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The best city in the U.S. for people with disabilities is in Johnson County, study finds

Wichita Eagle - 10/2/2018

Oct. 02--Overland Park has another honor to add to its list that proves the city is "a great place to call home."

The Johnson County city was named the best U.S. city for people with disabilities, according to a 2018 study by personal finance website WalletHub.

While analyzing 182 cities -- "the 150 most populated U.S. cities, plus at least two of the most populated cities in each state" -- WalletHub said it looked at three factors that people with disabilities consider when looking for a place to live. That's the economy, quality of life and health care in each city.

The Kansas town was ranked first in economy, fourth in health care and 118th in quality of life. When those scores were weighted together, Overland Park earned its spot at the top of the list, "Best & Worst Cities for People with Disabilities."

The "economy" section considered factors like housing affordability, cost of living and annual cost of in-home services. Within the "quality of life" section, WalletHub considered wheelchair-accessible restaurants, the share of buildings accessible to the disabled and the graduation rate for students with disabilities. "Health care" included cost of a doctor visit, hospitals per capita and the average per-person health insurance premium.

Data for the study came from the U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Department of Housing and Urban Development and other sources.

Only about 15 miles away, Kansas City, Missouri ranked as the 16th best city for people with disabilities. In Kansas, Wichita is the 85th best city on the list.

Source: WalletHub

Last month, Overland Park was named the best city in the nation to raise a family, according to WalletHub. The city of about 189,000 people is also considered the fourth least-stressed city in the U.S..

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