Olathe, KS, is one of the fastest-growing cities in Johnson County, offering a wide range of real estate options. From golf course communities like Cedar Creek and Prairie Highlands to neighborhoods such as Forest View, Arbor Creek and Stonebridge, Olathe homes for sale deliver exceptional value and amenities.
The city is known for Lake Olathe, Heritage Park and the Mahaffie Stagecoach Farmstead, providing abundant outdoor recreation. With easy access to I-35 and K-7, Olathe real estate attracts buyers looking for spacious lots, new construction homes in a convenient suburban setting.
Location and highways in Olathe
Olathe is the seat of Johnson County, Kansas, and lies near the middle of the county. Downtown Kansas City is about 20 miles to the northeast. The city was incorporated in 1857 and has been the county seat since 1859.
The U.S. Census Bureau put the population at 150,025 on July 1, 2025, compared with 141,291 in 2020. The land area is 64.7 square miles (2025).
I-35, finished through the city in 1961, connects Olathe to downtown Kansas City and carries US-56 and US-169 along the same road. K-7 is the north-south route just west of downtown Olathe. K-10 goes west to Lawrence.
City Hall is at 100 E. Santa Fe Street. From there it is about 22 miles and 30 minutes to the Power & Light District in downtown Kansas City, mostly on I-35. The drive to the Kansas City International Airport terminal, by I-35, I-635 and I-29, is about 39 miles and 51 minutes.
Those are OpenStreetMap routing figures from October 2026 with no traffic in them. Time the trip yourself at the hour you would make it.
Neighborhoods and housing in Olathe
Olathe has 54,594 homes in the American Community Survey’s 2020-2024 estimates. Single-family detached houses are about 72% of them. Attached houses such as townhomes are about 9%, and about 15% of homes are in buildings of five or more units. Owners live in about 75% of the occupied homes.
The median year built is 1994. About 11% of homes went up before 1970, about 31% from 1970 through 1989 and about 38% in 2000 or later. Of that last group, 1,684 were built in 2020 or later.
The oldest blocks are downtown, by the county courthouse and Santa Fe Street, where the town was first laid out. An annexation in 1968 tripled the size of the city.
The locations and build years below are from the City’s subdivision and parcel maps and Johnson County’s road map (October 2026):
- Cedar Creek is in the northwest part of the city, on Cedar Creek Parkway south of K-10. The City counts it among its developments of the 1980s, and the parcel map has houses there from 1989 on.
- Forest View runs from Clare Road east to Hedge Lane between 119th and 127th streets. The Estates, the Hills and the Meadows are its three parts, and its houses were built from 2006 on.
- Persimmon Pointe is west of Hedge Lane and south of 127th Street. Houses were built there from 2003 to 2017 and townhomes from 2006 to 2012.
- Raintree is east of Mur-Len Road and north of Santa Fe Street, which is also 135th Street. Its houses were built from 1973 to 1999.
- Prairie Highlands is in western Olathe, from 143rd to 151st streets, around Prairie Highlands Golf Club at 14695 S. Inverness Street. The houses were built from 2001 on.
- Stonebridge sits on both sides of Mur-Len Road, north of 167th Street, between Ridgeview Road and Black Bob Road. Houses there were built from 2014 on.
- Boulder Hills is west of Black Bob Road, from 167th to 175th streets, with houses from 2017 on.
The Olathe home search shows current Heartland MLS listings in any of them.
School districts in Olathe
Five school districts have territory inside the city limits. Olathe Public Schools (USD 233) is the district for most of the city. The east side has a part in Blue Valley USD 229, the south a part in Spring Hill USD 230, the southwest a part in Gardner Edgerton USD 231 and the northwest a part in De Soto USD 232.
The district lines ignore city limits and subdivision names, and each school is assigned by address. Enter an address in the Johnson County school locator to see its district and schools.
A board decision on proposed school closures in Olathe Public Schools is scheduled for October 2026. The district plans to have new attendance boundaries for the 2027-28 school year set by January 2027, and it posts both on its boundaries and school closures page.
Home values in Olathe
The census median value of owner-occupied homes in Olathe is $364,700 (ACS 2020-2024 five-year estimates). The survey’s margin of error on that figure is about $5,300. It is what owners told the survey their homes were worth, so it does not come from sales or from the county’s appraisals.
Each home also has an appraised value from the Johnson County Appraiser, dated January 1 of the year. Any property can be looked up in the county’s Land Records search, and Jennifer can pull the county’s record for a home you are considering.
For a market estimate of a home you own, start with a home valuation.
Property taxes in Olathe
Kansas taxes a home on 11.5% of its appraised value (K.S.A. 79-1439). That assessed value is multiplied by the total mill levy and divided by 1,000. A mill is $1 of tax on each $1,000 of assessed value.
These were the 2025 levies on a home inside the city limits with an Olathe Public Schools address:
| Levied by | Mills, 2025 |
|---|---|
| State of Kansas | 1.500 |
| Johnson County | 17.290 |
| Johnson County Park and Recreation District | 3.023 |
| Johnson County Community College | 7.873 |
| City of Olathe (fire and the Olathe Public Library included) | 23.334 |
| Olathe Public Schools (USD 233) | 61.948 |
| Total | 114.968 |
The table has no Johnson County Library line because Olathe pays for its own public library out of the city levy.
The 2025 total was different in each of the other districts: Blue Valley USD 229 at 109.440 mills, Gardner Edgerton USD 231 at 112.779, De Soto USD 232 at 115.062 and Spring Hill USD 230 at 123.673. Recreation commission levies are counted in those totals where they apply.
Under K.S.A. 79-201x, the 20-mill statewide school levy is not charged on the first $75,000 of a home’s appraised value. On the county’s bill that is a school general credit of $172.50 for 2025.
As an example, take a home appraised at $350,000 in the city and USD 233. Its assessed value is $40,250. At 114.968 mills the tax is $4,627.46, and after the $172.50 credit the bill is about $4,455 before any special assessments.
Notices of appraised value are mailed on or before March 1, and an owner has 30 days from the mailing date to appeal. Paying under protest when the taxes are due is the other route. Tax statements are sent in mid-November. Half is due December 20 and the other half May 10.
Utilities and trash in Olathe
Trash, water, sewer and stormwater are City of Olathe services in portions of the city. Some Olathe properties get their water from WaterOne.
On Johnson County’s service-area maps (October 2026), electricity is Evergy and natural gas is Atmos Energy. Johnson County Wastewater handles sewer in some areas, and Johnson Rural Water District 7 supplies water in some.
The provider can differ from one street to the next. To see who serves a single address, use Johnson County’s Location Services tool.
Parks and places in Olathe
The City of Olathe’s figures for 2026 are 47 miles of public trails, 27 miles of bike lanes, 40 neighborhood and community parks and 3,596 acres of park land. The Indian Creek Trail is 8 miles long, and Lake Olathe Park is at 625 S. Lakeshore Drive.
Heritage Park, at 16000 Pflumm Road, is run by the Johnson County Park and Recreation District. It has 1,238 acres, a 40-acre lake and a 30-acre off-leash dog area. Three miles of trails cross Ernie Miller Park, a 116-acre nature park at 909 N. K-7 Highway.
The Mill Creek Streamway is a paved trail of more than 17 miles that comes south from the Kansas River to Olathe.
The City keeps Mahaffie Stagecoach Stop & Farm as a historic site. The Olathe Public Library’s two branches are Downtown, at 260 E. Santa Fe Street, and Indian Creek, at 16100 W. 135th Street.
Flood zones and stormwater in Olathe
FEMA maps flood zones along Olathe’s creeks and their tributaries. The mapped streams include Cedar Creek, Little Cedar Creek, Mill Creek, Indian Creek, Coffee Creek and Tomahawk Creek, so part of a lot near one of them may be in a mapped zone.
FEMA’s Flood Map Service Center shows the zones for any address, and it is worth checking before an offer goes in. Where the map puts a zone on the lot, get a flood insurance quote from an insurance agent.
Stormwater service is provided by the City of Olathe in portions of the city.
