Overland Park is one of the best cities in the U.S. for people who have disabilities, according to a recent WalletHub study.
The 2024 ranking places Overland Park in the Top 20, with the city placing 12th overall, behind St. Louis (4th) and Scottsdale, Arizona (1st), but ahead of places like Philadelphia (13th), Kansas City, Missouri (25th), and Denver (20th).
“I am proud that WalletHub recognized Overland Park as a best city for people with disabilities,” Mayor Curt Skoog said in a written statement sent via text. He also noted that the things that “make Overland Park a great place for people with disabilities extend to all residents.”
Find WalletHub’s full “Best & Worst Cities for People with Disabilities” list here.
What does WalletHub consider in its ranking?
- In making its ranking of 182 cities for the “Best & Worst Cities for People with Disabilities” list, WalletHub mulled over 30 metrics.
- That includes the employment rate for people who have disabilities, access to special education services and accessibility in the housing stock.
- They also weighed the prevalence of healthcare professionals, Medicaid effectiveness and accessible recreation activities.
Overland Park ranks high for disability employment rate
Overland Park got a total score of 56.41, earning points for the city’s low share of people who have disabilities who live in poverty and its high employment rate for people with disabilities.
The ranking from WalletHub comes as community groups and organizations make concerted efforts to offer more employment opportunities for people with disabilities or bridge the gap in other ways.
For instance, the Golden Scoop, a nonprofit ice cream and coffee shop that recently opened its second Overland Park location this year, employs adults who have intellectual or developmental disabilities.
Ali Abdul-Rauf, an Overland Park resident who is on the autism spectrum, works at the Golden Scoop and also works at Children’s Mercy Hospital on weekdays.
He says he enjoys living and working in Overland Park, and that the people he encounters are “generally kind.”
Amber Schreiber, a founder of the Golden Scoop, said the organization and its mission have had a good partner in the city, which is why she says it was easy to open the second shop in Overland Park at 103rd and U.S. Highway 69.
“I think we’ve just had so much support from the city, starting at the top,” she said, specifically calling out Mayor Skoog, who is a frequent visitor to the first location at 95th Street and Nall Avenue.
Last year, the city raised $10,000 for the Golden Scoop as part of the Overland Park Mayor’s Holiday Fund.
Overland Park “was a game changer” for one family
Abdul-Rauf’s mom, Overland Park Councilmember Inas Younis, said that when her family moved to Overland Park about a decade ago and her son started going to Prairie Star Middle in the Blue Valley School District, “it was a game changer” because he “thrived” there.
Younis has another adult son who also has developmental disabilities, who she said struggled to get support in school for his specific needs before the family moved. He was ultimately placed in a residential facility.
Even before they moved, when they were living in other parts of Johnson County, Younis said they’d long wanted to move to Overland Park.
“I had heard that they have the best special needs services, and the community is so much more receptive to individuals with disabilities,” she said. “I do feel like it is a wonderful place for individuals with disabilities to live, but I could not point to just one thing that makes it so.”
That being said, Younis does feel like Overland Park displays its commitment to being inclusive and welcoming individuals with disabilities in many ways, like wheelchair accessibility at the Deanna Rose Children’s Farmstead and setting aside pool splash time to accommodate people with all kinds of disabilities.
“I am very sensitive to ensuring that anyone with a disability, no matter what it is, feels like they are part of the community,” she said. “Overland Park, up and down … is always having conversations about that, and ‘How do we get there?’”
“It’s important not just to have the infrastructure to accommodate individuals with disabilities, but also to have the mindset and the community that will stand behind that,” she added.
OP recognized for healthcare but has room to grow
- The city also scored well on healthcare factors, like the cost of a doctor’s visit, according to WalletHub.
- However, the quality of life for people who have disabilities in Overland Park ranked toward the bottom of the list, at 150th.
- According to the methodology section of the WalletHub study, they pondered recreation, Medicaid effectiveness, education, business accessibility and other features. The study does not say specifically where Overland Park lost points.
Keep reading: Overland Park among best cities in U.S. to raise a family, new ranking says
