Plunge into BLS data for National Roller Coaster Day!

Is your summer fun incomplete without an exhilarating roller coaster ride? National Roller Coaster Day is just around the corner (August 16), so let’s take a closer look at the workers who bring us thrills, chills, and screams at the nation’s amusement parks.

Amusement parks and arcades had about 227,000 jobs in May 2023. Amusement and recreation attendants, whose duties may include operating amusement concessions and rides, was the largest occupation in this industry with 69,610 jobs. The largest occupations in amusement parks and arcades also included cashiers (15,000), fast food and counter workers (9,360), and retail salespersons (8,180). These four occupations combined made up about 45 percent of industry employment.

Amusement parks and arcades had an hourly mean wage of $19.52, below the U.S. mean wage of $31.48 per hour for all industries and occupations combined. Among the largest occupations in the industry, only general and operations managers had an above-average wage, at $42.30 per hour. Other large occupations in amusement parks and arcades had wages ranging from $23.10 for general maintenance and repair workers to $14.09 for lifeguards, ski patrol, and other recreational protective service workers.

These data are from the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program. For more information, see the OEWS data for amusement parks and arcades.