Economic and Social Impact of the Nonprofit Arts & Culture
Adopted at the 92nd Annual Meeting in 2024
WHEREAS, it was found that the nonprofit arts and culture industry generates $151.7 billion in economic activity annually, which supports 2.6 million U.S. jobs in communities ranging from large urban to small rural; and
WHEREAS, the nonprofit arts and culture industry annually returns $19.2 billion in federal government revenue, $5.5 billion in state government revenue and $4.4 billion in local government revenue, for a total of $29.1 billion in overall government revenue; and
WHEREAS, this new Arts & Economic Prosperity 6 study collected extensive survey data from 16,399 nonprofit and governmental arts and culture organizations and 224,667 of their attendees; and
WHEREAS, data collected from the 224,667 attendees at a range of events reveal an average spending of $38.46 per person, per event—in addition to the cost of admission—generating $78.4 billion of valuable revenue for local merchants and their communities annually; and
WHEREAS, 30 percent of audience attendees are non-local—living outside of the county in which the arts event took place—and spend more than twice that of their local counterparts: $60.57 vs. $29.77 per person, per event; and
WHEREAS, findings from the Arts & Economic Prosperity 6 study reveal that America's nonprofit arts and culture industry generated $151.7 billion in economic activity in 2022—$73.3 billion in spending by arts and culture organizations and an additional $78.4 billion in event-related spending by their audiences—resulting in a significant benefit to the nation's economy:
- Total Expenditures: $151.7 billion
- Full-Time Jobs: 2.6 million jobs
- Household income: $101 billion
- Local Government Revenue: $4.4 billion
- State Government Revenue: $5.5 billion
- Federal Government Revenue: $19.2 billion
- 89% of attendees agreed that the activity or venue they were attending was “a source of neighborhood pride for the community.”
- 86% would “feel a sense of loss if that activity or venue was no longer available.”
- 86% of American adults say, “arts and culture are important to their community's quality of life and livability.”
- 78% say the arts are a “positive experience in a troubled world.”
- 73% agree that the arts “helps me understand other cultures better.”
- 72% believe, “the arts provide shared experiences with people of different races, ethnicities, ages, beliefs, and identities (gender, political, national origin).”
- 71% feel the arts give them “pure pleasure to experience and participate in.”