Registered Nurse.
Kansas City.
$87,000
median salary, 7% below the national average
$73,000 to $99,000. Last updated August 2026.
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Data points to own the conversation.
If you are evaluating a Registered Nurse offer in Kansas City, MO, here is the reality: $73,000 to $99,000, with $87,000 as the midpoint. 7% below the national average. Specialty certification, geographic location, and facility type create the widest salary ranges. Do not accept the first number. 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 Registered Nurse 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 $83,040 for Registered Nurses (SOC 29-1141) in the Kansas City, MO-KS metropolitan area, based on 29,650 employed workers (May 2025 release).
10th percentile
$66,970
25th percentile
$77,910
Median
$83,040
75th percentile
$98,700
90th percentile
$103,540
Workers surveyed
29,650
BLS publishes wages by occupation code, not by job title, so this figure covers every role mapped to Registered Nurses (SOC 29-1141) rather than Registered Nurse 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 29-1141Salary 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
$94,000
Kansas City is $7,000 below
Registered Nurse salary by city.
Salary by role in Kansas City.
What you should know.
Here is what the Registered Nurse market actually looks like in Kansas City. 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. Specialty certification, geographic location, and facility type create the widest salary ranges. ICU, OR, and emergency nurses earn premiums over med surg nurses. Travel nursing contracts can pay 50 to 100% more than permanent positions. Union representation and shift differentials for nights and weekends also impact total pay.
New graduate RNs start at $58,000 to $72,000, with experienced RNs reaching $80,000 to $100,000 after five years. Nurse practitioners earn $110,000 to $140,000, and CRNAs (nurse anesthetists) can earn $180,000 to $220,000. Nursing management roles offer $95,000 to $140,000 with administrative responsibilities. 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. Benefits are a major component, typically including health insurance, pension or 403(b) matching, tuition reimbursement, and continuing education credits. Shift differentials add $3 to $8 per hour for nights and weekends. Signing bonuses of $5,000 to $20,000 are common in high demand specialties. 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 Registered Nurses in Kansas City runs from $73,000 to $99,000. 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.
Registered Nurse 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.
"Registered Nurse Salary in Kansas City, MO." Orbyt Salary Explorer, August 2026. https://www.orbytlabs.ai/orbyt-jobs/salaries/registered-nurse/kansas-city
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