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The cost of essentials is increasingly out of reach for many Kansas City families as costs outpace wages (Naomi O’Donnell\/The Beacon).<\/p>\n
Chris Meyers is a federal employee who was working without a paycheck during the government shutdown. The former co-owner of Crane Brewing swallowed his pride to buy reduced-priced $6 meals at a local grocery store to stretch the family budget at an uncertain moment.<\/p>\n
What happened when he went to pay at the counter left him slack-jawed.<\/p>\n
The cashier told him that a stranger had already paid for hundreds of meals. Meyers insisted on paying so someone even less fortunate could get a free dinner.<\/p>\n
But the random act of kindness overwhelmed him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just immediately started tearing up and almost had to step out of line,\u201d Meyers told The Beacon. \u201cSometimes you don\u2019t realize you\u2019re right on the edge until one more straw on the camel\u2019s back. It just really hit, knowing how much that hopefully meant for people who are in even worse positions.\u201d<\/p>\n
The financial anxiety Meyers describes is borne out by numbers that show that roughly half of us are struggling to make ends meet.<\/p>\n
A new report from the Urban Institute<\/a> found that 52% of American families earn less than what researchers call the \u201ctrue cost of economic security\u201d \u2014 meaning they don\u2019t make enough to cover all their regular bills, pay for necessities and still have money left over to save for emergencies. In Kansas that number is 46.9%, and in Missouri 48.6% of people are in a similar position.<\/p>\n \u201cI think more people are living paycheck-to-paycheck than would like to admit it,\u201d Meyers said. \u201cThe cost of everything being more expensive is really tough.\u201d<\/p>\n Rising costs coupled with stagnant wages are putting a squeeze on working people across the spectrum in Kansas City. The squeeze is reflected in the hard choices people are making as they grapple with higher costs for housing, groceries, health care and child care.<\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n \t<\/p>\n The most glaring reason for this burgeoning affordability crisis is that wages have not grown as fast as prices for the basics working people buy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The Urban Institute\u2019s affordability tracker<\/a> says that nationally, the average monthly grocery bill is up 32% while wages have only gone up 29% since 2019.<\/p>\n \u201cI saw where a pound of ground beef was almost as expensive<\/a> as the federal minimum wage,\u201d Meyers noted.<\/p>\n But it\u2019s not just groceries.<\/p>\n Nationally, the rising cost of essentials from January 2017 to August 2025 outpaced wage growth during the same time period:<\/p>\n Wages, meanwhile, only rose by 38%.<\/p>\n Locally, Kansas City-area workers are also paid less than workers in similar cities. According to the Mid-America Regional Council (MARC), average hourly earnings here<\/a> run 15% to 20% below peer metros like Minneapolis and Denver.<\/p>\n Frank Lenk, MARC\u2019s director of the Office of Economic Research, told the 2025 KC Economic Outlook<\/a> event this month that the Kansas City labor market is weakening. He also noted that the area\u2019s economic recovery from the COVID pandemic has been slower than in the rest of the U.S.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a classic Kansas City story,\u201d Lenk said. \u201cWe don\u2019t bust as low. \u2026 But we don\u2019t boom as high.\u201d<\/p>\n Lenk said that economic boom times generally last longer than busts. In Kansas City that means with each boom-and-bust business cycle, the local economy falls further behind peer metros bit by bit.<\/p>\n Jeremy Hill<\/a>, a regional economist for the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, told the same group that lower wages in Kansas and Missouri also mean it\u2019s harder to attract talent to the area.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t really have a labor problem, we have a wage problem,\u201d Hill said.<\/p>\n Hill said that across sectors in Missouri and particularly in Kansas, businesses have higher expectations of productivity but often aren\u2019t willing to pay higher wages for it.<\/p>\n When adjusted for inflation, average wages in Kansas<\/a> have risen by just $20 a week between January 2017 and August 2025. Missouri has done slightly better with an average weekly pay<\/a> increase of $30 during the same nearly nine-year period.<\/p>\n These small wage increases come during a time when workers are as productive<\/a> as ever.<\/p>\n \u201cThis has been a trend for a long time in the U.S.,\u201d University of Kansas economics Professor David Slusky told The Beacon. \u201cA trend where\u2026 the amount of stuff a worker can make is growing more than workers\u2019 wages each year.\u201d<\/p>\n Slusky said the gap between productivity growth and wage growth means that while workers produce more value, they\u2019re not seeing that value reflected in their paychecks.<\/p>\n Despite doing more than ever, area workers are losing buying power for basic necessities. This makes it increasingly difficult just to stay healthy, put food on the table, take care of your children or keep a roof over your head.<\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n \t<\/p>\n Megan Overfelt moved to Raytown, Missouri, hoping to save money before she bought a home in Johnson County, Kansas, where she grew up.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n That was six years ago. She\u2019s watched housing prices soar ever since.<\/p>\n \u201cHow do people get ahead in this kind of climate?\u201d Overfelt said. \u201cI was supposed to be here for a year or two to save money. \u2026 Now those hopes and dreams seem so far out of reach.\u201d<\/p>\n Overfelt, a data entry worker in her 30s with four children, says her childhood home was approximately 1,500 square feet located in \u201cnot a big, fancy, rich part of Johnson County.\u201d Last year it sold for $375,000.<\/p>\n According to data from the Greater Kansas City Regional Housing Partnership, nearly two out of three owner-occupied homes are valued at $300,000 or more in Johnson County<\/a>. The average sale price in the county in October of this year was $465,000, according to Redfin<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s insane to me, I don\u2019t see how normal everyday working families can move up,\u201d Overfelt said. \u201cIt\u2019s like we are all just stuck.\u201d<\/p>\n She considers herself lucky to have a landlord who has kept her rent below the median Raytown rent<\/a> of $1,213 a month. She says she has neighbors with similar layouts who pay up to $1,700 a month.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve just kind of accepted that we might be renting forever,\u201d Overfelt said.<\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n \t<\/p>\n Marie H. is a single mother in her 20s who says she had to leave her job because she couldn\u2019t afford child care.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve always made less than $20 an hour and the cheapest child care I could find was $250 a week,\u201d she said. \u201cI can\u2019t find a job that pays enough to cover that and my other bills.\u201d<\/p>\n Marie H. is a domestic violence survivor who is being referred to by an alias in this article for her safety. She said that after leaving a women\u2019s shelter with her young child she\u2019s taken to delivering food for income.<\/p>\n She brings her child along for deliveries, which saves her the expense of child care. Marie H. said that bends delivery app rules, but it is a risk she has to take. She told The Beacon that the gig work is inconsistent, meaning she\u2019s working with no financial flexibility and most months she\u2019s still falling behind.<\/p>\n Child care costs an average of $23,300 a year in Missouri<\/a> and $24,400 in Kansas<\/a> for two children. According to 2022 data from the U.S. Department of Labor<\/a>, the cost of one infant\u2019s care in Jackson County is the equivalent of 13.5% of median family income<\/a> in the area.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Some parents opt out of the workforce in the face of ever-rising child care prices. The Center for American Progress estimated in 2019 that the national economy sees $57 billion a year<\/a> in lost revenue, wages and productivity because of parents leaving the workforce.<\/p>\n Marie H. says that she has career goals and is working as much as she can, but her lack of affordable child care is holding her back.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m willing to work, even as a cashier or at McDonald\u2019s or something like that,\u201d she said. \u201cI just need the grace of somebody to help me with child care so I can get on my feet.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n \t<\/p>\n Rising health care costs are another squeeze point for working families. While many in Kansas City dread the prospect of health care premiums doubling next year<\/a>, growing health care costs are also quietly eroding wages.<\/p>\n Economics professor Slusky said total compensation \u2014 a measure that includes wages plus benefits like health care \u2014 has more closely tracked productivity than wages alone.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n This means employers that provide health care are putting more money towards their employees\u2019 health insurance each year, leaving less money available for wage increases if the employer doesn\u2019t cut elsewhere.<\/p>\n \u201cHealth insurance is eating up a greater share of total compensation,\u201d Slusky said.<\/p>\n Kansas City Federal Reserve Senior Vice President A. Lee Smith at the KC Economic Outlook event said that higher input costs are contributing to a job market cooling at the national level. Those higher costs are being driven, in part, by recent Trump administration tariffs and employer health care expenses.<\/p>\n \u201cThe employer cost of health benefits is up about 6% over the past year,\u201d Smith said. \u201cWhich is a really high pace of increase relative to what we\u2019ve seen over the past 10 years or so.\u201d<\/p>\n Meyers said his family\u2019s health insurance premiums have nearly tripled over the past decade.<\/p>\n \u201cWe also just got notified that they\u2019re going to decrease the amount they cover,\u201d Meyers said.<\/p>\n Overfelt says she can afford health insurance for herself through her employer but feels fortunate to receive some federal assistance for her children\u2019s coverage.<\/p>\n \u201cI have no idea what we would do otherwise, because insurance for families through most employers is more than half your paycheck,\u201d Overfelt said.<\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n \t<\/p>\n For many, living close to the bone financially means choosing which bills to pay. Those hard choices show up in data that tracks financial distress.<\/p>\n Delinquent credit card debt has doubled since 2021 in both Kansas<\/a> and Missouri<\/a>. Now one in 20 people with a credit card in those states is 60 days or more behind on payments. The credit card delinquency increases coincide with when food prices began to jump<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Meyers says his grocery budget has nearly doubled \u2014 from $200-$300 every other week at Costco to $400-$500 now.<\/p>\n The bigger change is restaurants.<\/p>\n \u201cWe almost never eat out anymore,\u201d Meyers said. \u201cWe cook pretty much everything at home.\u201d<\/p>\n As a result, Meyers has chef friends he doesn\u2019t see as much anymore.<\/p>\n \u201cI have to tell them: \u2018I promise you I\u2019m not ditching you or dodging you,\u201d Meyers said. \u201cI still love you. I still love your food. I miss it. I just, it\u2019s not something we can really do as much anymore.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Marie H. said she doesn\u2019t have delinquent debt but she also hasn\u2019t eaten a meal not made in her home for over a year. Financial sacrifices extend to her own health. She doesn\u2019t even think about going to the doctor for herself.<\/p>\n \u201cI basically make just enough to cover my car payment and rent,\u201d Marie H. said. \u201cI have zero left over for anything else.\u201d<\/p>\n The crush over bills for the basics makes it even more difficult to save for a rainy day.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think the concept of savings \u2014 no matter what level you\u2019re on \u2014 is really a thing anymore,\u201d Meyers said.<\/p>\n Overfelt has made belt-tightening decisions for her family as expenses pile up. Some months that has meant canceling a subscription, and sometimes that has meant paying late or only a partial payment until the next paycheck.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s kind of been this entire last year. It\u2019s extremely rough financially just trying to keep up,\u201d Overfelt said. \u201cIt\u2019s definitely a juggle each month. A lot of that boils down to making sure that the kids are fed and they have a roof over their head.\u201d<\/p>\n Slusky says the good news is that the resources to address the affordability crisis exist in America. The country\u2019s overall wealth is at an all-time high \u2014 but it\u2019s increasingly concentrated.<\/p>\n \u201cThe question is what more could be done\u2026 to help those least fortunate with these resources, while maintaining the incentive structure that produces that level of wealth,\u201d Slusky said.<\/p>\n He emphasizes the need for predictable, sustainable public policy rather than dramatic changes that create uncertainty for both businesses and workers.<\/p>\n \u201cThe resources are there,\u201d Slusky said. \u201cWe just need the political will to try to address these concerns.\u201d<\/p>\n Until paychecks catch up or costs come down, about half of Kansas City will keep choosing between eating and healing, between saving and surviving.<\/p>\n \u201cWhenever you\u2019re in a situation like this, it\u2019s 24\/7,\u201d Marie H. said. \u201cIt\u2019s just work. Or stress about work. Or stress about money, with no break. Everyone deserves time to take a breath.\u201d<\/p>\n This article<\/a> first appeared on Beacon: Kansas City<\/a> and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License<\/a>. The cost of essentials is increasingly out of reach for many Kansas City families as costs outpace wages (Naomi O’Donnell\/The Beacon). Chris Meyers is a federal employee who was working without a paycheck during the government shutdown. The former co-owner of Crane Brewing swallowed his pride to buy reduced-priced $6 meals at a local grocery…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7677,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nBrutal math<\/h4>\n
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\nHousing price spikes<\/h4>\n
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Child care can cost a job<\/h4>\n
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Health care eating wages<\/h4>\n
\nHard choices<\/h4>\n
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