Expanding Silicon Prairie to the Kansas City Metro

This blog is one of an ongoing series that examines the technology talent gap by major metro area serviced by Genesis10. Coming up we will also be looking at Dallas, Nashville and Des Moines, among others. Recently, we posted on Austin, Milwaukee, Cleveland and Charlotte.

Summary

• Kansas City is rapidly emerging as a tech hub, buoyed by cost advantages, a vibrant startup scene, and notable diversity gains, including being the only U.S. city where women in tech consistently out-earn men.
• The region shows strong momentum in tech talent growth and brain gain but faces thousands of unfilled roles, especially in development, engineering, and cybersecurity.
• Employers are loosening degree requirements and must align compensation for in-demand roles closer to national averages to attract and retain talent.
• Strengthening business–education partnerships, including efforts like the KC STEM Alliance, is key as Missouri aims to become a top 10 tech state.

In April, MarketWatch named Kansas City to its list of cities emerging as new tech hot spots. Routinely making headlines for its growing tech economy, "Kansas City landed on the map several years ago after becoming the first site of Google Fiber, and the sector has been growing ever since with a healthy and vibrant startup scene," the financial information website reported. Together, these insights frame the momentum of the silicon prairie kansas city story and why the region draws national attention.

Kansas City continues to be a market to watch according to the Kansas City Business Journal which earlier this year reported that Missouri is poised to become a top 10 tech state in five years. As it stands in tech sector growth in 2019, Missouri is expected to outperform the U.S., Midwest and the South. Even though the focus is on the state of Missouri, those who reside along the state line on the Kansas side also are experiencing and contributing to the growth.

According to a new report from the Missouri Chamber Foundation, "Companies are taking advantage of an accelerated trend to secure cost savings by locating people outside more recognized, and often more expensive technology hubs." For example, the report shares that a 500-person employee tech firm located in Kansas City would cost an estimated $38 million in annual operations but the same size tech company would require a total of $59.1 million in annual costs if located in the San Francisco Bay Area. The economics give the c-suite and talent strategists something to think about.

• While cost of living and a strong work ethic, among other factors, are attracting companies to consider the Kansas City Metro, we can also now add diversity and, specifically, women, to the mix.
• Kansas City has become one of the best cities for women working in tech.
• It is the only city in America where women on average earn more than men.
• Roughly 29% of all tech workers in Kansas City are women, the 11th-highest rate.
• The city also ranks in the top 20 for tech employment growth and gender pay gap.
• With the emphasis on diversity in the workplace this is noteworthy if this is a business goal over the next 3 to 5 years.
• The growing kansas city women in tech community underscores that progress.

"Kansas City is the only city where the average female tech worker has earned more than the average male tech worker in all four editions of our study," said AJ Smith, VP of Financial Education at SmartAsset, a financial technology firm. "...Kansas City is the only place where the pay gap has consistently remained in favor of women."

There are other signs that Kansas City is positioning to become a top 10 tech hub. The region places at #5 on CBRE's list of tech talent momentum markets, a measure of change in tech job growth, as part of its fifth annual Scoring Tech Talent Report. Kansas City also stands out in other key areas:

• Growing from a small tech talent market to a large one, crossing the 50,000 thresholds for a total labor pool of 51,770.
• As the 8th-largest brain gain, Kansas City brings in more than 8,000 tech workers.

In the words of MarketWatch, Kansas City is showing "no signs of slowing down."

Needed: Fuel for Growth

While the Kansas City tech talent market outpaces the national average for tech industry growth, beating out other cities by attracting in-demand skilled talent, it doesn't appear to be enough. With more than 3,000 unfilled jobs, the region, which is highly dependent upon tech to maintain a healthy economy, needs to find ways to fuel even more growth. This reflects sustained demand for kansas city tech jobs across the metro.

• Job openings in Kansas City's tech industry demonstrate a need for a mix of roles and skills.
• According to Guy Arnone, Genesis10 Operations Executive for the Kansas City office, developers, engineers, and cybersecurity specialists continue to be in top demand.
• In fact, locally Arnone shares that companies are shifting their workforce strategy and hiring FTEs versus contractors because of the talent shortage and also in an effort to build competencies in select parts of the business.
• In particular, kansas city cybersecurity jobs are drawing heightened focus from employers as security capabilities expand.

Also worth noting is that position requirements such as college degrees are easing. Generally, our clients and our recruiters use college degrees or certifications, for example to sort applicants. Now, we are seeing a slight shift with requirements nationally "loosening up," recognizing that not all talented individuals will have a four-year college degree. A senior researcher at the Urban Institute, Molly Scott shared,

"People don't have equal access to higher education. Giving different ways to demonstrate skills and knowledge has great potential for sort of leveling the playing field."

This approach creates positive implications, affecting the socio-economic diversity of the region as well as creating opportunities for the unemployed and/or underemployed who want to work, but cannot find full-time jobs.

Retaining and Nurturing Tech Talent

• Businesses and education need to pull together to develop tech talent.
• For the more than 10,000 open computing positions reported by the Tech Council, a regional advocate for Kansas City's tech industry, there were only 1,000 computer science graduates who could fill those positions.
• The Chamber of Commerce report says schools need to work more closely with businesses to prepare their students for work.
• In response, schools are expanding tech education to meet the demand.
• The KC STEM Alliance is making a concerted effort to expand the STEM ecosystem in an effort to expose and cultivate young minds, which in the long run will continue to build the tech workforce in the region.

Another focus area to fuel growth will be compensation. Today the Kansas City Metro is approximately 4% to 13% below the national average. "It's imperative that we recognize we're competing for this talent on a national level — and compensate them appropriately," noted the KC Tech Specs report. "Paying in-demand, skilled workers at rates closer to the national average will enable us to pull from bigger markets and retain our local talent," said Ryan Weber, President, KC Tech Council.

• There is a trade-off because part of the value proposition increasing the attractiveness of the Kansas City Metro is lower cost but for select roles, we have experienced that companies can still compensate below the national average.
• The key words in the statement from Weber was ++in-demand.++
• For in-demand skills in order to attract and retain workers, compensation will need to be aligned to the national average.
• What we have seen is if it is not, then eventually companies will experience turnover.
• The cost of the turnover can be far greater than the norm in that the investment made to build institutional and job-specific contextual knowledge will walk out the doors and the opportunity cost associated with the position remaining unfilled.
• Only each company can assess the value of the impact that this will create to their organization but one more point to think about.

Well, the state of Missouri is well on its way to be positioned as a top tech market within the next five years. We will continue to monitor the Kansas City Metro for signs that demonstrate its success at expanding the Silicon Prairie to the region.

Q&A

Question: Why is Kansas City emerging as a notable tech hub?

Answer: Multiple reinforcing advantages are driving Kansas City’s rise: compelling cost savings, a vibrant startup ecosystem, national recognition, and standout diversity metrics. MarketWatch lists KC among new tech hot spots, noting its early Google Fiber deployment and strong startup scene. Cost differentials are substantial—a 500-person tech firm would spend about $38M annually in KC versus $59.1M in the San Francisco Bay Area, according to the Missouri Chamber Foundation. The region ranks #5 on CBRE’s tech talent momentum list, has crossed 50,000 tech workers (51,770), and posts the 8th-largest brain gain, adding more than 8,000 tech workers. Diversity is a differentiator too: roughly 29% of tech workers are women (11th-highest rate), and KC is the only U.S. city where women in tech have consistently earned more than men across four editions of SmartAsset’s study.

Question: Where are the biggest talent gaps, and how are employers responding?

Answer: Kansas City still has thousands of unfilled roles—more than 3,000 overall and over 10,000 open computing positions, far outpacing the roughly 1,000 annual computer science graduates. The highest-demand roles include developers, engineers, and cybersecurity specialists. To cope, employers are shifting from contractors to full-time hires to build internal competencies and are loosening degree requirements, recognizing that not all skilled candidates have four-year degrees. This skills-first approach broadens the talent pool and supports socio-economic diversity while addressing urgent hiring needs.

Question: How should compensation evolve to attract and retain in-demand tech talent?

Answer: While KC’s lower cost structure is a draw, pay for in-demand roles needs to move closer to national averages to compete in a national talent market. Current KC tech pay is roughly 4%–13% below U.S. averages. The KC Tech Council emphasizes that aligning compensation for high-demand skills reduces turnover risk and helps recruit from larger markets. Underpaying critical roles can lead to higher long-term costs—lost institutional knowledge, extended vacancies, and delayed initiatives—outweighing short-term savings.

Question: What’s being done to strengthen the local tech talent pipeline?

Answer: Business–education partnerships are expanding to close the gap between open roles and graduates. The Chamber urges schools to align more closely with employer needs, and local efforts like the KC STEM Alliance are growing the STEM ecosystem to expose and prepare students earlier. These initiatives aim to convert KC’s momentum and brain gain into a durable, homegrown pipeline that can support long-term growth.

Question: What is the outlook for Kansas City and Missouri over the next 3–5 years?

Answer: Momentum remains strong, with “no signs of slowing down,” and Missouri is projected to become a top 10 tech state within five years. Continued progress will hinge on sustaining cost advantages while right-sizing pay for critical roles, deepening business–education collaboration, and capitalizing on KC’s brain gain and diversity strengths. Done well, these steps will further expand the Silicon Prairie across the Kansas City Metro.