The city has a home rule charter and is governed by a mayor and 6-member City Council, who appoints a professional City Administrator. The city has adopted a comprehensive plan and has a Unified Development Code. Councilmen serve 3-year terms, and the mayor serves a 4-year term.

• Year of Incorporation: 1880
• Form of Government: Mayor-Council-Administrator
• Location: 20 miles east of Kansas City, Missouri
• Total Land Size: 14,211 acres (22.2 square miles)
• Population of Blue Springs (2013 Estimated Population): 53,014

History of Population Growth

Decade	Growth Rate
1970-1980	160.70%
1980-1990	43.34%
1990-2000	19.4%
2000-2010	9.2%

2020 Population Growth Estimates: 60,149

City Demographics
Ethnic Composition

Race	Percentage of Population
White	93.1%
Black or African American	3.1%
Hispanic or Latino	2.9%
Asian	1.0%
American Indian or Alaskan Native	0.4%
Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander	0.1%
Other, not listed	0.9%

Household Characteristics

Category	Units
Total Occupied Housing Units	17,286
Average Household size	2.77
Owner-occupied housing units	12,833
Renter-occupied housing units	4,453
Vacant Housing units	447

All information extracted from 2000 US Census Bureau.

2006 Residential Building Permits

Category	Number of Permits
Single Family	306
2 Family	21
Multifamily (families of 3 or more)	9
Total	336

Social-Economic Characteristics

Category	Number
Median age (years)	33.1
High school graduate or higher	27,354
Bachelor’s degree or higher	8,108
Population in labor force (over 16 years old)	27,209
Median household income	55,402
Employees commuting to work (over 16 years old)	25,968

All information extracted from 2000 US Census Bureau.