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Independence, Missouri has 4 accredited schools offering recreation management programs, with tuition ranging from $7,440 to $28,260 per year for indexed programs. Independence has a population of about 121,944. Median household income is $59,480 (Census ACS 2023, 5-year). About 20.9% of adults 25+ hold a bachelor’s degree or higher. In the Kansas City, MO-KS metro area, the top-earning recreation management-related role is Lodging Manager at a median $72,490 annually (BLS OEWS, May 2025).
The accredited institutions listed below are the closest in our directory that offer recreation management programs near Independence, ranked by BOC Score and straight-line distance from Independence city center. The list is rebuilt from federal IPEDS data on every site update.
Every school list on this site is ordered by the BOC Score, computed from the most recent school-level data published by the U.S. Department of Education (College Scorecard and IPEDS). To qualify, a school must be currently operating and accredited by an agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Each eligible school is then scored on five measures, percentile-ranked against schools at the same credential level:
Schools without enough outcome data appear after ranked schools, without a score. On this page, schools are ordered by distance from Independence. Advertising never affects these rankings. Read the full methodology.
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:Accreditor: Higher Learning CommissionIPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source: IPEDS / College Scorecard (2023 cohort). Browse all Missouri schools on the Missouri recreation management page.
Independence is part of the Kansas City, MO-KS metro area (BLS area code 28140). Where MSA-level wages are published, the table below shows MSA medians; otherwise it falls back to Missouri statewide.
| Occupation | Median Wage | Source | COL-Adjusted (US=100) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entertainment and Recreation Manager | $69,990 | Kansas City, MO-KS | $75,665 |
| Recreation Worker | $35,090 | Kansas City, MO-KS | $37,935 |
| Lodging Manager | $72,490 | Kansas City, MO-KS | $78,368 |
Source: BLS, May 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes wage data at the metro (MSA) and state level – not by individual city.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Population | 121,944 | Census ACS 2023 5-yr (B01003) |
| Median household income | $59,480 | Census ACS 2023 5-yr (B19013) |
| Adults 25+ with bachelor’s+ | 20.9% | Census ACS 2023 5-yr (B15003) |
| Regional Price Parity (US=100) | 92.5 (below U.S. average) | BEA RPP 2024 |
Our directory has 4 accredited schools offering recreation management programs near Independence. The closest is Missouri Western State University in Saint Joseph, MO (51.8 miles), and the farthest of the schools shown is Northwest Missouri State University (91.9 miles). 3 of the highlighted schools are flagged as offering distance education.
Based on BLS OEWS May 2025 wage data, the top-paying recreation management-related roles near Independence are: Lodging Manager ($72,490), Entertainment and Recreation Manager ($69,990), Recreation Worker ($35,090). These reflect MSA-level medians where published, with Missouri statewide fallback for occupations not reported at the metro level.
Blue Springs, MO is 6.6 miles from Independence and has its own set of local recreation management programs – see the city’s page. For online programs, distance matters less; for hybrid or in-person formats, comparing both can help.
Independence’s median household income of $59,480 (Census ACS 2023) is one input. Online programs let students stay in Independence while attending lower-cost out-of-state schools, and Missouri public universities often offer reduced in-state online tuition.
Confirm institutional accreditation via the U.S. Department of Education database (U.S. Dept. of Education database), and check for any program-specific accreditation listed by the school.
Compare every accredited online degree program with city-level data for Independence:
Data verified: August 11, 2026. Salary, employment, and tuition figures on this page are sourced from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS May 2025; Employment Projections 2024–2034) and the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (2023 cohort). The source agency and data year are cited inline with every statistic.
Back to Best Recreation Management Schools in Missouri (2026)
