Cost of living in Kansas City, MO
The Kansas City, MO-KS metro area (2,254,288 people) ranks #122 of 149 for prices among the U.S. metro areas we cover. Here's what it costs to live there.
Hover over or tap a dot to see its value.
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Price level, from cheaper to pricier.
- The Villages, FL 85.4
- McAllen, TX 85.9
- Springfield, MO 88.6
- Wichita, KS 88.9
- Jackson, MS 89.0
- Tulsa, OK 89.2
- Columbus, GA 89.3
- Little Rock, AR 89.4
- El Paso, TX 89.9
- Oklahoma City, OK 90.4
- Sioux Falls, SD 90.6
- Baton Rouge, LA 90.8
- Clarksville, TN 90.9
- Fargo, ND 90.9
- Killeen, TX 91.1
- Spartanburg, SC 91.1
- Fayetteville, AR 91.4
- Chattanooga, TN 91.5
- Toledo, OH 91.5
- Birmingham, AL 91.6
- Des Moines, IA 91.7
- Augusta, GA 91.9
- Omaha, NE 91.9
- Fayetteville, NC 92.0
- Winston-Salem, NC 92.0
- Jacksonville, NC 92.1
- Memphis, TN 92.2
- Kansas City, MO 92.5
- Fort Wayne, IN 92.6
- Knoxville, TN 92.6
- New Orleans, LA 92.6
- Dayton, OH 92.7
- Greensboro, NC 92.9
- Lexington, KY 92.9
- Huntsville, AL 93.1
- Louisville, KY 93.1
- Greenville, SC 93.3
- Akron, OH 93.4
- Billings, MT 93.5
- Myrtle Beach, SC 93.6
- Columbia, SC 93.7
- Cleveland, OH 93.9
- Daphne, AL 94.7
- Pittsburgh, PA 94.7
- San Antonio, TX 94.7
- St. Louis, MO 95.1
- Ocala, FL 95.2
- Savannah, GA 95.2
- Cincinnati, OH 95.4
- Albuquerque, NM 95.5
- Columbus, OH 95.5
- Grand Rapids, MI 95.5
- Indianapolis, IN 95.7
- Syracuse, NY 95.7
- Buffalo, NY 95.8
- Nashville, TN 96.3
- Wilmington, NC 96.4
- Asheville, NC 96.5
- Cheyenne, WY 96.5
- Gainesville, FL 96.7
- Milwaukee, WI 96.9
- Tucson, AZ 96.9
- Crestview, FL 97.0
- Rochester, NY 97.0
- Lakeland, FL 97.1
- Charlotte, NC 97.3
- Madison, WI 97.3
- Panama City, FL 97.3
- Durham, NC 97.6
- Pensacola, FL 97.7
- Richmond, VA 97.9
- Virginia Beach, VA 97.9
- Hilton Head Island, SC 98.0
- Austin, TX 98.1
- Provo, UT 98.2
- Raleigh, NC 98.2
- Prescott, AZ 98.3
- Boise, ID 98.4
- Houston, TX 98.6
- Harrisburg, PA 98.7
- Daytona Beach, FL 99.4
- Jacksonville, FL 99.5
- Albany, NY 99.6
- Allentown, PA 100.0
- Palm Bay, FL 100.0
- Atlanta, GA 100.1
- Greeley, CO 100.2
- Las Vegas, NV 100.2
- Port St. Lucie, FL 100.2
- Detroit, MI 100.3
- Ogden, UT 100.3
- Spokane, WA 100.3
- Norwich, CT 100.4
- Punta Gorda, FL 100.5
- Colorado Springs, CO 100.7
- Ann Arbor, MI 100.9
- Bakersfield, CA 100.9
- Burlington, VT 100.9
- Salt Lake City, UT 100.9
- Tampa, FL 100.9
- Charleston, SC 101.0
- Reno, NV 101.0
- Fort Collins, CO 101.1
- Orlando, FL 101.4
- Eugene, OR 101.6
- Providence, RI 101.8
- Portland, ME 101.9
- Fresno, CA 102.2
- Cape Coral, FL 102.3
- Sarasota, FL 102.4
- Worcester, MA 102.5
- Philadelphia, PA 102.6
- Hartford, CT 102.7
- Dallas, TX 103.1
- Naples, FL 103.2
- Trenton, NJ 103.2
- Phoenix, AZ 103.3
- Bend, OR 103.6
- Chicago, IL 103.6
- Olympia, WA 103.7
- Baltimore, MD 104.5
- New Haven, CT 104.6
- Minneapolis, MN 104.8
- Stockton, CA 105.1
- Boulder, CO 105.2
- Anchorage, AK 105.4
- Portland, OR 105.4
- Bremerton, WA 105.6
- Manchester, NH 105.7
- Denver, CO 105.8
- Riverside, CA 106.4
- Sacramento, CA 106.7
- Bridgeport, CT 106.9
- Santa Rosa, CA 107.8
- Boston, MA 108.3
- Vallejo, CA 108.5
- Santa Barbara, CA 108.8
- Washington, D.C. 108.9
- Salinas, CA 109.0
- Poughkeepsie, NY 109.4
- San Jose, CA 110.4
- Oxnard, CA 110.5
- Honolulu, HI 111.0
- Seattle, WA 111.1
- San Diego, CA 111.9
- New York, NY 112.6
- Los Angeles, CA 113.6
- Miami, FL 114.2
- San Francisco, CA 115.6
Compare Kansas City with your city
See what you'd need to earn in Kansas City to keep your lifestyle, after taxes and local prices. The calculator starts from Wichita, KS, which sends the most households here of the metros we cover (IRS, 2022–2023), using its median household income as an illustrative single-earner salary. Household income can include several earners and other income; it is not a typical individual wage. Pick your own city, salary and filing status.
Equal salary in Kansas City: $73,300
Compare any two of 149 U.S. metro areas. All cities
To keep the same lifestyle, you need about $73,300 in Kansas City, MO to match $70,000 in Wichita, KS ($3,300 more), after 2026 taxes and local prices.
Single filer, W-2 salary. Uses Kansas and Missouri state income tax; includes Kansas City resident tax $700 (inside city limits).
Prices and housing cover the metro area; taxes use Kansas and Missouri, their principal states. A metro can span several states; living in its other state can change the tax result.
See the full Kansas to Missouri report
There is no city-to-city report for this move. The state report compares statewide taxes, housing and moving costs; it does not use the city or suburb tax settings above.
What things cost in Kansas City
The vertical line marks the U.S. average (100). BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 for the metropolitan area.
Taxes in Kansas City
In this fixed example, one single filer earning an $85,000 W-2 salary keeps $64,789 after 2026 federal tax ($9,870), Social Security and Medicare ($6,503) and Missouri income tax ($2,988), and $850 in Kansas City resident income tax. The salary is rounded from median household income, not an observed individual wage. This example stays fixed when you change the calculator.
Prices and housing cover the full Kansas City, MO-KS metro area; the tax example uses its principal state, Missouri. A home in another state within the metro can have different taxes.
Kansas City, Missouri residents pay a 1% earnings tax on all earnings (renewed April 2026). If you live outside Kansas City, Missouri but work in it, you still pay the 1% earnings tax on those wages. The Kansas suburbs and the other Missouri suburbs have no local income tax.
Housing
| Measure | Kansas City area |
|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,315/mo |
| Median home value | $314,300 |
| Median property tax | $3,379/yr |
| Monthly cost to own the median home (20% down) | $2,135 |
| Median household income | $83,785 |
Climate and jobs in Kansas City
In the Kansas City area the average January low is 20°F and the average July high 88°F, and the area has about 36 days a year at 90°F or hotter. Unemployment averaged 3.9% in 2025, below the U.S. rate (4.3%), and the median wage across all jobs was $50,820 a year, about the same as the U.S. median.
| Climate | 1991–2020 average |
|---|---|
| January low | 20°F |
| July high | 88°F |
| Days 90°F or hotter | 36 a year |
| Precipitation | 39 in a year |
| Snowfall | 18 in a year |
| Jobs and pay | Metro area | U.S. |
|---|---|---|
| Unemployment rate, 2025 average | 3.9% | 4.3% |
| Median wage, all jobs (May 2025) | $50,820 | $50,980 |
| Wage and salary jobs (May 2025) | 1.1 million | 155.5 million |
Climate: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020 averages at the Kansas City International Airport station (USW00003947). Weather varies across a metro area, especially with elevation and distance from the coast. Jobs: unemployment from BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics; wages and job counts from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, which count wage and salary jobs, not the self-employed; wages are before taxes. The 2025 average covers 11 months: October 2025 data were not collected during the federal government shutdown.
Retiring in Kansas City
Our modeled retiree budget is about $3,043 a month here with a home owned outright, or $3,579 renting. It uses spending benchmarks for households with a reference person age 65 or older (BLS 2024), adjusted for local prices. These are household-based estimates, not observed spending by a single retiree in Kansas City. See where your budget goes furthest.
Where people move to and from Kansas City
IRS county-to-county migration data, 2022–2023, aggregated to the 149 metro areas we cover.
Natural hazard risk
RelocateMath's population-weighted mean of FEMA county risk scores for the Kansas City area is 87.7 of 100 (very high county-score mean), with modeled expected losses of about $415 per resident per year. A mean of county percentiles is not an official FEMA metro rating or a national metro percentile. It describes the counties in the metro; your property's risk can differ. Disaster risk by county in Missouri.
The vertical line marks county-score scale midpoint (50).
Frequently asked questions
What salary do you need to live in Kansas City?
In a fixed single-filer W-2 example living inside the principal city, about $72,900 in Kansas City matches the buying power of $75,000 in an average-priced area with no state income tax. The example uses 2026 federal taxes, Missouri state taxes and modeled resident local taxes where applicable. It stays fixed when calculator inputs change. Renting the median home at 30% of income takes $52,600, and buying the median home with 20% down takes about $91,492.
Is Kansas City expensive?
The Kansas City metro area's price level is 92.5 (U.S. = 100), #122 of the 149 metro areas we cover, from most to least expensive. Its housing rents price index is 86.6, 13% below the U.S. average.
Are people moving to Kansas City?
Counting moves to and from the other 148 metro areas we cover, Kansas City had a net loss of about 36 households in 2022–2023 (IRS county migration data).
What is the weather like in Kansas City?
In NOAA's 1991–2020 climate normals for the Kansas City area (Kansas City International Airport weather station), the average January low is 20°F and the average July high 88°F. The area has about 36 days a year at 90°F or hotter and gets 39 inches of precipitation a year and about 18 inches of snow.
What are jobs and pay like in Kansas City?
The Kansas City metro area's unemployment rate averaged 3.9% in 2025, below the U.S. rate (4.3%). The median wage across all jobs was $50,820 a year in May 2025, about the same as the U.S. median of $50,980 (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
What natural disasters affect Kansas City?
RelocateMath's population-weighted mean of FEMA county risk scores is 87.7 out of 100 (very high county-score mean). This is not an official FEMA metro rating or a national metro percentile. The highest county-score means by hazard are hail, heat wave, tornado.
Compare Kansas City with other cities
Moving from Kansas City to…
Cities with similar prices
- New Orleans, LA 92.6
- Knoxville, TN 92.6
- Fort Wayne, IN 92.6
- Dayton, OH 92.7
- Memphis, TN 92.2
- Greensboro, NC 92.9
- Moving from Missouri
State-agency links identify the responsible tax office; they do not verify every modeled rule. Use forms and guidance for the year you are filing. Local-tax references retain their own publication or filing years. Some documents cover an earlier filing year; a source link is not a claim that every rule has just been rechecked.