Skip the Surprises: A Local Transplant's Complete Guide to Moving to Kansas City

Greetings and salutations! I’m Amber, your ApartmentHomeLiving.com Local Expert for Kansas City, and as a relatively recent transplant (I moved here from Ohio in 2020), I’m here with a step-by-step guide to help make your KC move easier. One of the most exciting things about moving to Kansas City is the sheer variety of, well, just about everything that you’ll find here.

For starters, even though it’s a running joke around here that Kansas City, Kansas doesn’t actually exist (seriously—most people will assume you live on the Missouri side, and we KCMO residents like to pretend that there’s no such thing as KCK), you can choose between living on the Missouri side or the Kansas side of the metro.

Current Rental Pricing for Apartments in Kansas City

There’s also an incredible amount of diversity in neighborhoods. Want to immerse yourself in arts and culture? Check out The Crossroads. Looking for a more cosmopolitan urban lifestyle? Downtown KCMO is for you. Overland Park gives you the iconic suburban American lifestyle, and areas like Liberty offer a blend of suburban living with a more relaxed Midwestern vibe. Whatever you’re into, there’s a neighborhood here to match.

That variety is also the reason why moving to Kansas City takes a little more planning than newcomers sometimes expect. Below, I’ll show you where to get started with the planning process—and a few things you’ll definitely need to know so that they don’t take you by surprise during your KC relocation.

1. Where Should You Live When Moving to Kansas City?

As I said, Kansas City has a ton of diversity when it comes to neighborhoods. That’s coupled with the fact that the city is a bit spread out, too. When you’re planning your relocation, the first thing you should do is figure out which part of KC is for you—and that decision should be based on what areas make your daily life easiest, and which areas match your vibe.

You can start your search with Kansas City, Missouri apartments—that will show you the bulk of what is available in the metro, and you can narrow it down by neighborhood from there. But a broader Kansas City search often leaves out other key parts of the metro. These include Liberty, Missouri, which is in the northeastern part of the metro; Independence, which is on the eastern side of the metro; Kansas City, Kansas, which is on the western side of the metro; and Overland Park, which is on the Kansas side, in the southwestern part of the metro.

If at all possible, I highly recommend visiting the city before you choose an area. Check out the spots that interest you—especially if you’re considering the KCMO downtown area. That’s a spot where the vibe can change from one block to the next: a bustling nightlife in one spot, murals and arts in the next area, a quiet library district a block away from that, and so on.

While you’re here, it’s smart to test out your hypothetical commute, if you’ll have one. Kansas City has an amazingly well-connected highway system that will get you from one side of the city to the other much faster than you’d expect in many other cities, but even so, if you’ll be working in Overland Park, you may not want to sign a Northland lease when there are many options that will put you much closer to the places you need to go.

2. What Should You Check Before Signing a Lease in Kansas City?

Once you’ve narrowed down the neighborhood, the next step is to identify a few buildings, apartment complexes, or rental units that interest you. Instead of choosing based on the advertised rent, get in touch with property managers.

First and foremost, ask which utilities are included. If any are not included—particularly gas and electricity—ask to see the average costs for these over the course of a year. Kansas City has hot summers and cold winters, so this will indicate which rentals are more energy efficient than others.

You should also ask about any other additional fees, including pet rent, available internet providers, trash fees, package and mail handling fees, parking fees, and any amenity fees. In the Downtown area, for example, many of the high-rises and skyscrapers have a concierge trash service that will pick up garbage bags that you place beside your apartment’s door. While convenient, this can add $100 to your rent. Parking is a big issue in the downtown area, too. Many buildings will give you access to their parking garage, but this will cost you around $80 to $100 per month. Still, it’s a fee well worth paying because street parking is limited—and parking your car a couple of blocks away from your building after a big Costco run is the worst, trust me.

3. How to Set Up Utilities Before Moving

Utility setup is pretty easy in KC. All of the major providers will let you transfer or schedule new service to align with your move-in date.

For electricity, Evergy is the major provider to the entire metro. If you live on the Missouri side, Spire will most likely be your gas provider, but the Empire District Gas Company serves Liberty and some outlying areas. On the Kansas side, Kansas Gas Service is the big natural gas provider, but some outlying communities have Atmos. KC Water covers water and sewer for KCMO, but some areas—especially on the Kansas side—may be served by other providers, including the Kansas City Board of Public Utilities, which manages water and electric for KCK and Wyandotte County.

I’m not generally one to promote one brand over another, but when it comes to internet service, just go with Google Fiber if at all possible. There are other options in many areas, like AT&T, Comcast, and Spectrum, but people often report the usual problems with these providers—occasional to frequent outages, slow service at times, and so on. Meanwhile, Google Fiber serves most of the metro, and the service is so reliable that people who work from home often make this a top priority when choosing a place to live. I’ve had the service myself for the entirety of the six years that I’ve lived here, and I’ve only had two outages. The first was entirely my fault because I messed something up when attempting to DIY upgrade my WiFi, and the second wasn’t even a full outage, just weirdly intermittent service for a few hours until they resolved the issue.

4. How Can You Make Moving Day Easier in Kansas City?

The biggest tip that I have is this: if you plan to move into one of the high-rises or skyscrapers, verify moving logistics ahead of time. Will you be able to pull a U-Haul into the parking garage, or can they make space for you to park it out front? Will there be a freight elevator available so that you can move larger furniture up to your floor? Most property managers will have a ton of tips and tricks specific to their building. For example, you can usually park a U-Haul in front of your building while you’re unloading—but you probably won’t be able to drop pod service containers on the sidewalk. Check with your property manager before you start packing. They’ll be your best resource when it comes to logistics specific to your building.

Other than that, pay attention to the weather. Fall is the best time to move if you can manage it because the weather is generally gorgeous with little rain. Spring is the second best time—but you may find yourself dodging thunderstorms. Winters aren’t bad, either. They’re milder than the Ohio winters that I’m used to, but you can expect the occasional ice storm between December and February, and sometimes we get a nasty cold snap or two later in the winter. Summers are where things can get difficult since it can get super hot and kind of humid. Again, it’s not as bad as the soupy average 70% humidity Ohio summers that I’m used to, but lugging boxes is not fun even in the relatively dry 100-degree heat we sometimes see later in the summer.

5. What Paperwork Should New Kansas City Residents Handle?

Here’s where I’ll break things down into specifics since there are some key differences in how things work between the Kansas side of the metro and the Missouri side.

License, Registration, and Personal Property Tax in Missouri

If you’re coming to KCMO from another state, you’re required to apply for a Missouri driver's license as soon as you establish residency. You’ll also have 30 days after becoming a resident to title any vehicles. If your lender holds the out-of-state title, see if you can get a copy before you move, or start the registration process as soon as you possibly can after the move. Missouri does have a process for requesting the title from a lienholder, but it can be time-consuming.

From there, you’ll need to register your vehicle, which is a multi-step process involving a vehicle inspection, a visit to the tax office to get your vehicle on file, and then obtaining the registration itself. The tax assessor will then send you a bill for personal property tax on your vehicle, which will be due by the end of the year.

License, Registration, and Personal Property Tax in Kansas

In KCK, you’ll have 90 days after establishing residency to transfer an out-of-state driver’s license. For vehicles, you’ll need to get a Motor Vehicle Examination done, then take the inspection documentation, title or other ownership documents, and proof of insurance to the motor vehicle office. This needs to be done within 90 days of the vehicle being located in the state. And in Kansas, you’ll also have to pay personal property taxes on the vehicle—but they’re due at registration instead of the end of the year.

6. Is There Anything Else New Kansas City Residents Need to Know?

Yes—there are a couple of lighthearted things you should know, and one more serious matter. Let’s start with the lighthearted stuff.

Not Just “Midwest Nice”: Genuine Friendliness and Civic Pride

First of all, this city is off the charts when it comes to civic pride, which is why many of us dress like tourists despite having lived here for years. One of the easiest ways to fit in among the locals is to don a Kansas City-themed T-shirt.

Next up, people here are by and large friendly—really friendly. As someone who spent most of her life in the eastern half of the country where people tend to ignore one another, this came as a shock to me. And I’m not alone in this. Since moving here, I’ve encountered many other transplants who have also found themselves surprised by how open and welcoming people are.

Random strangers will chat with you no matter what you’re doing. Riding the streetcar? Expect a conversation about the weather. If you’re standing in an elevator or checkout line, there’s a very high probability that someone will strike up a conversation by saying “How ‘bout them Chiefs?” On the day that I moved here, I was loading boxes from my storage unit into my car, and a woman who noticed the Ohio plates on my car came up to welcome me to KC, then spent half an hour telling me all of her favorite things about this city. After six years of living here, I could tell you dozens more stories about genuinely lovely strangers being awesome. It’s one of the things that really made me fall in love with this city.

The KCMO Earnings Tax

Now, on to the more serious matter: Kansas City, Missouri, has a 1% earnings tax that is due at income tax time. This means that if you’re a KCMO resident, you’ll need to pay this tax even if you work outside of KCMO. You’ll also have to pay if you’re not a resident, but you work within KCMO. So let’s say you’re living in KCK but working in Downtown KCMO. You’ll owe the 1% earnings tax on April 15.

There are no earnings taxes on the Kansas side of the city, so if you both live and work in Kansas, you won’t have to worry about this.

Lessons Learned From My Own Relocation

The biggest lessons I learned during my own relocation to Kansas City were these: pay attention to which side of the state line you’re on, and explore the city thoroughly.

The state line is important mainly because the rules for things like taxes and vehicle registration differ depending on which side you live on. Neither side is easier or cheaper than the other, just different, and you don’t want to end up with surprise tax bills or hassles getting your license and registration sorted out.

Explore because every neighborhood has its own unique flavor and culture, and because this city is packed to the brim with surprises. You may turn a corner to discover an entire city block where the walls are beautifully painted with murals and street art, or there’s a little museum, boutique, or restaurant tucked away that you didn’t know you needed to visit until you spotted it. Start with your neighborhood and branch out from there. It won’t take you long to discover why this is such a great place to live.