MARC survey: Kansas Citians have good quality of life

Seventy-nine percent of Kansas City-area residents say their quality of life is good or excellent, according to a survey commissioned by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation in partnership with the Mid-America Regional Council. This number is up from 74 percent in 2017.

Here’s how specific demographics break down within the results:

• 75% (or lower) of people without a college degree rate their quality of life as good or excellent.
• 70% of people in the 35-44 range rate their quality of life as good or excellent.
• Just over 50% of black people rate their quality of life as good or excellent.

Frank Lenk, director of research services at MARC, said because the survey was not stratified by city, it cannot be determined whether people in specific cities have a more or less pessimistic view of life. “They attempted to get geographic representation by county, but the survey did not break it down by city, zipcode or any subcounty level of geography,” Lenk said. “They did oversample minorities to make sure they got enough responses of minority residents, but geographically, their main check was to make sure it worked at a county level.”