Greater Kansas City Profile

Climate Normals, 2022
Average Annual Temperature		55.7°F	13.2°C
High	January	65.0°F	18.3°C
	July	101.0°F	38.3°C
Low	January	1.0°F	-17.2°C
	July	60.0°F	15.6°C
Annual Precipitation		34.6 in	87.9 cm
Annual Snowfall		21.4 in	54.4 cm
Annual days of snowfall in excess of 1.0 in (2.54 cm)			7 days
Annual average wind speed		10.4 mph	16.7 kph
Annual relative humidity			62.0%

Source: U.S. National Climatic Data Center, Local Climatological Data, International Airport, Kansas City, Missouri.

Businesses that Opened Major Operations or
Expanded Existing Operations in the Greater Kansas City Area

Business Expansions & Openings (50+)
Company	Type of Operation	Location	Jobs Created	Type of Action
2024
Americold	Temperature controlled warehousing	Kansas City, MO	167	Opening
Carvana	Auction and auto reconditioning facility	Belton, MO	200	Opening
CJ Logistics America	Cold storage	New Century, KS	143	Opening
Eastern Airlines	Cargo and charter airline (Hdq.)	Kansas City, MO	165	Opening
Elanco Animal Health	Veterinary biotherapeutic and pharmaceutical mfg.	Elwood, KS	72	Expansion
Excellerate, a div. of Faith Technologies, Inc.	Energy experts in electrical planning, engineering, design and installation	Olathe, KS	400	Expansion
Google	Data center	Kansas City, MO	109	Opening
HART, Inc.	Digital health (Hdq.)	Kansas City, MO	50	Opening
Honeywell Aerospace Electronic Systems	Aircraft communication and navigation equipment mfg.	Olathe, KS	156	Expansion
LEADER Worldwide	Ground travel and logistics	Kansas City, MO	59	Expansion
Legacy Supply Chain	Third-party logistics provider	Kansas City, KS	76	Downsizing
Marshalltown Co.	Toolmaker distribution center	Kansas City, KS	40	Opening
RB Srl	Precision parts mfg.	Kansas City, MO	35	Opening
Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits	Alcohol distribution center	Raymore, MO	150	Opening
Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits	Alcohol distribution center	Raymore, MO	94	Expansion
TAB Battery	Industrial battery assembly (Hdq.)	Liberty, MO	50	Opening
WLX | Western Logistics Express	Supply chain management (Hdq.)	Kansas City, MO	76	Expansion
2023
ACE Hardware	Distribution center	Kansas City, MO	350	Opening
Chick-fil-A Supply, LLC	Distribution center	Olathe, KS	63	Opening
Cnano Technology USA	Carbon nano tube mfg.	New Century, KS	112	Opening
DSM	Pet nutrition mfg.	Tonganoxie, KS	28	Opening
Felixvet	Pharmaceuticals mfg.	Kansas City, MO	10	Opening
Hillman Co.	Distribution center	Belton, MO	120	Opening
Marvin Windows	Building materials mfg.	Kansas City, KS	600	Opening
Project Nautique	Food distribution center	New Century, KS	84	Opening
Nuuly, a div. of URBN	Retail distribution center	Raymore, MO	750	Opening
Triumph Foods	Food processing (Hdq.)	St. Joseph, MO	88	Expansion
US Motor Works	After market auto parts distribution center	Liberty, MO	70	Opening
Veeva Systems	Pharmaceutical cloud computing technology	Kansas City, MO	124	Opening
Vertical Cold Storage	Cold storage facility	Kansas City, MO	67	Opening
Walmart	Beef packaging and distribution center	Olathe, KS	667	Opening
Western Governors University	Educatin	Kansas City, MO	23	Opening
2022
Amazon	Sortation center	Liberty, MO	750	Opening
Boot Barn	Retail distribution center	Kansas City, MO	240	Opening
Catalent, Inc.	Pharmaceutical product dev. services	Kansas City, MO	50	Expansion
Clorox	Product distribution center	Olathe, KS	250	Opening
Ford Motor Company	Motor vehicle mfg.	Claycomo, MO	1,100	Expansion
Mars Petcare	Pet food R&D and mfg.	Kansas City, MO	95	Expansion
Meta	Facebook data center	Kansas City, MO	100	Opening
Mythical Games	Gaming technology	Kansas City, MO	100	Expansion
Panasonic Energy Co., Ltd.	EV battery mfg.	De Soto, KS	4,000	Opening
RLE International Group USA	Global engineering and design	Kansas City, MO	200	Opening
Zoom	Tech and video communications	Overland Park, KS	50	Expansion

Businesses that Closed Major Operations or Reduced Existing Operations in the Greater Kansas City Area

Business Closures & Reductions (50+)
Company		Type of Operation	Location	Jobs Lost	Type of Action
2024
Adient		Automobile interior mfg.	Riverside, MO	172	Downsizing
Cherokee Nation Federal Consulting, LLC		Government consulting services	Kansas City, MO	187	Downsizing
General Motors' Fairfax Assembly Plant*		Motor vehicles mfg.	Kansas City, KS	936	Downsizing
Government Employees Health Association, Inc. (GEHA)		Insurance (Hdq.)	Lee's Summit, MO	453	Downsizing
Hostess Brands		Bakery products (Hdq.)	Lenexa, KS	79	Downsizing
International Paper Co.		Corrugated Box mfg.	Kansas City, MO	132	Closing
Legacy Supply Chain		Third-party logistics provider	Kansas City, KS	76	Downsizing
Martinrea Riverside LLC		Automotive engine and rear suspension cradles mfg.	Riverside, MO	69	Downsizing
NorthPoint Logistics		Transportation company	Kansas City, MO	25	Closing
OPmobility		Plastic components mfg. for vehicle bumpers and fenders	Kansas City, KS	72	Closing
Oregon Tool		Tool mfg.	Kansas City, MO	80	Downsizing
Owens & Minor Inc.		Sterilization and kitting of medical instrument and equipment trays	North Kansas City, MO	67	Closing
Penske Logistics		Vehicle carriage services	Kansas City, KS	70	Downsizing
Signature Psychiatric Hospital		Behavioral health services	North Kansas City, MO; Liberty, MO	154	Closing
Sodecia Automotive Kansas City, LLC		Automotive parts mfg.	Kansas City, MO	111	Downsizing
Student Transportation of America, Inc.		Bus transportation for students	Kansas City, MO	140	Closing
Walmart Stores, Inc.		Retail distribution center	Edgerton, KS	318	Closing
Yanfeng International Automotive Technology Co. Ltd.		Automobile interior mfg.	Riverside, MO	444	Closing
2023
AGI SureTrack		Ag Tech	Leawood, KS	73	Downsizing
American Century Investments, Inc.		Mutual funds (Hdq.)	Kansas City, MO	30	Downsizing
Attane		Marketing agency specializing in senior living communities (Hdq.)	Kansas City, MO	73	Closing
AutoAlert		Automotive data mining (Hdq.)	Kansas City, MO	175	Downsizing
CHEP Services LLC		Logistics supplier of pallets, crates and containers	Kansas City, MO	99	Closing
Centrinex		Call center management operation (Hdq.)	Lenexa, KS	114	Downsizing
Coleman Company		Retail distribution center	Gardner, KS	100	Closing
Compass Minerals International, Inc.		Salt production (Hdq.)	Overland Park, KS	48	Downsizing
Hallmark Cards, Inc.		Greeting card mfg. (Hdq.)	Lenexa, KS	38	Downsizing
HMSHost		Food and beverage operator	Kansas City, MO	170	Closing
Matheson Flight Extenders		Flight logistics	Kansas City, MO	40	Closing
NASB Financial Inc.		Financial services	Kansas City, MO	125-160	Downsizing
Oracle Cerner		Health care information systems	Kansas City, MO	NA	Downsizing
PPC Flexible Packaging LLC		Packaging mfg.	Mission, KS	99	Downsizing
VVF Kansas Services LLC		Soap mfg.	Kansas City, KS	76	Closing
2022
Serta Simmons Bedding (SSB Manufacturing Company)		Mattress mfg.	Lenexa, KS	70	Closing
Smithfield Farmland Foods		Meat processing mfg.	Kansas City, KS	80	Closing
Spring Venture Group		Insurance broker (Hdq.)	Kansas City, MO	197	Downsizing

*General Motors' Fairfax Assembly Plant is shutting down in early 2025 for a $359M retooling to begin manufacturing the electric Chevrolet Bolt. This will result in a temporary layoff of 686 employees starting 11/18/24 and a permanent layoff of 250 contracted employees. This will also result in a temporary layoff of an additional 759 employees starting 1/12/25.

Cost of Living Index

The Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER) produces a cost of living index which is unique in measuring inter-city differences in the cost of six major components of consumer expenditures (grocery items, housing, utilities, transportation, health care, and miscellaneous goods and services).

Metropolitan Area	Cost of Living Index
Austin-Round Rock, TX	96.6
Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	146.9
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI	114.8
Dallas-Ft. Worth-Arlington, TX	100.8
Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO	108.8
Kansas City, MO-KS	90.1
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, CA	148.7
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	93.8
Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ	107.2
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	144.0
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	138.1
United States	100.0

   Source: The Council for Community and Economic Research, 3Q 2024

Housing Affordability

Kansas City consistently rates as one of the most affordable housing markets among metropolitan areas with populations exceeding one million.

Median Sales Price, Existing Single Family Homes
Metropolitan Area	Median Sales Price
Austin-Round Rock, TX	$496,500
Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$793,400
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI	$392,100
Dallas-Ft. Worth-Arlington, TX	$391,300
Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO	$669,900
Kansas City, MO-KS	$346,600
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, CA	$854,800
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$398,300
Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ	$480,400
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$829,600
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$666,600
United States	$422,100

Source: National Association of Realtors, 2Q 2024

Tax Burdens

State and Local Tax Revenue Per Capita
	KANSAS	MISSOURI	U.S.
All Taxes	$5,944	$4,637	$6,334
Property Taxes	1,790	1,333	1,898
Sales Taxes	2,109	1,633	2,078
Individual Income Taxes	1,572	1,329	1,642
State and Local Tax Revenue Per $1,000 of Personal Income
	KANSAS	MISSOURI	U.S.
All Taxes	$101	$83	$98

Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census, Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2021.

Public Elementary & Secondary Education

Greater Kansas City area residents are served by 112 public school districts, with almost 400,000 students. Fifteen of these districts represent over 60 percent of area enrollments. The diverse options in education provides greater Kansas City residents with exceptional quality of life and provides an exceptional labor pool.

Educational Attainment of Persons 25 or Older
Location	High School Graduates or Higher	Bachelor's Degree or Higher
Kansas City, MO-KS MSA	93.2%	40.8%
United States	89.8%	36.2%

Source:  U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 ACS 1-Year Estimate.

Institutions of Higher Learning

Four-Year Colleges and Universities	Location	Headcount Enrollment Fall 2022
Avila University	Kansas City, MO	1,306
Baker University	Baldwin City, KS	2,105
Benedictine College	Atchison, KS	2,362
Haskell Indian Nations University	Lawrence, KS	727
Kansas City Art Institute	Kansas City, MO	738
Kansas City University	Kansas City, MO	1,306
MidAmerica Nazarene University	Olathe, KS	1,508
Missouri Western State University	St. Joseph, MO	4,023
Ottawa University	Ottawa & Overland Park, KS	953
Park University	Parkville, MO	7,662
Rockhurst University	Kansas City, MO	3,405
University of Central Missouri	Warrensburg, MO	11,637
University of Kansas	Lawrence, Overland Park & Kansas City, KS	26,708
University of Missouri-Kansas City	Kansas City, MO	15,703
University of Saint Mary	Leavenworth & Overland Park, KS	1,267
Washburn University	Topeka, KS	5,460
William Jewell College	Liberty, MO	853
Total		87,723
Two-Year and Technical Colleges
Aviation Institute of Maintenance	Kansas City, MO	185
Concorde Career College	Kansas City, MO	678
Donnelly College	Kansas City, KS	358
Ft. Scott Community College	Paola, KS	189
Grand River Technical School	Chillicothe, MO	76
Hillyard Technical Center	St. Joseph, MO	90
Johnson County Community College	Overland Park, KS	16,497
Kansas City KS Community College	Kansas City, KS	4,676
Metropolitan Community College		12,872
> Blue River Community College	Blue Springs & Independence, MO
> Longview Community College	Kansas City, MO
> Maple Woods Community College	Kansas City, MO
> Penn Valley Community College	Kansas City, MO
Pinnacle Career Institute	Kansas City, MO (2) & Lawrence, KS	344
The Dwayne Peaslee Technical Training Center	Lawrence, KS	2,515
Washburn Institute of Technology	Topeka, KS	1,157
Total		39,637

Source: U.S. National Center for Education Statistics.

Graduate and Professional Schools

Fifteen institutions within the metro area offer graduate degrees in numerous disciplines. The University of Kansas and the University of Missouri also offer professional degrees in law, medicine, dentistry, and pharmacy. Bioscience and biotechnology opportunities are available at Kansas State University Olathe. Degrees in osteopathic medicine are offered by the Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences.

Soft Skills Development Training Opportunities in KC

Through the community colleges in the Kansas City area, employers and employees have the opportunity to advance their business success and careers by obtaining soft skills training. An individual's soft skills come from his or her personal attitudes, habits, and qualities that affect his or her ability to relate, communicate, and interact with co-workers. Soft skills include: communication, conflict-resolution, negotiation, work ethic, time management, personal effectiveness, problem-solving, team building, confidence, flexibility, and handling criticism.

Soft skills are vital to a successful employee as they complement the hard skills needed to get the job done. Torotel Products in Olathe, Kan. saw an increase in their "On Time Delivery, No Returns" jumping from 86.99% to 94.23% after supervisors attended soft skills training courses at Johnson County Community College. The following is a list of soft skills development training courses/workshops offered in the metropolitan area:

Johnson County Community College

• Developing Performance Goals and Standards
• Essential Skills of Leadership
• Managing Diversity
• Essential Skills of Communicating
• Coaching Job Skills
• Understanding HR Laws
• Providing Performance Feedback
• Effective Discipline
• Leading Meetings
• Supporting Change
• Improving Work Habits
• Time Management
• Managing Generational Differences
• Communicating Up
• Effective Emails
• Resolving Conflicts
• Managing Complaints
• Making Presentations
• Getting Started as a New Leader
• Delegation

Kansas City, KS Community College

• Essential Employability Skills
• Front-Line Supervision
• Flexible Work Options
• Bridging the Generational Gap
• Bridging Language and Culture
• Networking Ability
• Creating a High Performance Workforce
• The High Performing Team
• Supervision Techniques
• Interpersonal Communication
• Motivational Dynamics
• Customer Service
• Business Etiquette
• Obtaining Employment 

Metropolitan Community College

• Cultural Competency
• Communication Skills
• Building Trust
• Fundamentals of Human Communications
• Principals of Supervision
• Coaching
• Fundamentals of First-Line Supervisors
• Conflict Management
• Training Others
• Getting Started as a New Leader
• Change Management
• Customer Focus
• Leadership Development
• Professional Development
• Stress Management

Other Area Resources

Kansas State University in Manhattan, Emporia State University in Emporia, Kan., the University of Missouri's Columbia campus, and Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville are some of the nearby major institutions from which area employers also recruit.

The Kansas City metropolitan area is the home to many well recognized international companies, including AMC Entertainment, Inc., Bayer CropScience, Boehringer Ingelheim, CEVA Animal Health, Inc., Clarios, Elanco Animal Health, Huhtamaki Americas, Merck Animal Health, Nestle Purina Petcare Global and VMLY&R.

The KCADC business development team works closely with the international development departments of the State of Kansas and State of Missouri.

Kansas

The Kansas Department of Commerce works with new and existing businesses wishing to expand their service reach to the international marketplace. The department also takes an active role in bringing international business to the state. The state has key contacts in China and Mexico, as well as consultants in Asia, Europe, India and South America. Services to Kansas businesses include the following programs:

• International investment recruitment 
• Export assistance to Kansas companies 
• Kansas International Trade Show Assistance Program

The Department's Trade Development Division (TDD) provides assistance to Kansas companies wishing to begin or expand their international marketing efforts. Assistance includes counseling, market research, identification of overseas agents and distributors, trade leads, coordinated marketing promotions, export seminars, international trade show assistance, overseas trade missions, etc. The International Trade Show Assistance Program provides Kansas companies with reimbursement of one-half of their direct exhibition related-expenses at an international trade show, up to $3,500. Under the program, individual Kansas companies may receive up to $7,000 per state fiscal year. 

Missouri

The International Trade and Investment Group in the Business and Community Division of the Missouri Department of Economic Development works to increase the number of Missouri companies exporting; increase the dollar volume of Missouri exports; and to increase the level of foreign investments to the State of Missouri.  Building relationships with organizations across the globe creates resource linkages that enhance the competitive position of Missouri firms. There are State of Missouri offices in China, Europe, Japan, Mexico and Taiwan.

The International Trade and Investment Group assists companies with trade information, trade counseling, trade missions, trade shows, business protocol, global market research, agent/distribution searches, competitive analysis, export finance assistance, and certificates of Free Sale.

The state of Missouri Export Finance Program is a cooperative effort between the Missouri Department of Economic Development and the Missouri Development Finance Board. The State of Missouri Export Finance Program focuses on the export finance programs of several federal and international agencies.  Missouri companies exporting can use the export finance programs of the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) and the international programs of the Small Business Administration (SBA). There are primarily two programs available to small and medium-sized companies:  the Export Working Capital Program and the Export Credit Insurance Program. These programs are designed to help small and medium-sized businesses that have exporting potential obtain export working capital and also mitigate risks in international transactions.

Missouri companies export to countries around the world. Often, export dependent jobs pay higher wages.  Global markets greatly impact export dependent industries in the State of Missouri.  If you would like to learn more about the International Trade and Investment Group, please visit the Missouri Export Portal.

 

Labor Force
	Labor Force	Employed	Unemployed	Unemployment Rate
Kansas City, MO-KS MSA	1,177,131	1,140,697	36,434	3.1%
United States	168,569,000	162,046,000	6,524,000	3.9%

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Sept. 2024.
Note:  Not Seasonally Adjusted.

 


 Source:  U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2023 1-Year Estimates.

 

	Kansas City MO-KS MSA	Lawrence, KS MSA	St. Joseph, MO MSA	Topeka, KS MSA
2000	1,842,814	100,281	123,969	224,787
2010	2,035,334	110,826	127,329	232,903
2020	2,195,218	118,784	121,643	232,817
2021	2,203,335	119,493	120,784	231,897
2022	2,208,782	120,007	119,632	231,783
2023	2,221,343	120,553	118,475	232,322

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates.
.   
 
Source: SRC/Experian/Applied Geographic Solutions.
 
 
Source: SRC/Experian/Applied Geographic Solutions.

INCOME	Kansas City MSA	United States
Total Households	906,504	131,332,360
Average Household Income	$106,080	$109,160
Median Household Income	$79,842	$77,719
Per Capita Income	$43,678	$43,313

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 ACS 1-Year Estimates.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 1-Year Estimates.

Distances from Kansas City

 

	Highway Distance		Flight
	Miles	Km	Time	Direction
Atlanta	793	1,276	1:55	SE
Chicago	501	806	1:15	NE
Dallas	489	787	1:25	S
Denver	602	969	1:45	W
Houston	712	1,146	2:08	S
Los Angeles	1,580	2,543	3:40	W
Minneapolis	435	700	1:20	N
New York	1,221	1,965	2:51	NE
Orlando	1,223	1,968	2:30	SE
Seattle	1,820	2,929	3:50	NW
Toronto	975	1,569	2:08	NE
Washington, D.C.	1,059	1,704	2:15	E

 

Air

The metropolitan area is served by 12 major commercial airlines and their connection partners. These carriers offer approximately 140 daily departures, with nonstop service to over 45 destinations.

The presence of low-cost, low-fare airlines, as well as most of the full-service majors, keeps competition up and airfares down. Kansas City enjoys one of the lowest-cost air travel markets in the country. Travelers experience fewer delays at Kansas City International Airport than most major airports.

According to J.D. Power & Associates, Kansas City International (MCI) ranks highest among medium-sized airports, and performs particularly well in airport accessibility, check-in/baggage check and security check. 

Kansas City International Airport
Distance from downtown area:			21 miles / 34 kilometers
Length of longest runway:			10,800 feet / 3,240 meters

 

Selected General Aviation Airports
Airport	County	Distance from Downtown	Longest Runway Length
Clay County Regional Airport	Clay	20 mi./32 km	4,000 ft/1,200 m
East Kansas City / Grain Valley Airport	Jackson	23 mi./37km	4,501 ft/1,350 m
Topeka Regional Airport*	Shawnee	71 mi./114 km	12,819 ft/3,907 m
Johnson County Executive Airport	Johnson	22 mi./35 km	4,099 ft/1,230 m
Lawrence Municipal Airport	Douglas	42 mi./68 km	5,000 ft/1,524 m
Kansas City Downtown Airport*	Clay	1 mi./2 km	7,001 ft/2,100 m
Lee's Summit Municipal Airport	Jackson	19 mi./30 km	4,015 ft/1,205 m
New Century Aircenter*	Johnson	29 mi./46 km	7,339 ft/2,202 m
Rosecrans Memorial Airport*	Buchanan	49 mi./78 km	8,059 ft/2,418 m

*These airports, together with KCI, are capable of supporting large cargo aircraft.

Nonstop Jet Destinations, 2024


Major Passenger Carriers Serving Kansas City

Air Canada

Alaska Airlines

Allegiant

American Airlines

Apple Vacations

Delta Air Lines

Frontier Airlines

JetBlue

Southwest Airlines

Spirit Airlines

Sun Country Airlines

United Airlines

Vacation Express

Viva Aerobus

International Air Service: Europe

 

 

Destination	Daily Flights	Quickest Route
KC (MCI) to London (LHR)	33	Through Toronto (YYZ): 9.9 Hrs.
KC (MCI) to Amsterdam (AMS)	17	Through Minneapolis (MSP): 10.3 Hrs.
KC (MCI) to Paris (CDG)	20	Through Minneapolis (MSP): 10.7 Hrs.
KC (MCI) to Munich (MUC)	12	Through Chicago O'Hare (ORD): 11.3 Hrs.
KC (MCI) to Frankfurt (FRA)	33	Through Toronto (YYZ): 9.9 Hrs.
Connection Cities: Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago, Cincinnati, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Miami, Minneapolis, Newark, Philadelphia, Salt Lake City, Toronto, Washington, D.C.

Source:  Kansas City International Airport, 2020.

International Air Service:  Asia

Destination	Daily Flights	Quickest Route
KC (MCI) to Beijing (PEK)	7	Through Detroit (DTW): 16.0Hrs.
KC (MCI) to Seoul (ICN)	10	Through Minneapolis (MSP): 15.2 Hrs.
KC (MCI) to Shanghai (PVG)	5	Through Chicago O'Hare (ORD): 16.9 Hrs.
KC (MCI) to Tokyo (NRT)	15	Through Denver (DEN): 14.3 Hrs.
KC (MCI) to Delhi (DEL)	3	Through Toronto (YYZ): 18.4 Hrs.
KC (MCI) to Osaka (KIX)	2	Through Seattle (SEA): 18.8 Hrs.
Connection Cities: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Newark, San Francisco, Seattle, Toronto, Washington, D.C.

Source:  Kansas City International Airport, 2020.

Highway

Highways serving the metro:

• 4 interstates (I-70, I-49, I-35, I-29)
• 4 interstate linkages (I-435, I-635, I-470,
  I-670)
• 9 federal highways

 
 

• KC's average commute time is 23.3 minutes 
  Source:  U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 ACS, 1-Year Estimates
• KC is rated as the second least-congested metropolitan areas overall in the U.S. (Source: Tom Tom Traffic Index 20234 800,000+ Population) 

Public Transit

Kansas City Area Transportation Authority—The Metro (KCATA), Johnson County Transit—The Jo, and Unified Government Transit—The Bus. The three transit organizations maintain integrated routes and services across the bi-state metro under one umbrella of the KCATA. They also participate with the Mid-America Regional Council in the region's Smart Moves 3.0 transit planning effort.

KC Downtown Streetcar

The two-mile, north-south KC Streetcar starter line travels primarily through Downtown along Main Street and connect the River Market to Crown Center and Union Station and will serve the Central Business District, the Crossroads Art District, and the Power and Light District, as well as numerous businesses, restaurants, art galleries, educational facilities and residents. This is the first piece of a comprehensive and connected transit system with the goal of connecting Kansas City. Completed in 2016, the KC Streetcar is recognized as the most successful by ridership (3 million riders in 18 months) and investment ($2.25 Billion in just over 24 months). The streetcar route plans to expand over 9 miles, north-south, extending north to the Missouri River front and south to the Country Club Plaza, adjacent to the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Bike

Kansas City will build 1,000 miles of bike lanes over the next 20 years to improve cyclist and pedestrian choices that connect to a much larger regional trail network also being expanded. The RideKC Bike system has 42 stations around the city. Leisurely to serious biking enthusiasts appreciate the extensive trail system in and around KC. The Rock Island Railroad Corridor, will begin construction on 17 miles of new, shared use path is opening in late 2019. The 17-mile Rock Island Corridor shared use path brings the 500 miles of the Katy and Rock Island Trails, linking Kansas City and St. Louis, to within 6-8 miles of completion. View Regional Bikeway System Map. JoCo Trails has more than 35 miles—Turkey Creek Streamway, Shawnee Mission Park, Mill Creek Streamway, and Kansas Bike Trails. For more information visit JCPRD.

Private Ride Services

A host of ride services are available across the Kansas City region including Uber, Lyft, ZipCar cabs and limos.

Rail

Kansas City is generally regarded to be the second largest rail center in the U.S. and ranked first by freight volume. Five of eight Class I rail carriers, three regional lines, and a local switching carrier (Kansas City Terminal) serve the area. Amtrak passenger trains serve the city four times per day.

 

Freight Railroads Serving Kansas City
Class 1 Railroads	Regional Railroads
Burlington Northern Santa Fe	Iowa, Chicago & Eastern
CPKC	Missouri & Northern Arkansas
Norfolk Southern
Union Pacific

Barge

Kansas City adjoins the Missouri River's Corps of Engineers-managed shipping channel which runs from St. Louis, MO to Sioux City, IA.

Barge lines: 7 operate along the Kansas City area of the Missouri River
Facilities: 41 docks and terminal facilities exist in the metropolitan area
Channel depth: 9 feet (2.7 meters)
Channel width: 300 feet (91.4 meters)
Commercial tonnage, 2008: 2,050,773 short tons (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers)
Usual shipping season: late March through November

KC SmartPort

KC SmartPort is a non-profit economic development organization that works to attract freight-based companies, such as manufacturing, distribution, and warehouses, to the 18-county, bi-state Kansas City region. For more information go to KC SmartPort's website.

First in Fiber

The KC region is the most connected city in the United States. With over 5.5 million miles of fiber deployed, approximately 2 miles per resident, businesses and residents maintain a robust connectivity anywhere in our 8,472 square miles. Over 97% of the homes in the metro area can access fiber at their home, making work-from-home programs among the most effective in the world. Over 50% of the homes in the region have 2 or 3 choices for fiber to the home, allowing residents to take charge of their digital experience and keep rates low due to the intense competition for connectivity.

Kansas City is among the few that have a fully deployed fiber network in the downtown business district to support corporate operations. This network is complemented by a fully deployed fiber network in the KC region including a publicly owned 10GB network in North Kansas City, fiber to the home in multiple Kansas and Missouri communities from major carriers AT&T, Comcast, Google Fiber, Level 3, and Spectrum. KC is also home to Netrality at 1102 Grand, one of seven carrier hotels in the United States. The easy accessibility to the internet exchange point at 1102 Grand through all carriers ensures minimal data latency and immediate access to corporate entities and customers around the world.

Kansas City Latency to Major Markets

Innovative and Future-Ready

According to The Building Smarter Cities and Communities report, six out of 10 Americans want to live in a Smart City—Kansas City is home to a legacy of innovation and poised to build upon this legacy. Amazon Web Services is leveraging this innovative and connected environment to build out its first AWS Smart Region in partnership with Xaqt, one of the startups that began its story in the KC Entrepreneurial Ecosystem.

Kansas City was the first Gigabit connected region, and as a result, a host of digital entrepreneurs formed StartUp Village. From this community emerged several successful companies including blooom, a financial services company now worth $1B; EyeVerify, a digital security firm that recently exited from startup status to become part of the AliBaba family; and Machine Halo, a national leader in public safety technology development.

Inclusive

The KC region is among the national leaders of the Digital Inclusion community. Our cities hosted the first national conference on the topic, and programs born in KC are now being replicated across the country. KC recognizes that no place can truly be “smart” unless its residents, despite zip code, race, age, income, or educational level, are able to reap the benefits of our fiber connectivity and IoT.

KC has been on the forefront of digital equity efforts aimed at providing access to affordable and adequate broadband, access to affordable computer equipment, and digital literacy skills training for our residents, such as piloting the federal ConnectHome, ConnectAll, ConnectEd, and TechHire initiatives, as well as co-founding such national organizations as the National Digital Inclusion Alliance and Next Century Cities.

Data Driven Solutions

Kansas City was one of the first Bloomberg What Works Cities and has earned numerous awards for basing government operations on data, not just dialogue.

Metro-Wide, the area has adopted many regional data sharing initiatives. One such initiative is standardized emergency radio systems, guaranteeing coverage as events unfold across the metro. This allows emergency services to be continuously connected to their communications network regardless of what jurisdiction they are in - a rarity in many metro areas. The result is increased public safety should a large-scale public safety issue occur. In additional to the shared communications network, many additional regional data sharing initiatives exist.

Concentration of Cybersecurity

The KC region is home to a large cybersecurity presence – employing 6,852 in the workforce. The FBI-Kansas City Division in Kansas City investigates terrorism, counterintelligence, cybercrime, public corruption, civil rights, organized crime, white-collar crime, violent crime and weapons of mass destruction. The KC Field Office conducts multiple outreach programs including the Citizens Academy, the Youth/Teen Academy, Junior Special Agent, FBI-SOS and several more.

Fort Leavenworth is the home of the U.S. Army's Combined Arms Center (CAC). CAC, as a major subordinate headquarters of the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command, has often been referred to as the "Intellectual Center of the Army." 

Another rich asset for the KC region is one of the nation’s top fusion centers – the Kansas Intelligence Fusion Center (KIFC). At the KIFC, global intelligence collected by the Adjunct General is used by the Attorney General to prevent terrorism and crime, broadening the scope of other centers that simply investigate incidents after the fact. The KIFC is also unique in hosting biothreat and cybersecurity teams which include public and private‐sector subject matter experts to help analyze global and domestic threats. These outside experts hold security clearances, which lets them work with KIFC analysts to dissect classified data collected around the world. The additional expertise allows the KIFC to do a better job protecting this region, and also allows external individuals to do a better job protecting their company, university, hospital, state agency, etc. from biological and/or cybersecurity threats.

Local Security Groups

SecKC
(ISC)2
ISACA
Women in Security
Open Web Application Security Project
KC 2600
KC Tech