The economy of the Kansas City metropolitan area is anchored by Kansas City,

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

, which is the largest city in the state and the 37th largest in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. The Kansas City metropolitan area is the 27th largest in the United States, based on the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of t ...

's 2004 population estimates. The metro's economy is large and influential to its region.

Companies and employers

The Kansas City metro is the third largest

beef Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus''). In prehistoric times, humankind hunted aurochs and later domesticated them. Since that time, numerous breeds of cattle have been bred specifically for the quality or quantit ...

-processing city in the US (behind

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

), and has the second largest

rail Rail or rails may refer to: Rail transport *Rail transport and related matters *Rail (rail transport) or railway lines, the running surface of a railway Arts and media Film * ''Rails'' (film), a 1929 Italian film by Mario Camerini * ''Rail'' ( ...

network. The area has many

factories A factory, manufacturing plant or a production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. T ...

, manufacturing plants, an official

international trade International trade is the exchange of capital, goods, and services across international borders or territories because there is a need or want of goods or services. (see: World economy) In most countries, such trade represents a significant ...

zone, and the most foreign trade zone space in the nation. It has a number of large national and international companies, including these: *

American Century Investments American Century Investments is a privately controlled and independent investment management firm. Operations The Building has approximately 1,300 employees and its headquarters are located at 4500 Main in Kansas City, Missouri, near the Coun ...

, mutual fund manager and broker *

Associated Wholesale Grocers Associated Wholesale Grocers, Inc. (AWG) is the United States's largest cooperative food wholesaler to independently owned supermarkets and grocery stores. It serves more than 4,000 locations in 36 states and from 8 full-line wholesale divisions ...

, grocery wholesale cooperative * Barkley, Inc., nationally recognized advertising firm * Barts Electric, electrical contractor specializing in commercial and government installations * Bernstein-Rein, nationally recognized advertising firm * Black & Veatch Corporation * BNSF Railway Co., freight railroad network operator *

Burns & McDonnell Burns & McDonnell is an American architecture and engineering company based in Kansas City, Missouri, and is owned 100% by its employees. It was established in 1898 by Clinton S. Burns and Robert E. McDonnell, two engineers. In October 2021, it ...

Engineering *

Bushnell Corporation Bushnell Corporation is an American firm that specializes in sporting optics and outdoor products. It is based in Overland Park, Kansas and is a subsidiary of Vista Outdoor. Bushnell's produces binoculars, telescopes, spotting scopes, riflesco ...

, manufacturer of outdoor products specializing in optics and imaging *

Cerner Corporation Cerner Corporation is an American supplier of health information technology (HIT) services, devices, and hardware. As of February 2018, its products were in use at more than 27,000 facilities around the world. The company had more than 29,000 emp ...

Commerce Bancshares Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ: CBSH) is a registered bank holding company based in Missouri, United States, with primary hubs in Kansas City and St. Louis. It is the corporate parent of Commerce Bank, which offers a diversified line of fina ...

, large bank operating in Kansas, Missouri, and

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

Crayola Crayola LLC, formerly the Binney & Smith Company, is an American manufacturing company specializing in art supplies. It is known for its brand ''Crayola'' and best known for its crayons. The company is headquartered in Forks Township, Pennsylva ...

, a division of Hallmark *

Dairy Farmers of America Dairy Farmers of America Inc. (DFA) is a national milk marketing cooperative in the United States. DFA markets members' raw milk and sells milk and derivative products (dairy products, food components, ingredients and shelf-stable dairy products) ...

Embarq Corporation Embarq Corporation (stylized as EMBARQ) was the largest independent local exchange carrier in the United States (below the Baby Bells), serving customers in 18 states and providing local, long-distance, high-speed data and wireless services to ...

, large telecommunications company based in

Overland Park Overland Park ( ) is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Kansas. Located in Johnson County, Kansas, it is one of four principal cities in the Kansas City metropolitan area and the most populous suburb of Kansas City, Missouri. ...

; it was spun off from Sprint in 2006 * Evergy, electric and gas utility company *

Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City is located in Kansas City, Missouri and covers the 10th District of the Federal Reserve, which includes Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Wyoming, and portions of western Missouri and northern New Mex ...

Garmin Garmin Ltd. (shortened to Garmin, stylized as GARMIN, and formerly known as ProNav) is an American, Swiss-domiciled multinational technology company founded in 1989 by Gary Burrell and Min Kao in Lenexa, Kansas, United States, with headquarte ...

, develops consumer, aviation, and marine technologies for GPS *

Hallmark Cards Hallmark Cards, Inc. is a private, family-owned American company based in Kansas City, Missouri. Founded in 1910 by Joyce Hall, Hallmark is the oldest and largest manufacturer of greeting cards in the United States. In 1985, the company was award ...

, largest greeting card manufacturer in the world (Although Hallmark's gross revenues would generally be more than sufficient for inclusion in the ''Fortune'' 500 and 1000, those lists only apply to public companies. Hallmark is privately held by the Hall family and is thus ineligible for inclusion on the ''Fortune'' 500 or 1000.) * HCA Midwest Health, for-profit hospital system * HNTB, global infrastructure planning, engineering, and consulting firm *

H&R Block H&R Block, Inc., or H&R Block, is an American tax preparation company operating in Canada, the United States, and Australia. The company was founded in 1955 by brothers Henry W. Bloch and Richard Bloch. As of 2018, H&R Block operates approxim ...

, tax preparation services * Interstate Bakeries, maker of Wonder Bread, Twinkies, and other products * JE Dunn Construction, general contractor * Kansas City Life Insurance, major national insurer *

Kansas City Southern Industries Kansas City Southern (KCS) is a pure transportation holding company with railroad investments in the United States, Mexico, and Panama. The KCS rail network includes about of track in the U.S. and Mexico.https://www.kcsouthern.com/pdf/communit ...

, railway management * Lockton, insurance brokerage and consulting firm * Netsmart, health care IT provider * Polsinelli, law firm *

Populous (company) Populous is a global architectural and design practice specializing in sports facilities, arenas and convention centers, as well as the planning and design of major special events. Populous was created through a management buyout in January 2 ...

, architectural * Russell Stover Candies, currently under purchase by Swiss-based company Lindt *

T-Mobile US T-Mobile US, Inc. is an American wireless network operator headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas and Bellevue, Washington, U.S. Its largest shareholder is a multinational telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom AG, which , holds 48.4 pe ...

, one of the largest telecommunications companies in the world; prior to its merger with T-Mobile,

Sprint Corporation Sprint Corporation was an American telecommunications company. Before it merged with T-Mobile US on April 1, 2020, it was the fourth-largest mobile network operator in the United States, serving 54.3 million customers as of June 30, 2019. The ...

had its world headquarters in Overland Park. * VMLY&R, marketing and communications company * Wish-Bone salad dressing * YRC Worldwide, one of the largest transportation and logistics companies in the world; based in Overland Park Other major regional and national non-corporate employers headquartered and/or located in Kansas City include: *

Shook, Hardy & Bacon Shook, Hardy & Bacon (SHB), L.L.P. (previously Shook, Hardy, Ottman, Mitchell and Bacon) is a U.S. law firm based in Kansas City, Missouri. In 2012, ''The National Law Journal'' ranked the firm as the 87th largest in the United States. The firm h ...

, major national and international law firm * University of Missouri - Kansas City, full branch of the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus University of Missouri System. MU was founded in ...

Products

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

trucks, including the

F-150 The Ford F-Series is a series of light-duty trucks marketed and manufactured by Ford since the 1948 model year. Slotted above the Ford Ranger in the Ford truck model range, the F-Series is marketed as a range of full-sized pickup trucks. ...

and

Transit Transit may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Transit'' (1979 film), a 1979 Israeli film * ''Transit'' (2005 film), a film produced by MTV and Staying-Alive about four people in countries in the world * ''Transit'' (2006 film), a 2006 ...

, manufactured at the

Ford Kansas City Assembly Plant Kansas City Assembly Plant (KCAP) is a Ford Motor Company automobile assembly facility which produces the Ford F-150 and the Ford Transit. Located in Claycomo, Missouri, United States, the plant is about northeast of Kansas City, Missouri. The p ...

in Claycomo *

Bon Ami Bon Ami () is a brand of scouring powder sold by the Bon Ami Company of Kansas City, Missouri. Since its inception in the late 19th century, the brand's advertising campaigns have gained particular notice. History 19th century The original ...

cleaning powder, produced by

Faultless Starch/Bon Ami Company Faultless Brands is a manufacturing business, producing laundry, household cleaning products, air care, and lawn and garden products. The company headquarters are located in Kansas City, Missouri, United States. History In 1886, Major Thomas G. ...

of Kansas City *

Chevrolet Malibu The Chevrolet Malibu is a mid-size car manufactured and marketed by Chevrolet from 1964 to 1983 and again since 1997. The Malibu began as a trim-level of the Chevrolet Chevelle, becoming its own model line in 1978. Originally a rear-wheel-dr ...

and

Buick LaCrosse The Buick LaCrosse is a mid-size sedan manufactured and marketed by Buick since 2004. The LaCrosse is now in its third generation, slotted above the Buick Regal as the brand's flagship vehicle. The first-generation LaCrosse replaced the Century ...

, manufactured at the

General Motors Fairfax Assembly Plant The Fairfax Assembly & Stamping is a General Motors automobile factory at 3201 Fairfax Trafficway, Kansas City, Kansas in the United States. As of 2022, the plant employs over 2,100 hourly and salaried employees. Employees are represented by UA ...

in Fairfax, Kansas City *

Dawn Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the appearance of indirect sunlight being scattered in Earth's atmosphere, when the centre of the Sun's disc has reached 18° below the observer's hori ...

dishwashing detergent, manufactured by

Procter & Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/consumer he ...

in Kansas City

Federal government

The federal government is the largest employer in Kansas City. In the wider metropolitan area, the federal government, either directly or through contracts, employs 41,500 people. The combined annual payroll of these jobs is more than $3 billion. The largest federal agencies in the Kansas City area by number of permanent employees are these: *

Department of Defense Department of Defence or Department of Defense may refer to: Current departments of defence * Department of Defence (Australia) * Department of National Defence (Canada) * Department of Defence (Ireland) * Department of National Defense (Philipp ...

- 15,294 *

Department of Veterans Affairs The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is a Cabinet-level executive branch department of the federal government charged with providing life-long healthcare services to eligible military veterans at the 170 VA medical centers an ...

- 2,740 * Department of Treasury (primarily the

IRS The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory tax ...

) - 2,707 *

Social Security Administration The United States Social Security Administration (SSA) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that administers Social Security, a social insurance program consisting of retirement, disability and survivor benefits. To qualify ...

- 1,708 * Department of Agriculture - 1,451 *

Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-terr ...

- 1,230 *

Department of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

- 1,210 * Department of Transportation - 1,048 *

General Services Administration The General Services Administration (GSA) is an independent agency of the United States government established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies. GSA supplies products and communications for U.S. gover ...

- 883 * Environmental Protection Agency - 540 The

U.S. Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U. ...

employs more than 6,000 in the Kansas City area. Postal jobs are often counted separately from other federal jobs, because these positions are generally in the

excepted service The excepted service is the part of the United States federal civil service that is not part of either the competitive service or the Senior Executive Service. It provides streamlined hiring processes to be used under certain circumstances. Overv ...

. Employees in these positions cannot earn competitive status or reinstatement rights for traditional federal employment.

Business publications

Kansas City has many business publications. Two of the most prominent are the ''Kansas City Business Journal'' (weekly), and ''Ingram's Magazine'' (monthly). Many of Kansas City's business scions also frequently appear in the ''Independent'', the local

society A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Soci ...

magazine (weekly), and ''KC Business Magazine'' (monthly)."KC Business Magazine"
/ref>

References

External links

"The Role of Metro Areas in the U.S. Economy" - U.S. Conference of Mayors (2004-2006)

Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City
{{DEFAULTSORT:Economy Of Kansas City