Overland Park sets $15 minimum wage for city workers. How does it compare in the metro?

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Last week, Overland Park raised its minimum wage for city employees to $15 per hour — a move that city officials touted as a way to remain competitive and retain city workers.

The city government is currently hiring for 71 open positions, according to its jobs page. Most of the jobs impacted will be in the city’s parks department, although some other positions will see their pay increase as well.

“Community center attendants, farmers market attendants, gardeners at the Overland Park Arboretum & Botanical Gardens, arts and events staff, pool cashiers and others will all see increases in hourly pay,” the city wrote in a Sept. 28 news release.

Overland Park is the latest city in the metro to adopt a minimum wage for its government employees that’s higher than the statewide minimum. Kansas City and Kansas City, Kansas, also pay their employees at least $15 per hour, while Lee’s Summit has an even higher wage floor.

Meg Ralph, a spokesperson for Overland Park, noted that the city does not carve out exceptions to its new minimum wage rule for any departments or positions, the way several other cities in the metro do.

A wage of $15 per hour is more than double Kansas’ minimum of $7.25, which is also the federal minimum. This new pay floor is still below the living wage for Johnson County. A living wage is defined as the wage needed for full-time work to afford basic necessities like food, housing and healthcare.

According to the MIT living wage calculator, the living wage for a childless adult in Johnson County is $16.62 per hour. For a family of four with two working adults, it is $25.30 per hour.

City governments in Kansas and Missouri aren’t allowed to increase the minimum wage for all residents. But they are free to decide what they pay their own employees — including setting a wage floor for government workers that’s higher than the state minimum.

So how do other municipalities in the metro compare? The Star reached out to six other cities to see whether they have minimum wages for government jobs.

Kansas City

Under a city ordinance passed in 2021, Kansas City must pay its own employees a minimum of $15 per hour — although city spokesperson Melissa Kozakiewicz said that the city’s current lowest salary range starts at $15.38 per hour.

The city also follows Jackson County’s prevailing wage minimums for construction contractors working on projects that cost over $75,000. The minimum hourly wages vary depending on job title, but nearly all of them are above $50 per hour.

Kansas City also requires that firms contracted for non-construction city projects pay their workers a minimum of $15 per hour if the project costs over $160,000 — although they can get around this requirement by reporting in-depth employment data to the city instead.

According to MIT’s calculator, the living wage for a childless adult in Kansas City is $16.52 per hour. For a family of four with two working adults, it is $23.70 per hour.

Kansas City, Kansas

The current set minimum wage for Unified Government staff is $15 per hour, city spokesperson Krystal MsFeders said. The minimum went into effect in February of 2022.

The living wage for a childless adult in Wyandotte County is $16.62 per hour. For a family of four with two working adults, it is $23.91 per hour.

Olathe

While the city of Olathe doesn’t officially have its own minimum wage for city workers, spokesperson Cody Kennedy said that all full-time employees — including interns — are paid $15 per hour or above.

The only exception is part-time seasonal positions in the recreation department, such as mowers and landscapers, who are paid a minimum rate of $10.50 per hour — still above the minimum wage in the state.

Independence

While some government jobs in Independence have minimum wages controlled by union contracts, the city itself does not have a wage floor for its employees, city spokesperson Meg Lewis said.

That makes its minimum wage the statewide Missouri rate of $12 per hour.

The living wage for a childless adult in Jackson County is $16.68 per hour. For a family of four with two working adults, it is $23.24 per hour.

Lee’s Summit

Lee’s Summit pays all city employees a minimum of $16.58 per hour — just 10 cents shy of the county’s living wage for a childless adult, city spokesperson Cheryl Nash said.

She added that the city’s parks department is not included under this policy. That’s because it operates as a semi-independent entity with its own board of directors and conducts its own hiring separate from city government.

Shawnee

Shawnee doesn’t have an elevated minimum wage for its employees, a city spokesperson said. That puts its minimum wage at $7.25 per hour, the same as the state of Kansas and the federal government.

The living wage for a childless adult in Johnson County is $16.62 per hour. For a family of four with two working adults, it is $25.30 per hour.

Do you have more questions about labor or compensation in Kansas or Missouri? Ask the Service Journalism team at kcq@kcstar.com.