Many Kansas City area jobs pay less than national averages

The average hourly wage in the Kansas City area was $22.12 in May 2013, according to new data released Tuesday.

A year before that, the metro average was $21.97, according to the same survey.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said average pay for Kansas City area workers lagged national averages by statistically significant amounts in 10 major occupational categories, including architecture and engineering; computer and mathematical; community and social services; education, training and library; and arts, design, entertainment, sports and media.

Conversely, average pay rates in the metro area were higher than national averages in four major job groups, construction and extraction (mining); farming, fishing and forestry; production; and sales.

Overall, the Kansas City area’s average hourly pay rate for all workers in May 2013 was on par with the national average of $22.33.

Compared with national job distribution, the area has more workers in office and administrative support jobs, business and financial operations, and computer and mathematical work.

The share of local jobs below the national representation rates was significantly lower in the education, training and library category; production; and sales.

Analyzed by occupational group, the lowest average wage in the Kansas City area was in food preparation and serving, $9.84 an hour as of May 2013. Management jobs tallied the highest average hourly pay in the metro area, $49.29.

The pay information was drawn from the Occupational Employment Statistics survey that measures employment and wage rates for wage and salary workers in 22 major occupational groups and 94 subgroups in non-farm establishments. The sample for the Kansas City metro area included 7,417 establishments, with a survey response rate of 73 percent.

This story was originally published June 24, 2014 at 10:13 AM with the headline "Many Kansas City area jobs pay less than national averages."