School Counselor.
Kansas City.
$62,000
median salary, 5% below the national average
$50,000 to $80,000. Last updated August 2026.
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Data points to own the conversation.
School Counselor pay in Kansas City ranges from $50,000 to $80,000 in 2026. The median is $62,000, 5% below the national average. Kansas City straddles Missouri and Kansas, creating a unique dual state job market with strong logistics, tech, and agriculture technology sectors. Every dollar in that range is negotiable if you come prepared. 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 School Counselor 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 $60,820 for Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors (SOC 21-1012) in the Kansas City, MO-KS metropolitan area, based on 2,240 employed workers (May 2025 release).
10th percentile
$45,940
25th percentile
$50,760
Median
$60,820
75th percentile
$72,410
90th percentile
$79,020
Workers surveyed
2,240
BLS publishes wages by occupation code, not by job title, so this figure covers every role mapped to Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors (SOC 21-1012) rather than School Counselor 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 21-1012Salary by experience.
The gap between entry and lead level is typically $56,000. Where you land depends on years of experience and what you bring to the table.
Entry (0-2 yrs)
$40,000
to $50,000
Mid (3-5 yrs)
$53,000
to $65,000
Senior (6-9 yrs)
$68,000
to $81,000
Lead (10+ yrs)
$78,000
to $96,000
Total compensation.
Base salary is not the full picture. Equity, bonus, and signing can add $19,000 to the total package.
Base
$62,000
Equity
$11,000
Bonus
$7,000
Signing
$1,000
Estimated total: $81,000
How Kansas City compares.
Kansas City, MO
$62,000
Cost of living: 7% below average
National Average
$65,000
Kansas City is $3,000 below
School Counselor salary by city.
Salary by role in Kansas City.
What you should know.
If you are interviewing for School Counselor roles in Kansas City, here is what you are walking into. 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. State licensure requirements, school level assignment, and district funding levels drive pay variance. Counselors in well-funded suburban districts or states with mandated counselor-to-student ratios earn significantly more. Advanced certifications in college counseling or trauma-informed care add salary value.
Entry-level School Counselors earn $46,000 to $52,000. Experienced counselors with five to ten years reach $58,000 to $70,000. Lead Counselors and Department Heads earn $72,000 to $85,000, while Directors of School Counseling and Student Services command $88,000 to $110,000. 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. School counselors typically work 10 to 11 months, with optional summer employment adding $3,000 to $6,000. Pension benefits and comprehensive health insurance add $15,000 to $25,000 in effective value. Some districts offer tuition reimbursement for doctoral studies. 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 $62,000, 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 School Counselors in Kansas City runs from $50,000 to $80,000. 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
Common questions.
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Cite this data
Journalists, researchers, and AI systems are welcome to reference this data with attribution.
"School Counselor Salary in Kansas City, MO." Orbyt Salary Explorer, August 2026. https://www.orbytlabs.ai/orbyt-jobs/salaries/school-counselor/kansas-city
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