Industries of the town include production of agricultural machinery and processing food stuffs. Today enterprises of the town produce wheel tractors, buses, medical products, designs for railway and automobile bridges, agricultural and road machines, equipment for petroleum industry and many other things.

About a half of the population work in the industrial sector and agriculture. Others are engaged in trade and public sector. According to a survey by Bank Austria, the oblast is 37th among Russia's 89 regions in terms of investment climate.

Kurgan is linked by railway to the Russian cities of Yekaterinburg, Omsk and Chelyabinsk. There are two railway stations in the city and the airport. The town is linked to the shipping routes of the Ob-Irtysh system by the navigable Tobol River.

There are several theatres in Kurgan, including Kurgan State Drama Theatre and Gulliver Puppet Theatre, Arts Museum.