Americans for the Arts finds that nationwide investments in arts and culture stimulate economic development.
In 2023, Americans for the Arts released their 6th Arts & Economic Prosperity Study examining the impact of arts and culture organizations across the nation.
Paul Washington, Executive Director of the Environmental, Social, & Governance Center observed that “the…report underscores what businesses across the nation have witnessed—that investments in arts and culture not only enhance the quality of life, but also stimulate economic development. By supporting the arts, companies attract and retain talent and create an environment where creativity, businesses, and communities thrive.”
Nationwide, the study found arts and culture organizations create jobs and generate economic activity:
Nonprofit arts and culture organizations generated $151.7 billion of economic activity in 2022, spending $73.3 billion, and adding an additional $78.4 billion in event-related expenditures by their audiences.
This economic activity supported 2.6 million jobs, provided residents $101 billion in personal income, and generated $29.1 billion in tax revenue to local, state, and federal governments.
Arts and culture organizations also generate spending above and beyond the price of event or admission tickets, benefiting businesses in their communities:
When people attend a cultural event, they often make an outing of it—dining at a restaurant, paying for parking or public transportation, enjoying dessert after the show, and returning home to pay for child or pet care. AEP6 shows that the typical attendee spends $38.46 per person per event, in addition to the cost of event admission.
A third of attendees (30.1%) travel from outside the county in which events take place. Their event-related spending was more than twice that of their local counterparts ($60.57 vs. $29.77).
Vibrant arts communities attract visitors who spend money and help local businesses thrive. They also keep resident spending money local—a value-add that few industries can compete with.
Takeaways:
Nonprofit arts and culture organizations are businesses. They employ people locally, purchase supplies and services from nearby businesses, and engage in the marketing and promotion of their cities and regions. Their very act of doing business— creating, presenting, exhibiting, engaging—has a positive economic impact and improves community well-being. Nonprofit arts and culture organizations spent an estimated $73.3 billion, which supported 1.6 million jobs and generated $18.3 billion in local, state, and federal government revenue.
Arts and culture drives commerce to local businesses. When people attend a cultural event, they often make an outing of it—dining at a restaurant, paying for parking or public transportation, enjoying dessert after the show, and returning home to pay for child or pet care. Attendees at nonprofit arts and culture events spend $38.46 per person per event, beyond the cost of admission—vital income for local merchants and a value-add that few industries can compete with.
Arts and culture strengthen the visitor economy. One-third (30.1%) of attendees travel from outside the county in which the activity takes place; they spend an average of $60.57, twice that of their local counterparts ($29.77). Three-quarters (77%) of nonlocal attendees reported that the primary purpose of their visit was to attend that cultural event.
A vibrant arts and culture community keeps residents spending locally. When local attendees to nonprofit arts and culture events were asked what they would have done if the event where they were surveyed had not been available, 51% said they would have “traveled to a different community to attend a similar arts or cultural activity.”
