Employment and Wages
Kansas construction employment grew to 64,798 workers in 2022, a 1.3% increase, as a signal of continued pandemic recovery. The most significant percentage increase was in residential building construction, which alone contributed an additional 341 jobs. However, growth across the industry was tempered by a 1.8% decline in nonresidential construction employment, which lost 145 jobs. From 2010 to 2021, the industry grew by 19%. Employment declines were seen in 2011, 2017, and 2020. However, excluding these three years, all other years saw growth with an addition of 10,454 just over the same period, representing 16.1% of the current total employment in the industry. Construction wages increased 4.9% to $63,821, continuing the strong growth seen since 2021 and following stagnant wages in 2016 and 2017. The sector with the highest wages was the heavy and civil engineering construction sector, at $72,158.
News and Developments
- In February 2023, Wichita Mayor Brandon Whipple announced that the City of Wichita received a $1M federal grant from the “Connecting Communities” program to go toward infrastructure improvements at the area of 21st St & Broadway.
- In July 2023, Wichita State University and Kanas University announced the site of a new joint-venture $300M medical campus in downtown Wichita. The project is slated to replace the current multi-modal facility, which will be moved to a Delano district.
- Kansas State University had a ceremony for a symbolic groundbreaking on the construction site of its new Agronomy Research and Innovation Center, which launched a project of agricultural infrastructure improvements totaling more than $125M through 2026.
- In 2024, it has been announced that Panasonic’s new battery manufacturing plant will open in Eudora. This plant will produce batteries for Tesla, and is projected to cost $4 billion.
- In celebration of its 150th anniversary, the Dodge City commission unanimously approved a new Downtown Streetscape Project. With the goal of revitalizing the downtown area of Dodge City, the project is expected to have a project cost of $13.9 million.
