Photo: Stephen Edmonds · CC BY-SA 3.0Earning a living in Kansas City
For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 6.2 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 1.7 in Independence. Kansas City grades B− for jobs and income and A for walkability. About half work in Kansas City itself; outside it, Kansas City draws the most (5%, 10 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Kansas City’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Kansas City is better than 53% of U.S. towns, #93 of 247 in Missouri. Job access by car holds Kansas City’s grade up (ahead of 91% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (14.6%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Kansas City could be anywhere from B− to B.
Kansas City on a workday afternoon
On a workday 123,802 residents head out to work, 109,629 work right here, and 198,388 people come in from elsewhere.
About 596,000 people are in Kansas City on a workday afternoon, 14% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.32 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Where people from Kansas City work
Where Kansas City clocks in
Lines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
69% of the jobs in Kansas City pay over $3,333 a month
308,017 jobs are based in Kansas City.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Kansas City, 2014 → 2024: 276,198 → 308,017. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Kansas City’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Each way, about 22 minutes from Kansas City
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Kansas City workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 219,301 commuters (the 17% who work from home are left out). Across Missouri: 86% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
How far it is to work from Kansas City
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Kansas City is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Kansas City is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns, #24 of 247 in Missouri. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 4.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, above the 3.2% across Missouri.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 264,299 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 69% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 29% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 6.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 88% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 9.0% of Kansas City households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Kansas City’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
Among U.S. towns of 365,000 to 704,000, Kansas City ranks 17th of 31 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brookhaven NY | 496,410 | $120K | 7.0% | 5.2% | 32% | A− |
| 2 | Virginia Beach VA | 453,737 | $93K | 8.6% | 4.0% | 47% | A− |
| 3 | Mesa AZ | 513,656 | $83K | 10.3% | 4.2% | 23% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 15 | Atlanta GA | 529,110 | $86K | 16.9% | 5.9% | 42% | B− |
| 16 | Tampa FL | 413,554 | $75K | 15.5% | 4.9% | 41% | B− |
| 17 | Kansas City MO | 521,220 | $69K | 14.6% | 4.4% | 47% | B− |
| 18 | Minneapolis MN | 430,324 | $81K | 16.0% | 5.9% | 41% | B− |
| 19 | Las Vegas NV | 679,817 | $74K | 14.0% | 7.4% | 33% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 31 | Detroit MI | 649,095 | $40K | 32.7% | 14.0% | 31% | C− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Kansas City, the top three, the last and three more from Missouri.
Kansas City and its neighbors: 10% work next door
The biggest share goes to Independence (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Kansas City workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kansas City | – | B− | A | 22 min | $69,166 |
| Independence | 3% | C+ | B+ | 24 min | $60,339 |
| Liberty | 3% | B+ | B | 23 min | $88,542 |
| Claycomo | 1% | C | B+ | 18 min | $49,343 |
| Raytown | under 2% | B− | B | 24 min | $68,840 |
| Unity Village | under 2% | — | — | 11 min | — |
| Belton | under 2% | B | B | 25 min | $69,226 |
| Lee's Summit | 3% | A | B− | 25 min | $102,531 |
| Sugar Creek | under 2% | B− | B | 24 min | $62,165 |
| Grandview | under 2% | C | B− | 22 min | $53,447 |
Same-state neighbors only. Unity Village: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Kansas City’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Kansas City: questions
What is the median household income in Kansas City?
$69,166 (±$1,445) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Kansas City?
14.6%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Kansas City?
22 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 17% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Kansas City work?
47% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Kansas City (5%, 10 mi), Overland Park (5%, 18 mi), North Kansas City (4%, 1 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Kansas City walkable?
Kansas City is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 11.5 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Kansas City without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. 29% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Kansas City, from the people who make the trip.
More of Kansas City
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.