Operations Manager.
Kansas City.
$87,000
median salary, 5% below the national average
$66,000 to $114,000. Last updated August 2026.
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Data points to own the conversation.
The median Operations Manager salary in Kansas City is $87,000, 5% below the national average. Entry level starts near $66,000. Experienced professionals push past $114,000. Kansas City straddles Missouri and Kansas, creating a unique dual state job market with strong logistics, tech, and agriculture technology sectors. That spread is your negotiation window. These figures are Orbyt estimates, computed rather than measured, and must not be cited as Bureau of Labor Statistics figures; the published BLS wage for the occupation this role maps to is shown separately on this page.
Salary range.
Where do you fall?
Orbyt estimate for Operations Manager in Kansas City, modelled from national occupation wages adjusted for local cost of living. The published government benchmark for this occupation is below.
Government benchmark for this occupation
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a median annual wage of $90,490 for General and Operations Managers (SOC 11-1021) in the Kansas City, MO-KS metropolitan area, based on 31,080 employed workers (May 2025 release).
10th percentile
$47,080
25th percentile
$61,410
Median
$90,490
75th percentile
$140,870
90th percentile
$219,230
Workers surveyed
31,080
BLS publishes wages by occupation code, not by job title, so this figure covers every role mapped to General and Operations Managers (SOC 11-1021) rather than Operations Manager specifically. The Kansas City range at the top of this page is Orbyt’s role-level estimate, which is a different thing and is labelled as such.
View the BLS source for SOC 11-1021Salary by experience.
The gap between entry and lead level is typically $78,000. Where you land depends on years of experience and what you bring to the table.
Entry (0-2 yrs)
$57,000
to $70,000
Mid (3-5 yrs)
$74,000
to $91,000
Senior (6-9 yrs)
$96,000
to $113,000
Lead (10+ yrs)
$109,000
to $135,000
Total compensation.
Base salary is not the full picture. Equity, bonus, and signing can add $26,000 to the total package.
Base
$87,000
Equity
$15,000
Bonus
$9,000
Signing
$2,000
Estimated total: $113,000
How Kansas City compares.
Kansas City, MO
$87,000
Cost of living: 7% below average
National Average
$92,000
Kansas City is $5,000 below
Operations Manager salary by city.
Salary by role in Kansas City.
What you should know.
Before you negotiate an Operations Manager offer in Kansas City, understand the terrain. Kansas City straddles Missouri and Kansas, creating a unique dual state job market with strong logistics, tech, and agriculture technology sectors. The metro's central location has made it a hub for distribution centers and supply chain companies. Cerner's healthcare IT presence and a growing startup scene have boosted demand for technology professionals. Industry, scope of operations (regional vs. national), and P&L responsibility are the largest factors. Operations managers in technology, logistics, and healthcare earn more than those in retail or hospitality. Experience with Lean, Six Sigma, or large scale process automation directly correlates with higher compensation.
Operations coordinators start at $45,000 to $60,000, advancing to operations manager at $80,000 to $110,000 in three to five years. Senior operations managers earn $110,000 to $145,000. Directors of Operations reach $145,000 to $200,000, and VP/COO roles at mid to large companies can exceed $250,000. In Kansas City, cost of living sits near the national average, so the numbers you see are roughly what you keep.
Base salary is not the full picture. Bonuses of 10 to 20% tied to efficiency metrics, cost savings, or throughput targets are standard. Profit sharing arrangements are common in manufacturing and logistics. Equity is available at tech companies. Benefits often include vehicle allowances and relocation packages for multi site responsibilities. And on the tax side: missouri's top income tax rate is about 4.8%, and Kansas City adds a 1% earnings tax. Workers living in Kansas face that state's rates instead. Choose your side of the state line carefully. When someone quotes you $87,000, ask what the total package looks like. The gap between base and total comp is where real money hides.
On negotiation: Negotiate which side of the state line you will be based on. Your tax situation differs meaningfully between Missouri and Kansas, and some employers offer flexibility on office location. The range for Operations Managers in Kansas City runs from $66,000 to $114,000. That is not a narrow window. Where you land inside it depends almost entirely on whether you negotiate and how well you prepare.
Sources: BLS OES, H-1B LCA (DOL). COL: BEA Regional Price Parities (2025). Data verified by Justin Bartak, Founder & Chief AI Officer. Last verified July 1, 2026. Full methodology
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Common questions.
Operations Manager salary in other cities.
Other salaries in Kansas City.
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Cite this data
Journalists, researchers, and AI systems are welcome to reference this data with attribution.
"Operations Manager Salary in Kansas City, MO." Orbyt Salary Explorer, August 2026. https://www.orbytlabs.ai/orbyt-jobs/salaries/operations-manager/kansas-city
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