Welcome to Independence ...

The city of Independence is primarily located in Jackson County<1> and is the County Seat for Jackson County. A portion of Independence extends into Clay County.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Independence, you might consider that their post office opened  in 1827.

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Independence has a population of 116,925 people<2> (see below for details).

Independence is 850 feet [259 m] above sea level.<3>.

Time Zone: Independence lies in the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT) and observes daylight saving time

The telephone area code for Independence: (816)

The ZIP codes for Independence: 64050-64058<4>

Websites for Independence ...

Official Website:   www.ci.independence.mo.us/

Chamber of Commerce:   www.independencechamber.com/

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Independence had an population of 116,925 people (or an increase of 3.21% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Independence had a population of 116,830 people (which is 17.33% of the total population of Jackson County). This makes Independence the county's 2nd most populous community.

The population of Independence represents 1.95% of the population of Missouri (which has 5,988,927 people), making it the state's 4th most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 116,830 people, the population of Independence increased 3.13% from the 2000 Census (which had a count of 113,288 people).

More information can be found on the Census Page for Independence.

Communities Also Named Independence ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 50 communities that are also named Independence - they are located in Alabama, Arkansas, California (2), Colorado (3), Idaho, Illinois, Indiana (2), Iowa, Kansas (2), Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota (2), Mississippi (2), Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota (2), Ohio (2), Oklahoma (2), Oregon, Pennsylvania (3), Tennessee (3), Texas (2), Utah (2), Virginia, Washington (2), West Virginia (4) and Wisconsin.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Independence.

Communities near Independence ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Independence.

• Kansas City
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kansas City
  • Kansas City is located in Jackson County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 497,159 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kansas City <5>
• Overland Park
  (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Overland Park have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Overland Park
  • Overland Park is located in Johnson County (KS)
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 197,381 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Overland Park <5>
• Kansas City
  (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kansas City
  • Kansas City is located in Wyandotte County (KS)
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 152,727 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kansas City <5>
• Lee's Summit
  (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lee's Summit have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lee's Summit
  • Lee's Summit is located in Cass County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 101,467 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lee's Summit <5>
• Blue Springs
  (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Springs
  • Blue Springs is located in Jackson County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 56,547 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Blue Springs <5>
• Lenexa
  (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lenexa have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lenexa
  • Lenexa is located in Johnson County (KS)
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 56,156 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lenexa <5>
• Leawood
  (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leawood
  • Leawood is located in Johnson County (KS)
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 34,669 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Leawood <5>
• Liberty
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty
  • Liberty is located in Clay County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 32,418 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Liberty <5>
• Raytown
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Raytown have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raytown
  • Raytown is located in Jackson County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 28,816 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Raytown <5>
• Gladstone
  (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gladstone have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gladstone
  • Gladstone is located in Clay County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 27,677 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gladstone <5>

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Independence. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Independence.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Independence. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Independence.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Independence. Our list includes 45 papers. See our Newspapers Page for Independence.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Independence ...

Looking for more information about Independence? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

In addition to the Tourism page for Independence, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Independence.

Adding Independence to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Independence in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Independence was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<7>

From that list, the Independence post office opened in 1827.

We also found Independence in the book titled U.S. Post Offices (Oct. 1846).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Independence.

Off-the-Road Links ...

The official website for Independence: www.ci.independence.mo.us/

The official website for Jackson County: www.co.jackson.mo.us/

The official website for State of Missouri: https://www.mo.gov/