Lafayette County, Missouri

Lafayette County is a county in Missouri, United States, part of the Kansas City metropolitan area and bounded on the north by the Missouri River. It had a population of 32,984 at the 2020 census and covers 639 square miles (1,655 km2) centred near 39°04′N 93°47′W.

Lexington is the county seat, and its postal code is 64067; Odessa is the county’s largest city. The county contains fifteen cities, two villages and eight unincorporated communities, organized across eight civil townships. Lafayette County observes the Central time zone.

Towns & Villages in Lafayette County

Lafayette County has fifteen cities, two incorporated villages and eight unincorporated communities. Three of the cities — Blackburn, Emma and Oak Grove — straddle the county line, with only part of each lying in Lafayette County. Population figures below are 2020 census counts where available; a dash marks an unincorporated place with no separate census figure.

Blackburn’s core sits across the line in Saline County, Emma’s in Saline County, and Oak Grove’s in neighboring Jackson County — each place is listed here because part of its incorporated boundary extends into Lafayette County.

Townships

Lafayette County is one of the Missouri counties that still organizes its rural areas into civil townships, used mainly for road-district and historical purposes rather than day-to-day local government. The eight townships are Clay, Davis, Dover, Freedom, Lexington, Middleton, Sni-A-Bar and Washington; current township-level population figures are not separately published by the Census Bureau, so they are omitted here rather than estimated.

ZIP Codes

• 64067 — Lexington (also serves Lake Lafayette)
• 64076 — Odessa
• 64037 — Higginsville
• 64020 — Concordia
• 64097 — Wellington
• 64096 — Waverly
• 64021 — Corder
• 64011 — Bates City
• 64001 — Alma
• 64071 — Mayview
• 64074 — Napoleon
• 64022 — Dover
• 65327 — Emma

Aullville, Blackburn, Oak Grove and the county’s unincorporated communities share the ZIP code of their nearest post-office town rather than having one of their own.

Geography

Lafayette County sits on the south bank of the Missouri River, which forms the county’s entire northern boundary and gives the area its rolling bluffs and bottomland farm ground. Away from the river the land opens into the gently rolling prairie typical of this part of the state, drained south toward the Blackwater and Sni-A-Bar creeks. The county has 628 square miles of land and 11 square miles of water.

Lafayette County borders Ray County to the northwest, Carroll County to the northeast, Saline County to the east, Pettis County to the southeast, Johnson County to the south, and Jackson County to the west.

Demographics

Lafayette County had a population of 32,984 at the 2020 census, a density of roughly 52 people per square mile of land. Odessa, at 6,428 residents, is the county’s largest community; Lexington and Higginsville, both around 4,700, are the next-largest. Missouri’s statewide median household income is the Missouri median of $68,545; Lafayette County’s own county-level figure is not independently verified here.

Economy & Local Life

Agriculture — corn, soybeans and livestock — remains a mainstay of the county outside its towns, alongside grain elevators and farm-supply businesses along the rail lines that follow the Missouri River valley. Odessa and Concordia, both directly on Interstate 70, have drawn distribution and light-manufacturing employers serving the wider Kansas City market, and a growing share of county residents commute west into the metro area for work. Lexington’s brick downtown, built up around its 19th-century courthouse square, anchors the county’s tourism and antiques trade.

History

Lafayette County was organized on November 16, 1820, carved out of Cooper County, and originally named Lillard County for James Lillard, a delegate to Missouri’s first constitutional convention and first state legislature. It was renamed Lafayette County on February 16, 1825, to honor the Marquis de Lafayette, the Revolutionary War hero who was touring the United States at the time. The county’s best-known historical event is the Battle of Lexington, fought September 18–20, 1861, in which Confederate troops used water-soaked hemp bales as rolling breastworks to take the Union garrison — the site is preserved today as the Battle of Lexington State Historic Site. In 1919 Lexington resident Minnie Mae Talbott became the first woman elected sheriff in the United States, taking the office after her husband’s death in the line of duty.

Getting There

Interstate 70 crosses the southern part of the county through Bates City, Odessa and Concordia, and U.S. Route 24 runs along the Missouri River through Lexington and Wellington toward Kansas City.

• Kansas City — about 40 miles west
• Sedalia — about 35 miles south
• Marshall — about 25 miles east
• Independence — about 30 miles west

Kansas City International Airport is the nearest major commercial airport.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Lafayette County, Missouri?
It is in Missouri, along the south bank of the Missouri River in the western part of the state, within the Kansas City metropolitan area.

What is the population of Lafayette County?
32,984 people, per the 2020 census.

How big is Lafayette County?
639 square miles, of which 628 square miles are land and 11 square miles are water.

What is the county seat of Lafayette County?
Lexington is the county seat.

How many towns are in Lafayette County?
Fifteen cities and two villages are wholly or partly within the county, plus eight unincorporated communities.

What ZIP codes are in Lafayette County?
Thirteen ZIP codes serve the county, including 64067 (Lexington), 64076 (Odessa) and 64037 (Higginsville).

Why is it called Lafayette County?
It was renamed in 1825, four years after its founding as Lillard County, to honor the Marquis de Lafayette during his tour of the United States.

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