PlainCompare

Metro Life Score

Kansas City, MO-KS

45.5
Life Score / 100
C
Grade (curved)
#264
of 387 metros
32%
of metros outranked

Data updated May 2026

Verify: BEA · BLS · HUD · FBI · NCES · EPA · Census

The verdict

Kansas City ranks #264 of 387 US metros, ahead of 32% - carried by its wages (73/100) and held back most by schools (12/100).

73
strongest: Wages
59
then: Cost of Living
12
weakest: Schools
7
weighted dimensions

Where Kansas City sits among all US metros

Composite Life Score vs the national field

46 32th percentile higher than 32% of 387 US metros

25–30: 1 US metros (0%). Below this entry. 30–35: 16 US metros (4%). Below this entry. 35–40: 46 US metros (12%). Below this entry. 40–45: 53 US metros (14%). Below this entry. 45–50: 81 US metros (21%). This entry sits in this band. 50–55: 67 US metros (17%). Above this entry. 55–60: 68 US metros (18%). Above this entry. 60–65: 40 US metros (10%). Above this entry. 65–70: 12 US metros (3%). Above this entry. 70–75: 3 US metros (1%). Above this entry. This metro 25 75 every US metro, bucketed by value

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more US metros. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source PlainCompare composite of BEA, BLS, HUD, FBI, NCES, DOL, EPA data · May 2026

How the score is built

Reading the Kansas City Life Score

Kansas City's composite score of 45.5 out of 100, a grade of C, places the metro at rank #264 of 387, ahead of 32% of US metros. The strongest inputs are Wages (73/100) and Cost of Living (59/100), which pull the composite upward, while Schools (12/100) and Safety (15/100) drag it downward. (How the weighting works.)

BEA RPP 92.5 (rent-RPP 86.6). BLS median salary $67,553, 1,079,180 jobs (General and Operations Managers, Registered Nurses, Retail Salespersons). HUD 2BR FMR $1,358/mo (studio $1,095).

FBI UCR (MO): 463 violent, 1972 property/100K. NCES: 12.8:1 ratio, 3.5% charter. EPA: 39 Superfund sites (MO). Ranks #261-#267 below.

Dimension detail

How Kansas City scores, dimension by dimension

Score Breakdown

Cost of Living Wages Rent Safety Schools Childcare Environment

Dimension Scores

Cost of Living 59/100 (20%)
Wages 73/100 (20%)
Rent 43/100 (15%)
Safety 15/100 (15%)
Schools 12/100 (10%)
Childcare -/100 (10%)
Environment 46/100 (10%)

Key Data Points

92.5
Cost Index (RPP)
$67,553
Avg Median Salary
$1,358
2BR Fair Market Rent
463
Violent Crime/100K (MO)
12.8:1
Student-Teacher Ratio
39
Superfund Sites (MO)
1,079,180
Total Employment

Crime, schools, childcare, and environment data shown at state level where metro-specific data is unavailable.

Compare Kansas City With...

Kansas City vs St. Joseph Compare → Kansas City vs St. Louis Compare → Kansas City vs Joplin Compare → Kansas City vs Wildwood Compare → Kansas City vs Waterloo Compare → Kansas City vs Paducah Compare →

Ranking Context

Kansas City outranks 32% of U.S. metros.

Rank Metro Score Grade
#261 Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA 45.7 C+
#262 Farmington, NM 45.7 C+
#263 Charleston-North Charleston, SC 45.7 C+
#264 Kansas City, MO-KS 45.5 C
#265 North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota, FL 45.5 C
#266 Portland-South Portland, ME 45.5 C
#267 Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV 45.4 C

MO Metro Scores

St. Joseph, MO-KS B+ 55.5 St. Louis, MO-IL B 54.7 Joplin, MO-KS B- 51.7 Springfield, MO B- 49.7 Jefferson City, MO C+ 46.5 Cape Girardeau, MO-IL C 44.5

Using Kansas City's Life Score

Kansas City is a regional baseline, not a neighborhood reading, use it to shortlist, then dig into the dimensions that matter to you.

  • Its strongest dimension is wages (73/100) and its weakest is schools (12/100) - weigh those against your own priorities. How the score is built
  • Put Kansas City head-to-head against another metro before you decide, every dimension, side by side. Compare metros
  • See where Kansas City lands on the national rankings for cost, safety, pay and more. Browse rankings

Scores summarize federal data at the metro level; crime, schools and cost vary widely within a single metro.

Explore more

Frequently Asked Questions

What are Kansas City's biggest strengths? ▼
Kansas City's strongest dimensions are Wages (73/100), Cost of Living (59/100), Environment (46/100). Wages is top-tier nationally.
What are Kansas City's weakest areas? ▼
Kansas City's lowest-scoring dimensions are Schools (12/100), Safety (15/100), Rent (43/100). Schools weighs heavily on the composite.
How expensive is Kansas City compared to the national average? ▼
Kansas City's Regional Price Parity is 92.5 (7.5% less than national); rent RPP 86.6.
What is the average salary in Kansas City? ▼
Kansas City median salary: $67,553, 1,079,180 jobs. Top: General and Operations Managers, Registered Nurses, Retail Salespersons.
How is the life score calculated? ▼
Kansas City's 45.5/100 blends 7 federal-data dimensions - see our methodology page for the weighting.

Research Guides

Data from BEA, HUD, FBI UCR, BLS OES, NCES, DOL, and EPA. Not affiliated with the U.S. Government.

Related

Data sourced from official public datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCompare Editorial

Disclaimer: This information is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. Data is sourced from BEA, BLS, HUD, FBI, NCES, DOL, and EPA. Consult a qualified professional before making decisions based on this data.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

All federal data sources used on this page
  • U.S. Census Bureau ACS - multi-dimension demographic + housing + income aggregates for cross-area comparison. census.gov/programs-surveys/acs
  • BEA Regional Economic Accounts - GDP, personal income, employment by state and metro. bea.gov/data/regional
  • BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) - wage estimates for comparable-area indexing. bls.gov/oes
  • FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) - crime statistics for safety-score component. fbi.gov/ucr
  • NCES Common Core of Data - public-school quality indicators by area. nces.ed.gov/ccd
  • EPA AirNow + Air Quality System (AQS) - air-quality measurements by area. epa.gov/outdoor-air-quality-data
  • HUD Fair Market Rents (FMR) - county and metro housing-cost indicators. huduser.gov/datasets/fmr

Every figure on PlainCompare is loaded directly from BEA, HUD, FBI UCR, BLS OEWS, NCES, DOL, EPA, and the Census Bureau, no number is typed in by an editor. This metro's Life Score is computed directly from the 7 federal sources cited above. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026.