Johnson County · KS
De Soto, KS
Founded 1857 · 21.5 miles from downtown Kansas City · population 6,414
The market, last twelve months
Half of the homes that sold went under contract within 12 days. The median sale closed at 100.0% of asking - at list. 56% closed at or above the original list price, which is the better measure of how much room a buyer actually has.
Aggregated from Heartland MLS closed sales, twelve months to July 2026. Individual sale prices are not shown - Kansas and Missouri are non-disclosure states and MLS rules do not permit their public display. Ask for the full report if you need them.
How it came to befounded 1857 · where the name comes from · 8 dated events
Formally platted in spring 1857 by a town company of B.W. Woodward, James F. Ligate, James Findley and G.W. Hutchinson, on the south bank of the Kansas River in northwestern Johnson County. The first frame building was Zera Nichols's general store in 1857; Stratton & Williams built a steam sawmill on the riverbank, and Warren Kimball ran a ferry across the Kaw. source 1 source 2
The name. Named for Hernando de Soto, the sixteenth-century Spanish explorer. source
Officially incorporated as a city on October 3, 1897. source
- 1857Town company plats De Soto; Zera Nichols opens the first general store. source
- 1858Shawnee landowners John and Hattie Possum sell 80 acres; the De Soto Town Company buys a further 80 acres in 1861. Major James B. Abbott, a Free-State figure, settled here and built Abbott Hall, which still stands. source
- 1897Incorporated as a city on October 3. source
- 1942Construction of the Sunflower Ordnance Works transforms the town; population went from a few hundred to about a thousand in under a year. source 1 source 2
- 1951The Great Flood crests at 42.3 feet on the Kansas River at De Soto - the highest recorded stage on that river. source
- 1993Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant closes. source
- 2022Panasonic announces a battery plant on the former Sunflower site (July 13); the redevelopment is renamed Astra Enterprise Park in November. source 1 source 2
- 2025Panasonic Energy begins mass production at the De Soto factory in July. source
The housing stockmedian built 1998
The median home sold here was built in 1998. Most of what sells was built between 1960 and 2023. That closely matches the Census figure of 1992 for all housing, so sales are broadly representative of the stock. 70% of sales included finished basement space beyond the above-grade footprint - which matters here, because square footage quoted above grade can understate a house considerably.
By property type, sales broke down as Single Family (91), Townhouse (10).
What's hereAbbott Hall, Astra Enterprise Park and more
The Sunflower Ordnance Works, later the Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant - a 9,080-acre facility built in 1942 that produced propellants and munitions and closed in 1993. Sunflower Village housed up to 6,000 workers at peak. source 1 source 2
The former plant site was redeveloped and renamed Astra Enterprise Park in November 2022. Panasonic Energy's roughly 300-acre lithium-ion battery factory there began mass production in July 2025, targeting an annual capacity of about 32 GWh and up to approximately 4,000 direct jobs. As of mid-2026 four production lines were running and construction had begun on a second wing. source 1 source 2
The Kansas River. In the Great Flood of 1951 the river crested at 42.3 feet at De Soto, the highest stage recorded on the Kansas River. source
- Abbott Hall
- Built by Major James B. Abbott, a Free-State figure who settled in De Soto; the building survives. source
- Astra Enterprise Park
- The redeveloped former Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant site, renamed in November 2022. source
- Kansas River frontage
- The city sits on the south bank of the Kansas River; the 1951 flood crest here is the river's record stage. source
Practical detailschool district · highways and transit · 7 employers
- Schools
- De Soto USD 232. boundaries do not follow city limits - a clear example: the district operates De Soto High School in De Soto and Mill Valley High School in Shawnee, a different city Confirm the assigned school for any specific address before you rely on it. source
- Getting around
- K-10 runs along the south side of the city with four direct connections - Evening Star Road, Edgerton Road, Lexington Avenue and Kill Creek Road - putting Lawrence to the west and the Johnson County job centers to the east. The town sat on the Santa Fe line, about sixteen miles east of Lawrence. source 1 source 2
- Employers located here
- Panasonic Energy North America, De Soto USD 232, Engineered Air, Huhtamaki, Merck Animal Health, Rehrig Pacific, Goodcents Deli Fresh Subs. Listed as present in the city, which is not a statement about hiring.
People from hereJohn Outland, Stanley Adams
More images1 more from the archives
Thinking about buying or selling here?
The numbers above describe the market. What they cannot tell you is what your own house is worth in it, or which of these streets fits what you need. Ask me about De Soto.