers going back to 2004 and 6 maps from 1934 on.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Sugar Creek. Close and well known come first.
Big draw8 mi Stadium & arenaArrowhead Stadium
4 mi Park & preserveSubTropolis
8 mi Stadium & arenaKauffman Stadium
5 mi Theme parkWorlds of Fun
3 mi MuseumHarry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum
9 mi Stadium & arenaCPKC StadiumArrowhead Stadium: Ichabod, CC BY-SA 3.0 · SubTropolis: ErgoSum88, Public domain · Kauffman Stadium: Mysteryman28, Public domain · Worlds of Fun: Tkexb173 at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum: Sallyrob at English Wikipedia, Public domain · CPKC Stadium: elisfkc2, CC BY-SA 2.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Sugar Creek, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Sugar Creek.
Sugar Creek has homes that are cheap against local pay, is one of Missouri’s best towns for the outdoors and has added a third more jobs in ten years.
Its A for the outdoors ranks #6 of 247 in Missouri.
The trail density in Sugar Creek is 0.7 miles per square mile.
| Sugar Creek | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.7 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 6.8% | 2.1% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. River Bluff Nature Reserve | 2.4 mi | 313 |
| 2. Liberty Bend Conservation Area | 2.3 mi | 143 |
| 3. LaBenite Park | 1 mi | 105 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Independence 30 school district. One of its 2 schools is below, with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abraham Mallinson ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades 2–5 | Grades 2–5 | 282 | C− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MO on state tests and graduation
22% of Sugar Creek adults smoke cigarettes. Sugar Creek beats the Missouri average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 19. 18% of Sugar Creek adults report frequent physical distress.
| Sugar Creek | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 17% | 14% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 15% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 36% | 30% | 25% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 19% | 17% |
| What stands out | Sugar Creek | MO |
|---|---|---|
| More adults facing food insecurity | 19.8% | 13.7% |
| More uninsured adults | 12.2% | 8.7% |
| More adults with COPD | 11.1% | 8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Sugar Creek’s violent crime rate is 3.7 per 1,000 residents. Sugar Creek reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 87% report less.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
At 2.1 years of the Kansas City metro’s $83K median household income, the typical home (about $174K) costs less against local pay than in 88% of Missouri towns; that ratio is one input to its A for cost of living.
The typical Sugar Creek home is worth about $174,000, up 3% in a year, 35% below the Missouri typical home. 75% of households own their home in Sugar Creek.
| Sugar Creek | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 75% | 64% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,155 a month | $970 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Jobs based here grew from 749 in 2013 to 1,021.
Most working residents leave Sugar Creek for work: only 3% work in town. Jobs based in Sugar Creek grew to 1,021 in 2023, 272 more than in 2013. The top destinations are Kansas City (33%), Independence (14%) and Lee's Summit (7%).
| Sugar Creek | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 2.8% | 13% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 15% | 14% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 24 minutes | 22 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $62,000 | $62,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Sugar Creek has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 88°, January nights drop to 20° and about 13 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 63% of U.S. communities. Since 1982, 12 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Sugar Creek.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Adults 35 to 64 are 42% of residents (37% statewide). Sugar Creek has lost 3% of its people since 2020, down to 3,209 in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. 23% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 32% across Missouri.
| Sugar Creek | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 15% | 17% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 23% | 22% | 29% |
55% women, 45% men
About 81 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±4.5 points). Across Missouri, 50.7% of residents are women.
| Sugar Creek | MO | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 16% | 11.9% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 8.3% | 10.4% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 6.2% | 9.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 12.7% | 13.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 13.9% | 12.8% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 17.9% | 11.6% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 10.1% | 13% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 8.6% | 10.6% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 6.3% | 7.3% | 7% |
| No diploma | 11.7% | 8.1% | 10.4% |
| High school | 39.3% | 30.2% | 26% |
| Some college | 23.9% | 20.8% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 2.1% | 8.4% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 17.5% | 19.8% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 5.6% | 12.6% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 3,200, single groups can be off by several points
11 within 15 miles of the center of Sugar Creek
About 3 of every 100 Sugar Creek residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Missouri.
Where Sugar Creek’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
City in Jackson and Clay counties in Missouri, United States
Sugar Creek is a city in both Jackson and Clay counties in Missouri, United States. The population was 3,271 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Kansas City metropolitan area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Sugar Creek.
| Town | MO rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sugar Creek | #184 | C− | A | D | C+ | D |
| Independence | #202 | C− | B+ | D | C+ | C− |
| Kansas City | #200 | C− | C+ | D− | C+ | C+ |
| River Bend | — | — | — | — | — | — |
River Bend isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Sugar Creek with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Sugar Creek grades C− overall, better than 21% of U.S. towns and #184 of 247 in Missouri. It grades D for health, D for safety and C+ for schools. Health is its weak spot, with a D.
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.
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