Cass County, Missouri

Cass County is a county in Missouri, United States, about 30 miles south of downtown Kansas City. It had a population of 107,824 at the 2020 census, an estimated 115,859 by 2025, and covers 697 square miles (1,810 km2) of land centred near 38°39′N 94°21′W.

Harrisonville is the county seat; its postal code is 64701. The county holds 17 incorporated cities — including thin slivers of Kansas City and Lee’s Summit that reach in from neighboring Jackson County — 5 incorporated villages and 10 unincorporated communities, and it runs on Central Time. Its FIPS code is 29037.

Towns & Villages in Cass County

Cass County has 32 named places on record: 17 incorporated cities, 5 incorporated villages and 10 unincorporated communities with no local government of their own. Missouri classifies its smaller municipalities as villages, a legal tier below city status, rather than towns.

Three places on this list are mostly homed elsewhere. Kansas City’s limits stretch south into a thin strip of northwestern Cass County, but the city’s population and downtown core sit almost entirely in Jackson County, so no population figure is listed here. Lee’s Summit works the same way — its Cass County slice is a small annexation on the city’s southern edge. Pleasant Hill straddles the Cass–Jackson line too, though most of its 8,777 residents live on the Cass County side. Drexel sits mostly across the line in Bates County, with only a western edge of the city reaching into Cass.

ZIP Codes

• 64701 — Harrisonville
• 64012 — Belton (also serves Loch Lloyd and Riverview Estates)
• 64083 — Raymore
• 64080 — Pleasant Hill
• 64078 — Peculiar
• 64747 — Garden City (also serves Gunn City)
• 64725 — Archie
• 64742 — Drexel
• 64734 — Cleveland (also serves West Line)
• 64746 — Freeman (also serves Lake Annette)
• 64739 — Creighton
• 64743 — East Lynne
• 64090 — Strasburg

Lake Winnebago and Baldwin Park have no ZIP code of their own; mail there is delivered under a neighboring town’s code. The ten unincorporated communities and the Cass County slivers of Kansas City and Lee’s Summit use ZIP codes centred in the adjoining cities, not codes of their own.

Geography

Cass County sits in Missouri’s Osage Plains region, a belt of gently rolling prairie and farmland southwest of Kansas City. Of its 702 square miles, 697 are land and 5.7 are water, about 0.8 percent — the county has no large natural lake, and Lake Winnebago and the private Loch Lloyd development are both built reservoirs rather than natural bodies of water.

Jackson County lies to the north, Johnson County to the east, Henry County to the southeast, Bates County to the south, Miami County, Kansas, to the west, and Johnson County, Kansas, to the northwest. Cass County is one of the few counties in the country to border two counties of the same name in different states — Johnson County, Missouri, and Johnson County, Kansas, both touch its edges. Jackson County, Henry County, Bates County and Miami County round out its borders.

Demographics

Cass County had a population of 107,824 at the 2020 census, and a 2025 estimate puts the county near 115,859 residents. Belton and Raymore are the two largest communities, together holding well over a quarter of the county’s population; Raymore was ranked the fastest-growing city in Missouri between July 2022 and July 2023, adding 4.7 percent in a single year. Median household income runs $87,535 as of 2024, notably higher than Missouri’s statewide 2023 figure of $68,545. Population density works out to roughly 155 people per square mile of land, reflecting the county’s position inside the Kansas City metropolitan area.

Economy & Local Life

Health care and social assistance employs the most workers in the county, about 7,642 people, followed by retail trade at 7,140 and manufacturing at 5,658, out of a total workforce of 56,716. A large share of residents commute north into Kansas City and Jackson County for work, a pattern typical of the county’s northern cities — Belton, Raymore, Peculiar and Pleasant Hill — which have grown fastest as Kansas City’s suburbs pushed south along the I-49/US 71 corridor. Harrisonville, Archie, Garden City and the county’s smaller cities further south remain more agricultural, anchored by row-crop and cattle farming on the Osage Plains.

History

The Missouri General Assembly organized the county in 1835 as Van Buren County; the first county court met at James McClellan’s residence southeast of Peculiar that September. In 1849 the legislature renamed it for U.S. Senator Lewis Cass of Michigan. Harrisonville was platted in 1837 by commissioners Enoch Rice, Francis Prine and Welcome Scott, and named for U.S. Representative Albert G. Harrison.

In 1863, Union forces depopulated Harrisonville and much of the surrounding county under General Order No. 11, an effort to cut off local support for Confederate guerrilla fighters along the Missouri–Kansas border. Most of the town’s buildings, including the jail, were burned. Fort Harrisonville stood as a Union stronghold for a brief period afterward, sheltering families loyal to the Union. The county rebuilt slowly through the following decades.

Getting There

Interstate 49 and US Route 71 run north–south through the county’s eastern half, the main corridor linking Harrisonville to Kansas City. Missouri Routes 2, 7, 58 and 291 cross the county as well.

• Kansas City — about 30 miles north
• Warrensburg — about 25 miles east
• Clinton — about 35 miles southeast
• Butler — about 20 miles south

Kansas City International Airport, roughly 45 miles north of Harrisonville, is the nearest major commercial airport. Amtrak’s Southwest Chief and Missouri River Runner trains both stop at Kansas City Union Station, about 30 miles north of the county.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Cass County located?
It sits in western Missouri’s Osage Plains, about 30 miles south of downtown Kansas City, bordered by Jackson, Johnson, Henry and Bates counties in Missouri and Miami and Johnson counties in Kansas.

What is the population of Cass County?
107,824 at the 2020 census, with a 2025 estimate near 115,859.

How big is Cass County?
702 square miles (1,820 km2) in total, of which 697 square miles are land.

What is the county seat of Cass County?
Harrisonville, platted in 1837, is the county seat.

How many towns and cities are in Cass County?
17 incorporated cities — including partial slivers of Kansas City and Lee’s Summit — plus 5 incorporated villages and 10 unincorporated communities.

What ZIP codes does Cass County use?
64701 for Harrisonville, 64012 for Belton, 64083 for Raymore, 64080 for Pleasant Hill, 64078 for Peculiar, and smaller codes for the county’s other cities and villages.

What is Cass County known for?
The 1863 depopulation of Harrisonville under Civil War General Order No. 11, and being one of the few US counties to border two same-named counties — Johnson County, Missouri, and Johnson County, Kansas.

More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Missouri.