Who are Kansas City’s highest paid employees? Some made more than $300,000 in 2024
Your Kansas City tax dollars pay for salaries of more than 4,000 city employees, from park rangers and paralegals to firefighters and bus drivers. But who makes the most?
Governments are required by law to share how much they pay their employees, and The Kansas City Star received municipal salary information through a Sunshine Law request.
County, state and federal officials are not included. This is because they are paid those governments’ budgets. The Star previously published information on the highest paid Kansas and Missouri state employees in 2024.
The top three highest total salaries went to people who left public service in 2024, which means they received a pension in addition to their salary.
City manager Brian Platt, who ranks No. 6 on the list, got a pay raise midway through the year, after he received a job offer in Austin. Last month, Platt was suspended with pay after the city lost a lawsuit alleging he told communications employees to lie to the public.
The Kansas City Fire Department employed 19 of the 25 highest paid city workers in 2024. Firefighters working many hours of overtime has been an issue for almost a decade, according to city audits and Star reporting.
Elected officials were not some of the city’s highest paid employees: Mayor Quinton Lucas was paid $163,081 in 2024, and city council members were paid $81,538.
The total pay includes base salary, overtime, bonuses, pensions and other financial compensation. The top 25 employees received a maximum bonus of $1,500.
Here are how much the highest paid Kansas City employees received in 2024. If you are unable to access the database, follow this link.
This story was originally published March 10, 2025 at 3:38 PM.
