Report: Tech drives nearly a 10th of Kansas City’s economy (and those employers are hiring)
October 6, 2025 | Startland News Staff
Advocates tout KC for top-tier tech talent; a new report affirms its status as an emerging market with potential for big impact
A combination of economic stability, depth and skill of talent, and operational efficiency creates conditions for companies to grow and succeed in Kansas City, said Kara Lowe, detailing new data that suggests the region is entering a growth phase ripe for tech companies.
“Kansas City’s strength has always come from the ingenuity, resilience and vision of its people,” said Lowe, president and CEO of the KC Tech Council. “In a rapidly evolving industry, that spirit is our constant advantage. Together, we’re not only growing Kansas City’s tech economy — we’re shaping its future.”
The tech council’s latest KC Tech Specs report — a comprehensive, data-driven look at the region’s tech industry — reveals a healthy and encouraging status with expanding opportunities in the bistate business community, she added.
Designed for the entire tech ecosystem, the report aims to inform business leaders, policymakers, educators, civic leaders, and students to help them better understand the region’s momentum and opportunities in tech.
Together, Kansas and Missouri saw the tech industry add an estimated $12.4 billion to the two states’ combined $35.5 billion economic impact, according to the Tech Specs report.
Other indicators of a rapidly growing tech hub, as noted by the report:
- 10.3 percent increase in tech job postings across Kansas and Missouri (2023-2025)
- 4.1 percent growth in tech businesses
- More than 225,000 tech professionals now working in the bistate region
- KC’s 75,000-plus tech professionals make up 6.9 percent of the local workforce, driving 9 percent of the KC economy — outperforming larger metros like Chicago, Nashville, and St. Louis
Click here to access the full Tech Specs report.
KC Tech Specs, v8
“This two-state region presents technology leaders with a compelling environment for steady growth, a well-established and talented workforce, and a mature business ecosystem,” the report says, adding that a competitive cost of living compared to other metros continues to specifically benefit the Kansas City metro area, which ranks as the second-most cost-effective market for technology employment.
The increase in local job postings for tech jobs also reinforces the “critical need to expand and explore nontraditional talent sourcing strategies to develop, attract, grow and retain talent,” the report says. A substantial majority of the metro area’s tech workers (60-70 percent) are young or mid-tier professionals, and total tech jobs in Kansas City actually went down from May 2024 to May 2025, mirroring a larger trend of decreased employment in all industry sectors.
However, the number of opportunities in technology combined with tech council’s resolve to find solutions in a tightened labor market create the overall optimism around the report, Lowe said.
KC Tech Council partnered with RSM US LLP to assemble the Tech Specs report with data from sources including CompTIA, JobsEQ and customized analytics from RSM US LLP.
2025 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
MECA students to Goodwill: Everyone has a mission now — what else are you selling?
Editor’s note: MECA Challenge and Startland News are both programs of the Kansas City Startup Foundation, though the content below was produced independently by Startland. For more information on the relationship, click here. Goodwill must innovate and change with the times if it’s going to survive after 125 years in business, said Ed Lada. “The…
Prestio drives users to auto dealerships without traditional car buying pain points
Gone are the days of traditional car buying for Ben Anderson, the first customer of Kansas City-based startup Prestio. Anderson, an accounting professional at CBIZ, had grown deeply frustrated by auto dealerships, he said. In fall 2017, he turned to Prestio –– a first-of-its-kind software-as-a-service platform that allows customers to buy, trade, and finance vehicle purchases…
Crema co-founder details expansion experiment at Thinking Bigger breakfast
Crema’s work is all about proximity, said George Brooks, seeking to clarify potential misperceptions about the digital product agency’s foray into markets outside Kansas City. “We’ve been running an experiment,” the Crema co-founder told a crowd at Thinking Bigger Business Media’s recent Big Breakfast. “We’re from Kansas City, but probably 80 percent of our clients…
Techweek 100 list released: Dozens of KC’s top cultivators, ambassadors and innovators
Techweek Kansas City on Friday released its Techweek 100 list of the premier leaders pushing innovation in Kansas City. The collection of cultivators, ambassadors and innovators is a who’s who of familiar names across the startup, entrepreneurship and tech communities. Released in the runup to Techweek KC’s Oct. 8-12 festivities, the list isn’t a ranking,…