Downtown Kansas City is the central business district (CBD) of Kansas City, Missouri and the Kansas City metropolitan area which contains 3.8% of the area's employment. It is between the Missouri River in the north, to 31st Street in the south; and from the Kansas–Missouri state line eastward to Bruce R. Watkins Drive as defined by the Downtown Council of Kansas City; the 2010 Greater Downtown Area Plan formulated by the City of Kansas City defines the Greater Downtown Area to be the city limits of North Kansas City and Missouri to the north, the Kansas–Missouri state line to the west, 31st Street to the south and Woodland Avenue to the east. However, the definition used by the Downtown Council is the most commonly accepted.

Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by population and area. Most of the city lies within Jackson County, with portions spilling into Clay, Platte, and Cass counties. It is the central city of the Kansas City metropolitan area, which straddles the Missouri–Kansas state line and has a population of 2,392,035. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090, making it the 37th most-populous city in the United States, as well as the sixth-most populous city in the Midwest. Kansas City was founded in the 1830s as a port on the Missouri River at its confluence with the Kansas River from the west. On June 1, 1850, the town of Kansas was incorporated; shortly after came the establishment of the Kansas Territory. Confusion between the two ensued, and the name Kansas City was assigned to distinguish them soon after.