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Good Workers

Good employees help make businesses succeed. Shawnee has them by being a part of Johnson County where the adult population is one of the most highly educated in America. According to a report released by the U.S. Census Bureau, Johnson County ranks first among all U.S. counties with populations exceeding 500,000 in the percentage of adults with at least a high school education, fourth in percentage with at least a bachelor’s degree and fourteenth in the population with a graduate of professional degree. For Shawnee, the Census shows 96.1% of adults age 25 or older with at least a high school education, and 43.8% of those same adults age 25 or older with a bachelor’s degree or higher.

 

Continuing Education Possibilities

 

This region’s numerous colleges and universities provide Shawnee residents with diverse opportunities for advanced education and training. Residents can access numerous programs through Johnson County Community College (JCCC) including both the main campus and a nearby satellite. Each year, JCCC has served more than 150,000 people through the Continuing Education program. The University of Kansas Edwards Campus is located in Johnson County. At the Edwards Campus, students can go back to finish a degree or complete a new one. All courses offered at Edwards count towards degree credit at the nationally renowned University of Kansas, the State of Kansas’ largest university. KU is only 40 minutes away in Lawrence, Kansas. The University of Kansas Medical Center, a nationally recognized biomedical center and world class research center and hospital, is located in Kansas City, Kansas. There, continuing education in the medical industry is the focus as well as training for the nation’s top doctors and medical research analysts. For more information on education K-12, click here.

 

2009 Annual Labor Force Statistics

 

According to CERI (County Economic Research Institute, Inc.), the Johnson County laborshed has been defined as the area within approximately a one-hour commute from Johnson County. The region includes 20 counties: Bates, Cass, Clay, Jackson, Johnson, Lafayette, Platee and Ray in Missouri; and Anderson, Atchinson, Douglas, Franklin, Jefferson, Johnson, Leavenworth, Linn, Miami, Osage, Shawnee and Wyandotte in Kansas. The chart below highlights the counties within the Kansas City metropolitan area:

  PERSONS IN LABOR FORCE PERSONS EMPLOYED PERSONS UNEMPLOYED AVERAGE 2009
UNEMPLOYMENT RATE
Missouri        
Clay County 117,697 - 9.4% 107,728 - 9.4% 9,969 - 9.7% 8.5%
Jackson County 336,424 - 27.0% 301,975 - 26.4% 34,449 - 33.5% 10.2%
Platte County 48,777 - 3.9% 44,996 - 3.9% 3,781 - 3.7% 7.8%
Kansas        
Johnson County 302,922 - 24.3% 283,891 - 24.8% 19,031 - 18.5% 6.3%
Wyandotte County 71,940 - 5.8% 64,543 - 5.6% 7,397 - 7.2% 10.3%
Shawnee County 93,479 - 7.5% 87,437 - 7.6% 6,042 - 5.9% 6.5%
Douglas County 62,822 - 5.0% 59,339 - 5.2% 3,483 - 3.4% 5.5%

Source: CERI Johnson County Laborshed 2010


15100 W. 67th Street, Suite 202
Shawnee, KS 66217-9344