Liberal’s labor force is young and diverse, including skilled and semi-skilled workers with a variety of technical and educational backgrounds. Seward County Community College/Area Technical School offers workforce development programs as well as degrees in agriculture, math, science and skilled trades. Workforce development is provided through the Business and Industry office. Kansas is a right-to-work state. Labor Pool (Includes surrounding five counties) updated September 20, 2021 Kansas figures as of August 2021 and Oklahoma figures as of July 2021 County Population Total Labor Unemployed Unemployment Rate Seward County, KS 21,428 10,371 355 3.4% Haskell County, KS 3,968 2,276 61 2.7% Meade County, KS 4,180 2,254 65 2.9% Stevens County, KS 5,603 2,821 83 2.9% Beaver County, OK 5,377 2,600 32 1.2% Texas County, OK 19,983 11,677 167 1.4% Total 60,539 31,999 763 2.42%(avg) Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Kansas Department of Labor, Oklahoma Employment Security Commission Major Employers Employer Employees National Beef 3,500 USD 480 850 Seward County Community College 460 Southwest Medical Center 425 Wal-Mart Supercenter 350 Seaboard Foods 275 City of Liberal 240 Conestoga Energy 220 Seward County 200 National Carriers 200 DCP 150 Business Size Employees Business Count 1 to 4 employees 244 5 to 9 employees 135 10-19 employees 86 20-49 employees 49 50-99 employees 10 100-249 employees 4 250 + employees 5 0 Employees 58 Total, All Size Classes 591 Source: Kansas Department of Labor, Labor Market Information Services and the Bureau of Labor Statistics; Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) 2020 Employed Population 16+ by Industry Industry Percentage Agriculture/Mining 8.2% Construction 5.6% Manufacturing 26.9% Wholesale Trade 3.8% Retail Trade 10.7% Transportation/Utilities 7.1% Information 0.7% Finance/Insurance/Real Estate 2.3% Services 30.5% Public Administration 4.1% Source, Esri Community Profile for Liberal, KS
