Overland Park is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Kansas. Located in Johnson County, it is also the second-most populous city in the Kansas City metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 197,238.

In 1905, Overland Park’s founder, William B. Strang Jr. arrived and began to plot subdivisions along an old military roadway, which later became the city’s principal thoroughfare. He developed large portions of what would later become downtown Overland Park.

On May 20, 1960, Overland Park was officially incorporated as a “city of first class”, with a population of 28,085. Less than thirty years later, the population had nearly quadrupled to 111,790 in 1990, increasing to 173,250 as of the 2010 census. Overland Park officially became the second largest city in the state, following Wichita, Kansas, after passing Kansas City, Kansas in the early 2000s.

Population growth in the city can mainly be attributed to the traditional greenfield suburban development, appreciated on the city’s annexation map.^{[clarification needed]} Overland Park’s last annexation attempt, in 2008, garnered widespread news coverage after massive outcry from affected residents. Overland Park now^[when?] has a combined land area of 75.37 square miles (195.21 km²) and spans nearly the full North-South length of Johnson County. Since the expansion of Overland Park, state legislators have amended laws governing annexations to require a majority vote of affected residents in all future annexations over 40 acres (0.16 km²).

On April 13, 2014, a pair of shootings committed by a lone gunman occurred at the local Jewish Community Center of Greater Kansas City and Village Shalom, a local Jewish retirement community. A total of three people were killed in both shootings. The suspected gunman, described as a man in his seventies, later identified as Neo-Nazi Frazier Glenn Miller, Jr., was taken into custody.

The service sector constitutes most of the local economy. Health care, retail trade, professional and technical services, finance and insurance, and information technology are the city’s five largest industries. Companies with headquarters in the city include Yellow Corporation, Black & Veatch, Waddell & Reed, Ferrellgas, Ash Grove Cement Company, and Compass Minerals. The city seeks to attract technology companies in particular, such as Netsmart Technologies which relocated its headquarters there in 2011. Restaurant chain Applebee’s was headquartered in the city from 1993 to 2007. It is also home to the Overland Park Xchange building, the 3rd largest office building in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area totalling 735,000 square feet of office space.

As of 2014, 71.8% of the population over the age of 16 was in the labor force. 0.1% was in the armed forces, and 71.7% was in the civilian labor force with 68.1% being employed and 3.7% unemployed. The composition, by occupation, of the employed civilian labor force was: 53.0% in management, business, science, and arts; 26.2% in sales and office occupations; 11.3% in service occupations; 4.0% in natural resources, construction, and maintenance; 5.5% in production, transportation, and material moving. The three industries employing the largest percentages of the working civilian labor force were: educational services, health care, and social assistance (22.5%); professional, scientific, management, administrative, and waste management services (17.4%); and retail trade (10.7%). Sprint is the largest employer in the city followed by Shawnee Mission School District, Johnson County Community College, Blue Valley School District, Black & Veatch, OptumRx, the City of Overland Park, Yellow Corporation, Overland Park Regional Medical Center, and Waddell & Reed.

The cost of living in Overland Park is below average; compared to a U.S. average of 100, the cost of living index for the city is 88.2. As of 2014, the median home value in the city was $225,000, the median selected monthly owner cost was $1,712 for housing units with a mortgage and $570 for those without, and the median gross rent was $974.

It was home to the Sprint Corporation before its merger with T-Mobile in 2020. Part of its former corporate campus was sold in 2019 to a firm named Occidental Management. Telephone company Embarq formerly had its national headquarters in Overland Park before its acquisition by CenturyTel in 2009, and still employs several hundred people in Gardner.

According to the city’s 2016 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the city are:

The Overland Park Arboretum and Botanical Gardens is 300 acres (120 ha). The Oak Park Mall is one of the area’s top shopping locations with nearly 200 stores.

The Johnson County Arts and Heritage Center houses the Johnson County Museum, KidScape, resident theatre company Theatre in the Park, a fine arts program, an emerging arts program, and the Overland Park Historical Society.

The Deanna Rose Children’s Farmstead is a 12-acre (49,000 m²) farm with animals, hay rides, a fishing pond, an early 1900s school house, and a children’s gold mining camp.^{[citation needed]}

The Overland Park Golf Division operates two public golf courses: St. Andrews Golf Club and the Sykes Lady Golf Club. These courses host more than 130,000 rounds of golf a year.^{[citation needed]}

Scheels Overland Park Soccer Complex was named the top soccer facility in the nation by Livability because it is considered the only complex of its kind in the United States. It covers 96 acres (39 ha) and offers 12 lighted, regulation size synthetic, turf fields with a cooling system to control turf temperature on hot days.

The city is also home to Overland Park Convention Center.

In 2015, Topgolf driving range and entertainment complex opened in Overland Park. It offers a driving range, bar, and restaurant complex, and employs more than 450 people.

Historic Downtown Overland Park contains a farmers’ market, the clocktower plaza and a statue of Overland Park City founder William B. Strang Jr. It also hosts the Strang Carriage House and is home to the Overland Park Historical Society.

The Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art is on the campus of Johnson County Community College.

The city has numerous public art works installed under the Public Art Program.

There are two community centers in the city: Matt Ross Community Center and Tomahawk Ridge Community Center.

Overland Park is highly populated by Protestants, reflective of the overall population of the state of Kansas.^{[citation needed]} Large Baptist, Methodist, Nazarene and Pentecostal churches dot the landscape of Overland Park as well as its neighboring suburbs. Overland Park is also home to a relatively small Muslim population. The Islamic Center of Johnson County serves as a mosque and a community center for Muslims in Overland Park. There is also a growing Hindu, Sikh, and Buddhist population in Overland Park and surrounding areas.

Overland Park is also served by a number of synagogues: Congregation Beth Israel Abraham Voliner, an Orthodox synagogue established in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1894. Other Orthodox synagogues include the Chabad House Center which serves as the Chabad Headquarters for Kansas and Missouri, and the Torah Learning Center. There are several other synagogues, too, including Kehilath Israel, Congregation Beth Torah, and The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah.

Also, Overland Park is home to a significant number of Roman Catholics. Overland Park falls within the boundaries of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas. Parishes such as St. Michael the Archangel, Holy Cross, Holy Spirit, Ascension and Queen of the Holy Rosary serve Catholics in Overland Park. Holy Cross offers a Spanish mass for the Hispanic community in the city.

The city has developed a positive reputation in American media as an affordable and family-friendly community. CNNMoney.com has consistently ranked it in the top 10 of its 100 Best Places to Live in the United States. In 2015 Forbes ranked the city among the 25 Best Suburbs for retirement. In 2015 Overland Park was named No 1 in the nation for “Top 10 Best Cities for Families”. It was also recognized as No. 15 for “America’s 50 Best Cities to Live ” by 24/7 Wall Street. It was awarded the No. 1 city in the country for first time home buyers in 2015 by WalletHub, citing its low crime rate and outstanding schools. BusinessWeek ranked the city as one of “The Best Places to Raise Your Kids”, and U.S. News & World Report ranked it among “America’s 10 Best Places to Grow Up”. In 2014, Housing Wire ranked it number three in its list of “The 10 absolute best housing markets for families”. In 2018, it was awarded “Best city to raise a family” by WalletHub and “One of the most popular cities for millennials” by CNBC.

Overland Park is the setting of the 2008 documentary series High School Confidential, the 2009–2011 television series, United States of Tara, and the web series The Most Popular Girls in School.

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