What does it cost to hire a public safety telecommunicator in Kansas City?

Tier I to Tier VI, $6,240 to $54,340 per search, set by the seniority of the role and never by salary or location. A contingency firm billing 20 to 30% of this role's $51,940 median wage in the Kansas City, MO-KS area (BLS OEWS, May 2025) would charge roughly $10,388 to $15,582 on the first year salary alone.

Hiring a public safety telecommunicator in Kansas City, MO

Employers in the Kansas City, MO-KS area pay public safety telecommunicators a median of $51,940 a year, with the middle half of the market between $46,680 and $62,080 (BLS OEWS, May 2025, SOC 43-5031). Filling it through recruitlocalpros runs Tier I to Tier VI, $6,240 to $54,340 per search, set by the seniority of the role rather than by salary or location, and our vetted recruiting partner handles sourcing, screening and placement end to end.

Do Kansas City residents in office and administrative support work earn more than employers in the Kansas City, MO-KS area pay?

Kansas City residents working in office and administrative support occupations earn a median of $40,403 (Census ACS 5-year 2023, tables S2401 and B24011), against $47,660 as the median of the 45 wages BLS publishes for that same occupation group in the Kansas City, MO-KS area (BLS OEWS, May 2025), a difference of 15%, with the employers figure the higher of the two.

Both sides of that figure describe the whole office and administrative support group, not this one role. In the Kansas City, MO-KS area the group covers 45 occupations BLS publishes a wage for, from library assistants, clerical at $33,760 to first-line supervisors of office and administrative support workers at $66,780 (BLS OEWS, May 2025), with public safety telecommunicators at $51,940 inside it.

That comparison is between two different measures, not a pay gap. The two weight the same occupation group differently: the Census figure is the midpoint across the people who actually hold those jobs, so a group carrying a few very well paid occupations is pulled toward them, while the BLS figure is the midpoint across the 45 published occupation wages, which counts each of those occupations once whatever its headcount. Census also counts where people live and BLS counts where the jobs are, and the two cover different populations, Census the civilian employed population 16 and over, BLS wage-and-salary jobs only. Read the number against other cities, where the same definitional difference applies on both sides, rather than as a shortfall.

Published wages across this group in the metro run above what Kansas City residents in it earn, which usually means employers here draw this talent from beyond the city line rather than from inside it.

What does a public safety telecommunicator earn here?

Place of work

What employers pay

Annual wages paid to public safety telecommunicators by employers in the Kansas City, MO-KS area. BLS OEWS, May 2025, SOC 43-5031.
25th percentile	$46,680
Median	$51,940
75th percentile	$62,080

Half of public safety telecommunicators in this area earn between $46,680 and $62,080 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). A band set below $46,680 competes for the bottom quarter of the market. Occupation detail for SOC 43-5031 at O*NET OnLine.

Place of residence

What Kansas City residents earn

$40,403

Median annual earnings of Kansas City residents working in office and administrative support occupations, 30,705 people (Census ACS 5-year 2023, tables S2401 and B24011). An occupation group rather than this one role, and where people live rather than where they work, so it is not the same measurement as the wages beside it.

What does the role actually involve?

Core tasks

Provide emergency medical instructions to callers.
Question callers to determine their locations and the nature of their problems to determine type of response needed.
Determine response requirements and relative priorities of situations, and dispatch units in accordance with established procedures.
Receive incoming telephone or alarm system calls regarding emergency and non-emergency police and fire service, emergency ambulance service, information, and after-hours calls for departments within a city.
Relay information and messages to and from emergency sites, to law enforcement agencies, and to all other individuals or groups requiring notification.

Task statements for SOC 43-5031, O*NET OnLine 29.1.

Tools and technologies in demand

Microsoft Office software, Microsoft Access, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft SharePoint, Microsoft Word, SAP software.

Flagged in demand or hot for SOC 43-5031 by O*NET OnLine 29.1. Useful as a screen, not as a checklist.

Is the talent actually in Kansas City?

This is a job zone two: some preparation needed occupation. These occupations usually require a high school diploma. O*NET OnLine, SOC 43-5031.

It does not require a degree, which widens the pool considerably. For context, 37.8% of Kansas City adults hold one. Census ACS 5-year 2023, table S1501, residents of Kansas City aged 25 and over.

The average Kansas City commute runs 21.9 minutes, which is roughly how far your catchment reaches before candidates start saying no. 14.8% of Kansas City workers already work from home, so a fully onsite requirement here is competing against that. Census ACS 5-year 2023, place-level commuting characteristics for Kansas City.

How often do these jobs turn over?

In Jackson County, administrative and support services employs 18,920 and turns over 15.1% a quarter, with 7,391 hires against 7,421 separations. Average earnings in that industry run $3,334 a month. Census LEHD Quarterly Workforce Indicators, 2024 Q1, NAICS 56.

That figure covers every occupation in the industry, not this role alone, so read it as the local churn rate rather than as a number about public safety telecommunicators. It still tells you what you are hiring into: a high-churn market, where speed matters more than a perfect fit.

What does the search cost?

The fee is set by the seniority of the role, never by salary and never by location. Across all six tiers it runs $6,240 to $54,340 per search. A contingency firm hiring at this role's $51,940 median in the Kansas City, MO-KS area (BLS OEWS, May 2025) would bill roughly $10,388 to $15,582 on the first year salary alone.

One owner runs the search from market map to signed offer. Searches typically fill in 23 to 35 days, which is a typical window rather than a promise, and the replacement guarantee runs 45 days at 50% off.

Questions employers ask about hiring a public safety telecommunicator in Kansas City

What does it cost to hire a public safety telecommunicator in Kansas City?: Tier I to Tier VI, $6,240 to $54,340 per search, set by the seniority of the role and never by salary or location. A contingency firm billing 20 to 30% of this role's $51,940 median wage in the Kansas City, MO-KS area (BLS OEWS, May 2025) would charge roughly $10,388 to $15,582 on the first year salary alone.
What should an offer for a public safety telecommunicator in Kansas City look like?: Employers in the Kansas City, MO-KS area pay public safety telecommunicators a median of $51,940, with the middle half of the market between $46,680 and $62,080 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). A band set below $46,680 competes for the bottom quarter of that market.
Do Kansas City residents in office and administrative support work earn more than employers in the Kansas City, MO-KS area pay?: Kansas City residents working in office and administrative support occupations earn a median of $40,403 (Census ACS 5-year 2023, tables S2401 and B24011), against $47,660 as the median of the 45 wages BLS publishes for that same occupation group in the Kansas City, MO-KS area (BLS OEWS, May 2025), a difference of 15%. Both figures cover the whole occupation group rather than this one role, and one counts where people live while the other counts where the jobs are, so the percentage is not a pay gap.
Is the talent for this role already in Kansas City?: This is a job zone 2 occupation and does not require a degree, which widens the pool considerably. For context, 37.8% of Kansas City adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher (Census ACS 5-year 2023, table S1501).

Price this search

Eight questions about the role. Your tier range appears on screen.

Hiring a public safety telecommunicator somewhere else?

Same role, different market. The wage band moves with the metro.

Other office and administrative support roles in Kansas City

Kansas City is the largest of 2 Missouri cities in this dataset.