Workers in the Kansas City, MO-KS Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $30.78 in May 2024, compared to the nationwide average of $32.66, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Michael Hirniak noted that higher paying major occupational groups included legal ($64.36), management ($60.12), and computer and mathematical ($47.82). Lower paying occupations included food preparation and serving related ($16.41), personal care and service ($17.67), and healthcare support ($18.76). (See table A.)

Occupational groups with the highest employment in the Kansas City area included office and administrative support (11.9 percent), transportation and material moving (9.4 percent), and food preparation and serving related (8.9 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included life, physical, and social science (0.7 percent); legal (0.9 percent); and arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media (1.2 percent).

One occupational group—business and financial operations—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Kansas City had 83,670 jobs in business and financial operations occupations, accounting for 7.7 percent of local area employment, compared to the 6.7-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $41.70, compared to the national wage of $45.04.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the business and financial operations group included accountants and auditors (11,370), human resources specialists (8,100), and market research analysts and marketing specialists (6,890). Among the higher paying jobs in this group were personal financial advisors ($77.15) and management analysts ($49.14). At the lower end of the wage scale were tax examiners and collectors, and revenue agents ($24.45) and meeting, convention, and event planners ($27.76). (Detailed data for the business and financial operations occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to https://data.bls.gov/oes/#/area/0028140.)

Location quotients allow us to explore the occupational make-up of a metropolitan area by comparing the composition of jobs in an area relative to the national average. (See table 1.) For example, a location quotient of 2.00 indicates that an occupation accounts for twice the share of employment in the area than it does nationally. In the Kansas City area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in some of the occupations within the business and financial operations group. For instance, tax examiners and collectors, and revenue agents were employed at 5.23 times the national rate in Kansas City, and cost estimators, at 1.65 times the U.S. average. Project management specialists had a location quotient of 0.96 in Kansas City, indicating that this particular occupation’s local and national employment shares were similar.

The statistics in this release are from the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, a cooperative effort between BLS and the State Workforce Agencies (SWAs). BLS funds the survey and provides the procedures and technical support. State Workforce Agencies collect most of the data: in this case, the Missouri Economic Research Information Center, and the Kansas Department of Labor.

Technical Note

The Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey is a semiannual survey measuring occupational employment and wage rates for wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments in the United States. The OEWS data available from BLS include cross-industry occupational employment and wage estimates for the nation; over 530 areas, including states and the District of Columbia, metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), nonmetropolitan areas, and territories; national industry-specific estimates at the NAICS sector, 3-digit, most 4-digit, and selected 5- and 6-digit industry levels; and national estimates by ownership across all industries and for schools and hospitals. Full OEWS data tables are available online.

Additional information about the OEWS estimates and methodology is available in the national Technical Notes. The overall national response rate for the six panels, based on the 50 states and the District of Columbia, is 65.7 percent based on establishments and 65.9 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The sample in the Kansas City, MO-KS Metropolitan Statistical Area included 7,204 establishments with a response rate of 68 percent.

Metropolitan area definitions

The substate area data published in this release reflect the standards and definitions established by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget.

The Kansas City, MO-KS Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Johnson County, KS; Leavenworth County, KS; Linn County, KS; Miami County, KS; Wyandotte County, KS; Bates County, MO; Caldwell County, MO; Cass County, MO; Clay County, MO; Clinton County, MO; Jackson County, MO; Lafayette County, MO; Platte County, MO; and Ray County, MO.

For more information

Answers to frequently asked questions about the OEWS data, as well as general program documentation, are available on the OEWS website.

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.

Table 1. Employment and wage data for business and financial operations occupations, Kansas City metropolitan area, May 2024

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages ($)
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Business and financial operations occupations	83,670	1.14	41.70	86,730
Buyers and purchasing agents	4,280	1.24	35.85	74,560
Claims adjusters, examiners, and investigators	3,190	1.47	39.89	82,980
Compliance officers	3,470	1.23	39.24	81,630
Cost estimators	2,570	1.65	39.00	81,130
Human resources specialists	8,100	1.24	38.18	79,420
Labor relations specialists	430	0.94	39.29	81,720
Logisticians	2,160	1.29	29.68	61,740
Project management specialists	6,830	0.96	47.94	99,720
Management analysts	5,070	0.80	49.14	102,210
Meeting, convention, and event planners	940	0.98	27.76	57,740
Fundraisers	570	0.75	33.65	69,990
Compensation, benefits, and job analysis specialists	740	1.02	37.14	77,250
Training and development specialists	3,240	1.05	34.85	72,480
Market research analysts and marketing specialists	6,890	1.13	36.42	75,740
Business operations specialists, all other	9,690	1.21	45.01	93,620
Accountants and auditors	11,370	1.11	41.41	86,120
Property appraisers and assessors	620	1.49	34.96	72,720
Budget analysts	230	0.69	43.26	89,980
Credit analysts	350	0.74	40.41	84,050
Financial and investment analysts	2,050	0.85	45.68	95,010
Personal financial advisors	2,820	1.47	77.15	160,460
Insurance underwriters	1,020	1.33	47.62	99,060
Financial risk specialists	260	0.64	44.45	92,450
Financial examiners	760	1.70	48.75	101,400
Loan officers	2,340	1.14	43.48	90,450
Tax examiners and collectors, and revenue agents	1,990	5.23	24.45	50,850
Tax preparers	580	1.11	28.38	59,020
Financial specialists, all other	1,090	1.21	36.88	76,710
(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Kansas City, MO-KS Metropolitan Statistical Area, see https://data.bls.gov/oes/#/area/0028140. (2) Estimates for detailed occupations may not sum to the totals due to rounding, and because the totals may include occupations that are not shown separately. Estimates do not include self-employed workers. (3) The location quotient is the ratio of the area concentration of occupational employment to the national average concentration. A location quotient greater than one indicates the occupation has a higher share of employment than average, and a location quotient less than one indicates the occupation is less prevalent in the area than average. (4) Annual wages have been calculated by multiplying the hourly mean wage by a 'year-round, full-time' hours figure of 2,080 hours; for those occupations where there is not an hourly mean wage published, the annual wage has been directly calculated from the reported survey data.