The Kansas City metro has been chasing technology jobs and companies for at least a decade. According to a new report from the Brookings Institution, it appears to be working.
Kansas City is among nine “rising star” metros that added jobs at a brisk pace in the years before the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the Washington, D.C.-based think tank, the metro added 6,720 employees in the technology sector from 2015 to 2019, which amounts to a compound average growth rate (CAGR) of 4.8%.
In addition to Kansas City, the “rising star” metros are: Atlanta (4.7% CAGR); Dallas (4.2%); Denver (6.6%); Miami (6.6%); Orlando, Florida (5.8%); St. Louis (3.9%); San Diego, California (4.7%); and Salt Lake City (6.2%).
Those metros collectively generated 87,000 new tech jobs between 2015 and 2019. During the first year of the pandemic, the rising star metros added a combined 14,000 tech jobs.
In Kansas City, tech job growth continued — albeit at a slower pace — from 2019 to 2020. The metro added another 561 tech jobs, a 1.4% growth rate.