Arts, Entertainment & Recreation

Industry Sub-Sector

Add Comparison

Workforce Population

2.99M

2021

Average Employee Age

38.3

2021

Estimated Job Growth

9.62%

10-Year Projection

Average Salary

$38,137

2021

Average Male Salary

$43,846

2021

Average Female Salary

$31,507

2021

About

The top three occupations in the Arts, Entertainment & Recreation Industry Sub-Sector are other entertainment attendants and related workers, other managers, and exercise trainers and group fitness instructors. On average, full-time employees in the Arts, Entertainment & Recreation Industry Sub-Sector work 43.1 hours per week and have an average annual salary of $53,979. Part-time employees in the same industry work 19.6 hours and earn an average annual salary of $14,296.

The locations with the highest concentration of employees in the Arts, Entertainment & Recreation Industry Sub-Sector are Disney-International Drive Region PUMA, FL, Spring Valley & Summerlin South PUMA, NV, and Polk County (Northeast) PUMA, FL.

The workforce of Arts, Entertainment & Recreation Industry Sub-Sector in 2021 was 2,989,951 people, with 46.3% woman, and 53.7% men.

In 2021, 72.7% of the workforce in the Arts, Entertainment & Recreation Industry Sub-Sector was White (2,173,306 people), of which 46.4% were women and 53.6% 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 2,989,951 people and is concentrated in California (416,802 workers). The average annual salary was $38,137, being $21,458 less than the national average salary, which was $59,596.

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).

Employment by Location

The states that concentrated the largest workforce in 2021 were California (417k), Florida (268k), and New York (202k).

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

Yearly Wage Ranking

In 2021, Arts, Entertainment & Recreation Industry Sub-Sector had an average annual wage of $38,137, $21,458 less than the average national salary of $59,596.

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

Wage Distribution

0.538

WAGE GINI

Arts, Entertainment & Recreation has a wage GINI of 0.538, which is more than than the national average of 0.478. 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.

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 174,441 workers, but the Arts, Entertainment & Recreation Industry Sub-Sector employs a relatively high number of Other managers and Exercise trainers and group fitness instructors.

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

Occupations Distribution

The graph shows the distribution of employees in the Arts, Entertainment & Recreation Industry Sub-Sector according to occupations. In 2021, the occupations that concentrated the largest number of employees in this industry were other entertainment attendants and related workers (174,441 people), other managers (170,573 people), and exercise trainers and group fitness instructors (165,322 people)

Wage by Sex in Common Jobs

$43,846

AVERAGE MALE SALARY

±$1,213

$31,507

AVERAGE FEMALE SALARY

±$881

On average, Male workers in the Arts, Entertainment & Recreation Industry Sub-Sector make 1.39 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.

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 Professional and business services.

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.

Intermediate Inputs

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

HIGHEST INPUT INDUSTRY

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.

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

The Professional and business services 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.

Establishments

States with more establishments in 2016

California
50,226
New York
25,902
Florida
17,344

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

Diversity

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

Of the total workforce, 46.3% corresponds to women and 53.7% men. Male employees tend to earn more than Female employees, with average respective salaries of $43,846 and $31,507.

72.8% of workers have a some college, bachelors degree or high school or equivalent.

Gender and Age

1,383,334

Women

46.3%

1,606,617

Men

53.7%

The workforce of Arts, Entertainment & Recreation industry in 2021 was 2,989,951 people, with 46.3% woman, and 53.7% men.

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

Races

In 2021, 72.7% of the workforce in the Arts, Entertainment & Recreation industry was White (2,173,306 people), of which 46.4% were women and 53.6% men.

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

Educational Levels

The main educational levels achieved by the Arts, Entertainment & Recreation workers in 2021 were some college (763,232 people), bachelors degree (755,812 people), and high school or equivalent (658,031 people).

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

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 7.66% in the next ten years. The Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation industry has a higher projected workforce growth at 9.62%. Its projected 10-year growth in output (24.4%) is higher 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.

9.62%

Estimated Job Growth

10-year Projection

7.66%

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 more than than 7.66%, the average rate of national job growth.