Dayton is an unincorporated community in southeast Cass County, in the U.S. state of Missouri. Garden City is five miles north along Missouri Route F and Creighton lies 6.5 miles east along Missouri Route B. The Settles Ford Conservation Area along the South Grand River lies to the southeast. The community lies atop a ridge between Sugar Creek to the west and Lick Branch to the east. It is part of the Kansas City metropolitan area.