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Greater Kansas City Profile

Cost of Living

ACCRA 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).

Housing Affordability

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

2008 Median Sales Price, Existing Single Family Homes
Location	Media Sales Price
Kansas City Metro	$144,200
United States	$197,100

Source: National Association of Realtors.

Kansas City also compares favorably with other markets in Coldwell Banker's annual Home Price Comparison Index. This index holds the home type compared constant across housing markets. The home type employed is typical of a corporate middle management transferee (single-family home, 2200 sq. ft., 4 bedrooms, family room, 2 1/2 baths, 2-car garage). Such homes range from $158,310 to $230,317 in the Kansas City submarkets reported on by Coldwell Banker in the 2009 report. A similar home in San Francisco would cost $1,363,250.

Tax Burdens, 2007

State and Local Tax Revenue Per Capita
	KANSAS	MISSOURI	U.S.
All Taxes	$4,088	$3,265	$4,234
Property Taxes	1,245	894	1,272
Sales Taxes	1,448	1,228	1,456
Individual Income Taxes	989	879	960
Corporate Income Taxes	190	67	201
State and Local Tax Revenue Per $1,000 of Personal Income
	KANSAS	MISSOURI	U.S.
All Taxes	$109	$92	$107

Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census.

 

DEFINING THE GREATER KC METRO AREA

Kansas City is a Missouri/Kansas bi-state metropolitan area. All statistical references made to Kansas City Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) include the counties of Cass, Clay, Clinton, Jackson, Lafayette, Platte and Ray in Missouri, and Johnson, Leavenworth, Miami and Wyandotte counties in Kansas. The greater Kansas City area also includes the adjoining Lawrence, KS, St. Joseph, MO, and Topeka, KS MSAs, as well as the Atchison, KS, Chillicothe, MO, Ottawa, KS, and Warrensburg, MO areas.