Odessa is the largest city in Lafayette County, Missouri, and part of the Kansas City metropolitan area within the Midwestern United States. The population was 5,593 at the 2020 census. Located along Interstate 70 Odessa's historic downtown is home to a range of boutique shops and restaurants. The city is host to the annual Puddle Jumper Days town fair, the Odessa Rodeo, a Christmas lighting ceremony and various other community events held throughout the year.

Lafayette County is a county in the western portion of Missouri, part of the Kansas City metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the population was 32,984. Its county seat is Lexington. The county was organized November 16, 1820, from Cooper County and originally named Lillard County for James Lillard of Tennessee, who served in the first state constitutional convention and first state legislature. It was renamed Lafayette County on February 16, 1825, in honor of Revolutionary War hero the Marquis de La Fayette, who was then visiting the United States.