Kansas City

Demographics

Kansas Arrivals

Missouri Arrivals

*Data source: Refugee Processing Center: Arrivals and Admissions, excludes Special Immigrant Visas (SIV) from Afghanistan and Iraq. Figures do no include 2021 Afghan Humanitarian Parole data.

**Immigrants comprise 7.0% of total population in KS; 10% in Kansas City Metro

Diversity Contributions

*Data source: Refugee Processing Center: Arrivals and Admissions (5 yr average)

**Explore Diverse KC's collection of diverse stories, experiences, and cultures. Click through a map to delve into these unique ties and learn about the organizations that work together to make KC shine.

Top Newcomer Languages

French
Burmese
Tigrinya
Arabic
Dzongkha

74.1%

Speak Host Country's Language

*Data source: American Immigration Council: Immigrants in Kansas

Economic Contributions

$82M

Total Refugee Federal Taxes paid

$60.5M

Total Refugee State & Local Taxes paid

*Data source: New American Economy: Refugees in Kansas. Total spending power: $450.9M

519.5M

Refugee Household Income

$388.1M

Total Spending Power

Top 3 Fields of Labor*

*Top % share of the immigrant labor force in Kansas. Data source: New American Economy: Refugees in Kansas .

12,164

Total # Immigrant entrepreneurs in KS

78.6%

Cooks, Construction, & Ag Workers**

*Data Source: New American Economy Total business income of immigrant entrepreneurs = $334.2M.

** Top Occupations with Highest Share of Foreign-born Laborers

Socio-Familial Stability

Unaccompanied Children Released to Sponsors by the State

Data source: Office of Refugee Resettlement

# of Immigrant (refugee & asylee) Family Reunifications

*Data not available

Community & Educational Contributions

Refugee Educational Attainment

36.5%
Less than High School
34.1%
High School & Some College
14.9%
Bachelor's Degree
14.5%
Graduate Degree

*Data source: New American Economy: Immigrants in Kansas

37.5%

Naturalized Citizens

*Data source: American Immigration Council: Immigrants in Kansas

Local Refugee Heroes

Dr. Sofia Khan

Six-year-old Rose tells the story of Covid-19. She and her family resettled from the Middle East to the Kansas City area in September of 2016.

September 1, 2023

Getting Serious about Collecting Stories

We know there are stories in Kansas City that need to be told. So, we sat down and made a plan. We listed individuals, nonprofit organizations, and resettlement agencies that we have relationships with. Then we listed ways we could weave these stories together by topic: connected communities, housing, resettlement, etc. Our list grew and grew, and before we knew it we had a roadmap.

More blog posts

Partners

KC for Refugees

[email protected]

Volunteers

Sommer Mattox

Director of Community Programs

Sommer Mattox grew up in Kentucky on the same land where her family has lived for generations. She has a deep love for her roots and appreciates the multigenerational connections she made as a child. Sommer received a Bachelor's degree in English from Brigham Young University, and after a short career as a copy editor, she spent several years as a contract transcription editor while volunteering for various charity organizations. She and her family now reside in a suburb of Kansas City where she continues work in philanthropy while teaching preschool music and tutoring high school students in college essay writing.

Andrea Buley

Community Liaison - Kansas City

Andrea Webb Buley has always believed that we are each children of God. Andrea has an innate love of children and worked as a pediatric RN and in nursing leadership before taking a (perhaps indefinite) sabbatical to raise her own children. Andrea has resided in several different US cities, and loves her home in the KC Metro area, where she lives with her southern-born husband, and their four children. She began her work with TSOS when gathering the harrowing stories of a Syrian family in the KC Metro area broke open her heart and mind to the immeasurable courage and strength of refugees worldwide. Andrea’s time living in Hungary showed her a more global perspective of life, cultures and people. Andrea worked three years with a Kansas City based nonprofit, telling stories on their social media platforms, and helping to provide children of many backgrounds with basic necessities and educational opportunities. Currently, Andrea serves as a community liaison for her faith, and continues to network in the Kansas City nonprofit community connecting the needs with willing hands to help.

Melanie Shashindranath

Chief Financial Officer

Melanie Hart Shashindranath is the Chief Financial Officer of TSOS, bringing with her 15 years of public accounting experience where she managed and lead a variety of teams and projects. Melanie also has served in various leadership roles over the last 6 years at a Kansas City, Kansas based non-profit, including president, emeritus president, treasurer, and board member.

Through this charitable work, Melanie developed a deep love for the children in Kansas City, KS who are largely of a minority and immigrant population, some of whom are refugees. Her passion for traveling has fostered a deep rooted love of all people and cultures and has stimulated a great desire to connect and support those that are displaced from their homes and the lives they once knew. Melanie resides in the Kansas City metro area with her India born and raised husband, Ashwin, and their three children.