Healthcare spending accounts for 18 percent of U.S. GDP and more than one in 10 jobs, or about 17 million people. Total healthcare spending hit $5.3 trillion in 2024, a seven percent increase from the prior year, according to a U.S. Bank healthcare report.
KC Healthcare Employment
- Just over 182,000 people in the Kansas City metro are employed in the healthcare and social assistance fields, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
- One in nine Kansas City area workers is employed in healthcare or social assistance, and it is the region’s fastest-growing industry. Physicians and surgeons: 3,329; Registered nurses: 21,172; Dentists: 735, according to the Mid-America Regional Council.
- Education and health services in the KC area saw a 2.4 percent increase year over year in total employment from May 2025 to May 2026. The total nonfarm employment only inched up 0.2 percent during the same period, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
- Although the metro lost 3,600 jobs across all industries between December 2024 and December 2025, healthcare was the major exception. The greater KC area saw an increase of 7,600 jobs during that same period, according to the Mid-America Regional Council.
Hospital Beds
The KC metro has around 5,572 hospital beds, according to the American Hospital Directory.
Research Spending
The U.S. Congress-approved National Institute of Health funds research and grants throughout the country, spending $36.58 billion and supporting just over 390,000 medical jobs in 2025. From that national 2025 spending budget, Kansas received $143.2 million and Missouri received $882.1 million.
