Arts, Entertainment & Recreation

Industry Sub-Sector

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    Workforce Population
    3.04M
    2024
    Average Employee Age
    38.6
    2024
    Estimated Job Growth
    5.06%
    10-Year Projection
    Average Salary
    $45,824
    2024
    Average Male Salary
    $52,207
    2024
    Average Female Salary
    $38,057
    2024

    About

    The top three occupations in the Arts, Entertainment & Recreation Industry Sub-Sector are other entertainment attendants and related workers, exercise trainers and group fitness instructors, and other managers. On average, full-time employees in the Arts, Entertainment & Recreation Industry Sub-Sector work 42.9 hours per week and have an average annual salary of $64,676. Part-time employees in the same industry work 19.3 hours and earn an average annual salary of $16,931.

    The locations with the highest concentration of employees in the Arts, Entertainment & Recreation Industry Sub-Sector are Orange County (Southwest)--Disney-International Drive Region PUMA, FL, Osceola County (West) PUMA, FL, and Atlantic County (East)--Atlantic City, Pleasantville, Northfield & Coast PUMA, NJ.

    The workforce of Arts, Entertainment & Recreation Industry Sub-Sector in 2024 was 3,035,825 people, with 45.1% woman, and 54.9% men.

    In 2024, 66.5% of the workforce in the Arts, Entertainment & Recreation Industry Sub-Sector was White (2,019,266 people), of which 45.2% were women and 54.8% men.

    About the photo: Santa Monica Pier
    Photo by Mary Newcombe
    Arts, Entertainment & Recreation and Accommodation & Food Services

    Employment & Salaries

    A snapshot of workforce, wages, and opportunities in the Arts, Entertainment & Recreation Industry Sub-Sector.

    The workforce in Arts, Entertainment & Recreation Industry Sub-Sector was 3,035,825 people and is concentrated in California (419,999 workers). The average annual salary was $45,824, being $24,054 less than the national average salary, which was $69,878.

    Monthly Employment

    Start Year
    Y-Axis
    10.8%
    Year-over-year growth
    Employment change between February 2022 and February 2023

    As of February 2023, there are 2.21M people employed in the Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation industry. This represents a 10.8% increase in employment when compared to February 2022.

    This chart shows monthly employment numbers for Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation over time (non-seasonally adjusted).

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    Employment by Location

    The states that concentrated the largest workforce in 2024 were California (420k), Florida (292k), and New York (193k).

    This map shows the states in the United States shaded by workforce for Arts, Entertainment & Recreation Industry Sub-Sector.

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    Yearly Wage Ranking

    In 2024, Arts, Entertainment & Recreation Industry Sub-Sector had an average annual wage of $45,824, $24,054 less than the average national salary of $69,878.

    The graph shows the position of Arts, Entertainment & Recreation Industry Sub-Sector in the ranking of industries by average annual wage.

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    Wage Distribution

    0.54
    WAGE GINI

    Arts, Entertainment & Recreation has a wage GINI of 0.54, which is more than than the national average of 0.474. In other words, wages are distributed less evenly in Arts, Entertainment & Recreation (shown in red) in comparison to the national average for those wage buckets (shown in gray).

    The graphic shows the distribution of average salaries by buckets for Arts, Entertainment & Recreation Industry Sub-Sector workers compared to the entire workforce in the country.

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    Occupations

    A review of jobs and wages in the Arts, Entertainment & Recreation Industry Sub-Sector.

    Other entertainment attendants and related workers are the most common position with 190,482 workers, but the Arts, Entertainment & Recreation Industry Sub-Sector employs a relatively high number of Exercise trainers and group fitness instructors and Other managers.

    The highest average salary in Arts, Entertainment & Recreation goes to Economists.

    Occupations Distribution

    The graph shows the distribution of employees in the Arts, Entertainment & Recreation Industry Sub-Sector according to occupations. In 2024, the occupations that concentrated the largest number of employees in this industry were other entertainment attendants and related workers (190,482 people), exercise trainers and group fitness instructors (180,927 people), and other managers (176,769 people)

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    Wage by Sex in Common Jobs

    $52,207
    AVERAGE MALE SALARY
    ±$1,412
    $38,057
    AVERAGE FEMALE SALARY
    ±$1,076

    On average, Male workers in the Arts, Entertainment & Recreation Industry Sub-Sector make 1.37 times more than their Female counterparts. This chart shows the sex-based wage disparity in the 5 most common occupations in the Arts, Entertainment & Recreation Industry Sub-Sector.

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    Business

    Estimates of the sources of the costs and the purchasers of the products in the Arts, Entertainment & Recreation Industry Sub-Sector. Based on estimates from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, this section indicates the amount of money spent by a specific industry in other industries.

    The industrial flow illustrates the intermediate inputs and the use of outputs of the Arts, Entertainment & Recreation Industry Sub-Sector.

    The Arts, Entertainment & Recreation Industry Sub-Sector gets the most input, by its share of the cost of all intermediate inputs, from the Professional and business services Industry.

    California and New York stand out as the states with the largest number of establishments in the Arts, Entertainment & Recreation Industry Sub-Sector.

    Industrial Flow

    The closest comparable data for Arts, Entertainment & Recreation is from Arts, Entertainment & Recreation and Accommodation & Food Services.

    Professional and business services has the highest single input, by dollars, to the Arts, Entertainment & Recreation Industry Sub-Sector, and the largest industry purchasing services from the Arts, Entertainment & Recreation Industry Sub-Sector is Educational services, health care, and social assistance.

    In this flow diagram, all of the industries listed to the left are those places from which the highlighted industry has made purchases. They are the intermediate inputs to the highlighted industry. All those industries listed on the right side are those industries that have made purchases from the highlighted industry. They are the use of outputs of the highlighted industry. The visualizations below offer alternative ways to see and understand this data.

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    Intermediate Inputs

    The closest comparable data for Arts, Entertainment & Recreation is from Arts, Entertainment & Recreation and Accommodation & Food Services.
    HIGHEST INPUT INDUSTRY
    1. Professional and business services
    2. Manufacturing
    3. Finance, insurance, real estate, rental, and leasing

    The Arts, Entertainment & Recreation Industry Sub-Sector gets the most input, by its share of the cost of all intermediate inputs, from the Professional and business services Industry. This visualization does not include labor and capital costs.

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    Use of Output by Other Industries

    The closest comparable data for Arts, Entertainment & Recreation is from Arts, Entertainment & Recreation and Accommodation & Food Services.
    LARGEST PURCHASING INDUSTRY
    1. Educational services, health care, and social assistance
    2. Professional and business services
    3. Arts, entertainment, recreation, accommodation, and food services

    The Educational services, health care, and social assistance Industry purchases the greatest share of products and services from the Arts, Entertainment & Recreation Industry Sub-Sector in order to produce other goods and services. Purchases of the Arts, Entertainment & Recreation Industry Sub-Sector for final consumption by consumers, businesses, or government are not included here.

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    Establishments

    States with more establishments in 2022
    1. California
      33,870
    2. New York
      13,939
    3. Florida
      10,786

    The charts shows the distribution of establishments in the Arts, Entertainment & Recreation industry by states and the number of establishments according to size.

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    Diversity

    Demographic information on the Arts, Entertainment & Recreation Industry Sub-Sector in the US.

    Of the total workforce, 45.1% corresponds to women and 54.9% men. Male employees tend to earn more than Female employees, with average respective salaries of $52,207 and $38,057.

    71.9% of workers have a bachelors degree, some college or high school or equivalent.

    Gender and Age

    1,369,557
    Women
    45.1%
    1,666,268
    Men
    54.9%

    The workforce of Arts, Entertainment & Recreation industry in 2024 was 3,035,825 people, with 45.1% woman, and 54.9% men.

    The visualization shows the distribution of the workforce by gender and age in Arts, Entertainment & Recreation industry.

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    Races

    In 2024, 66.5% of the workforce in the Arts, Entertainment & Recreation industry was White (2,019,266 people), of which 45.2% were women and 54.8% men.

    Other races that concentrated a significant number of workers were Two or More Races and Black.

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    Educational Levels

    The main educational levels achieved by the Arts, Entertainment & Recreation workers in 2024 were bachelors degree (806,386 people), some college (712,567 people), and high school or equivalent (663,623 people).

    The chart shows the Arts, Entertainment & Recreation workforce by gender and educational level.

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    Projections

    Growth projections of the Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation industry, both by number of employees and output, from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics. The national workforce is projected to grow 5.06% in the next ten years. The Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation industry has a lower projected workforce growth at 5.06%. Its projected 10-year growth in output (24.2%) is lower than the projected national growth in output (24.2%).

    Job Growth

    For growth projections, the closest comparable industry reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics is Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation.
    5.06%
    Estimated Job Growth
    10-year Projection
    5.06%
    National Growth
    10-year Projection

    This line chart shows the projected 10-year growth in the number of jobs for Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation. This industry is expected to grow approximately the same than 5.06%, the average rate of national job growth.

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    Output Growth

    For growth projections, the closest comparable industry reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics is Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation.
    24.2%
    Estimate Growth
    10-year Projection

    This line chart shows the projected 10-year growth in output of the Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation industry.

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