Arts, Entertainment & Recreation and Accommodation & Food Services

Industry Sector

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    Workforce Population
    13.5M
    2024
    Average Employee Age
    34.3
    2024
    Estimated Job Growth
    4.08%
    10-Year Projection
    Average Salary
    $33,489
    2024
    Average Male Salary
    $39,181
    2024
    Average Female Salary
    $28,125
    2024

    About

    The top three occupations in the Arts, Entertainment & Recreation and Accommodation & Food Services Industry Sector are waiters & waitresses, cooks, and food service managers. On average, full-time employees in the Arts, Entertainment & Recreation and Accommodation & Food Services Industry Sector work 42.8 hours per week and have an average annual salary of $49,457. Part-time employees in the same industry work 21.1 hours and earn an average annual salary of $14,845.

    The locations with the highest concentration of employees in the Arts, Entertainment & Recreation and Accommodation & Food Services Industry Sector are Clark County (Central)--Paradise (Northwest) & Winchester PUMA, NV, Clark County (Central)--Spring Valley (East) PUMA, NV, and Orange County (Southwest)--Disney-International Drive Region PUMA, FL.

    The workforce of Arts, Entertainment & Recreation and Accommodation & Food Services Industry Sector in 2024 was 13,480,779 people, with 51.5% woman, and 48.5% men.

    In 2024, 55.9% of the workforce in the Arts, Entertainment & Recreation and Accommodation & Food Services Industry Sector was White (7,533,745 people), of which 52.6% were women and 47.4% men.

    Photo by Alex

    Employment & Salaries

    A snapshot of workforce, wages, and opportunities in the Arts, Entertainment & Recreation and Accommodation & Food Services Industry Sector.

    The workforce in Arts, Entertainment & Recreation and Accommodation & Food Services Industry Sector was 13,480,779 people and is concentrated in California (1,673,272 workers). The average annual salary was $33,489, being $36,388 less than the national average salary, which was $69,878.

    Monthly Employment

    Showing data for the Leisure and Hospitality industry sector.
    Start Year
    Y-Axis
    6.53%
    Year-over-year growth
    Employment change between February 2022 and February 2023

    As of February 2023, there are 15.9M people employed in the Leisure and Hospitality industry. This represents a 6.53% increase in employment when compared to February 2022.

    This chart shows monthly employment numbers for Leisure and Hospitality over time (non-seasonally adjusted).

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    Employment by Location

    The states that concentrated the largest workforce in 2024 were California (1.67M), Texas (1.16M), and Florida (1.11M).

    This map shows the states in the United States shaded by workforce for Arts, Entertainment & Recreation and Accommodation & Food Services Industry Sector.

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    Yearly Wage Ranking

    In 2024, Arts, Entertainment & Recreation and Accommodation & Food Services Industry Sector had an average annual wage of $33,489, $36,388 less than the average national salary of $69,878.

    The graph shows the position of Arts, Entertainment & Recreation and Accommodation & Food Services Industry Sector in the ranking of industries by average annual wage.

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    Wage Distribution

    0.521
    WAGE GINI

    Arts, Entertainment & Recreation and Accommodation & Food Services has a wage GINI of 0.521, which is more than than the national average of 0.474. In other words, wages are distributed less evenly in Arts, Entertainment & Recreation and Accommodation & Food Services (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 and Accommodation & Food Services Industry 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 and Accommodation & Food Services Industry Sector.

    Waiters & waitresses are the most common position with 1,810,609 workers, but the Arts, Entertainment & Recreation and Accommodation & Food Services Industry Sector employs a relatively high number of Cooks and Food service managers.

    The highest average salary in Arts, Entertainment & Recreation and Accommodation & Food Services goes to Economists.

    Occupations Distribution

    The graph shows the distribution of employees in the Arts, Entertainment & Recreation and Accommodation & Food Services Industry Sector according to occupations. In 2024, the occupations that concentrated the largest number of employees in this industry were waiters & waitresses (1,810,609 people), cooks (1,622,348 people), and food service managers (867,668 people)

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    Wage by Sex in Common Jobs

    $39,181
    AVERAGE MALE SALARY
    ±$535
    $28,125
    AVERAGE FEMALE SALARY
    ±$355

    On average, Male workers in the Arts, Entertainment & Recreation and Accommodation & Food Services Industry 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 and Accommodation & Food Services Industry Sector.

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    Business

    Estimates of the sources of the costs and the purchasers of the products in the Arts, Entertainment & Recreation and Accommodation & Food Services Industry 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 and Accommodation & Food Services Industry Sector.

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

    California and Texas stand out as the states with the largest number of establishments in the Arts, Entertainment & Recreation and Accommodation & Food Services Industry Sector.

    Industrial Flow

    Professional and business services has the highest single input, by dollars, to the Arts, Entertainment & Recreation and Accommodation & Food Services Industry Sector, and the largest industry purchasing services from the Arts, Entertainment & Recreation and Accommodation & Food Services Industry 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

    HIGHEST INPUT INDUSTRY
    1. Professional and business services
    2. Manufacturing
    3. Finance, insurance, real estate, rental, and leasing

    The Arts, Entertainment & Recreation and Accommodation & Food Services Industry 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

    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 and Accommodation & Food Services Industry Sector in order to produce other goods and services. Purchases of the Arts, Entertainment & Recreation and Accommodation & Food Services Industry 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
      128,542
    2. Texas
      74,307
    3. New York
      68,537

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

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    Median Earnings

    States with the highest median earnings in 2024
    1. Nevada
      $36,098
    2. District of Columbia
      $36,059
    3. Hawaii
      $34,056

    The charts shows the median earnings of the Arts, Entertainment & Recreation and Accommodation & Food Services industry by state and the annual evolution of the median earnings of the industry compared to the national level.

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    Diversity

    Demographic information on the Arts, Entertainment & Recreation and Accommodation & Food Services Industry Sector in the US.

    Of the total workforce, 51.5% corresponds to women and 48.5% men. Male employees tend to earn more than Female employees, with average respective salaries of $39,181 and $28,125.

    71.1% of workers have a high school or equivalent, some college or secondary education.

    Gender and Age

    6,939,931
    Women
    51.5%
    6,540,848
    Men
    48.5%

    The workforce of Arts, Entertainment & Recreation and Accommodation & Food Services industry in 2024 was 13,480,779 people, with 51.5% woman, and 48.5% men.

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

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    Races

    In 2024, 55.9% of the workforce in the Arts, Entertainment & Recreation and Accommodation & Food Services industry was White (7,533,745 people), of which 52.6% were women and 47.4% 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 and Accommodation & Food Services workers in 2024 were high school or equivalent (4,110,355 people), some college (3,308,799 people), and secondary education (2,163,586 people).

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

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    Projections

    Growth projections of the Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation and Accommodation and Food Services 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 and Accommodation and Food Services industry has a lower projected workforce growth at 4.08%. Its projected 10-year growth in output (25.4%) 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 and Accommodation and Food Services.
    4.08%
    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 and Accommodation and Food Services. This industry is expected to grow less than 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 and Accommodation and Food Services.
    25.4%
    Estimate Growth
    10-year Projection

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

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