A Look at a Thrilling Industry: Amusement and Theme Parks : Spotlight on Statistics : U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

February 2025

A look at a thrilling industry: amusement and theme parks

Timothy Ewing

According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, amusements, gambling, and recreation industries generated $236.8 billion in output in 2023. This was an increase of $100.7 billion, or 74 percent, from 2020 when the industry was hit particularly hard due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This Spotlight on Statistics reviews establishment, employment, and wage trends for the amusement and theme parks industry. Additionally, it examines productivity, expenditures for entertainment fees and admissions, and prices for select amusement and theme parks products.

Number of amusement and theme parks in the United States, 2013 to 2023
Year	Number of parks
2013	890
2014	910
2015	933
2016	978
2017	990
2018	1,023
2019	1,075
2020	1,115
2021	1,156
2022	1,207
2023	1,273

The number of amusement and theme parks in the United States increased steadily from 2013 to 2023

In 2023, there were 1,273 amusement and theme parks nationwide. The industry grew 43 percent from 2013 to 2023, adding 383 establishments. The largest single year increase occurred in 2023 with the addition of 66 establishments. The 2023 growth was also the largest over-the-year percentage gain, at 5.5 percent, followed by a 5.1-percent increase in 2019.

Number of amusement and theme parks by state, 2013 to 2023
State	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
Alabama	7	7	8	9	11	12	11	11	12	13	12
Alaska	2	3	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2
Arizona	20	19	17	19	22	22	24	25	26	31	36
Arkansas	6	4	6	6	7	6	6	6	7	6	5
California	82	86	84	87	87	90	95	98	108	113	110
Colorado	13	12	13	12	13	13	14	15	15	15	16
Connecticut	3	3	3	3	3	3	4	7	8	6	9
Delaware	7	8	8	8	8	6	5	5	5	4	4
District of Columbia	5	6	6	8	7	11	12	12	14	17	16
Florida	134	130	136	144	140	134	144	150	167	170	175
Georgia	15	16	21	22	25	29	30	35	38	42	43
Hawaii	2	2	2	2	3	4	4	4	3	3	4
Idaho	10	10	10	11	13	14	12	15	16	16	17
Illinois	41	43	45	45	43	46	51	48	45	46	55
Indiana	13	14	10	11	13	14	13	13	9	10	11
Iowa	11	10	11	12	10	11	11	12	13	13	13
Kansas	5	7	6	8	9	8	8	8	8	9	7
Kentucky	16	16	18	19	15	15	15	13	14	14	16
Louisiana	10	10	10	9	8	8	10	13	13	13	15
Maine	4	4	4	4	5	6	6	6	6	4	6
Maryland	9	11	9	10	11	12	12	14	15	18	20
Massachusetts	20	20	17	18	19	16	18	17	17	17	17
Michigan	33	34	37	43	45	46	46	43	44	43	49
Minnesota	13	14	14	12	12	14	17	19	21	22	27
Mississippi	4	4	4	4	3	3	4	4	4	5	7
Missouri	24	23	19	21	27	32	37	37	38	42	46
Montana	3	3	2	2	2	4	4	4	4	4	4
Nebraska	6	6	6	6	6	3	3	3	4	5	4
Nevada	6	6	6	7	8	7	8	8	6	8	7
New Hampshire	16	16	15	16	16	15	16	16	14	14	14
New Jersey	39	37	40	42	43	48	49	50	46	49	51
New Mexico	3	4	4	5	7	7	7	7	7	6	5
New York	38	41	44	48	47	49	48	51	50	49	53
North Carolina	40	37	34	32	36	39	39	37	36	35	41
North Dakota	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	3	2	3	3
Ohio	21	22	19	18	17	20	19	19	21	22	23
Oklahoma	11	12	11	11	13	14	15	15	16	17	17
Oregon	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	6	8	9	10
Pennsylvania	21	21	22	23	23	14	15	16	19	19	21
Rhode Island	4	4	4	4	4	4	5	5	4	4	5
South Carolina	19	19	25	26	28	27	29	28	32	37	39
South Dakota	11	11	12	9	9	8	9	9	7	7	7
Tennessee	11	14	18	16	14	16	20	22	25	31	33
Texas	87	97	105	110	102	111	114	123	126	130	135
Utah	4	3	2	5	7	8	12	12	13	16	18
Vermont	3	2	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	2	2
Virginia	12	12	16	21	22	28	31	34	33	37	34
Washington	13	16	17	16	16	16	16	15	14	12	11
West Virginia	3	3	3	3	3	3	2	2	2	2	2
Wisconsin	12	12	12	14	11	13	13	14	15	15	14
Wyoming	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Florida, Texas, and California have the most amusement and theme parks

In 2013, three states accounted for over one-third of the country’s amusement and theme parks: Florida (134), Texas (87), and California (82). By 2023, these states each had over 100 amusement and theme parks, together making up 33 percent of all amusement and theme parks in the United States. Florida (175) had the most amusement and theme parks in 2023, followed by Texas (135), and California (110).

Employment in amusement and theme parks, 2013 to 2023
Year	Employment
2013	165,199
2014	172,021
2015	179,149
2016	184,353
2017	185,281
2018	191,261
2019	196,701
2020	113,675
2021	149,369
2022	187,401
2023	203,361

There were over 200,000 jobs in the amusement and theme parks industry in 2023

Employment in the amusement and theme parks industry was 203,361 in 2023. From 2013 to 2023, the industry added 38,162 jobs, an increase of 23 percent. The largest over-the-year net increases in employment for the industry were 38,032 in 2022 and 35,694 in 2021. These increases followed the industry’s largest decline in employment, which occurred in 2020 (-83,026) as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Employment in amusement and theme parks by state, 2013 to 2023
State	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
Alabama	269	259	277	272	432	711	-	-	769	656	857
Alaska	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Arizona	1,133	1,015	1,094	1,256	1,213	1,142	1,267	655	954	1,096	1,251
Arkansas	432	482	479	481	431	437	444	-	-	-	338
California	39,883	40,990	43,151	43,986	42,630	44,256	46,646	21,080	28,056	43,370	47,918
Colorado	926	842	969	929	958	923	938	423	925	955	1,041
Connecticut	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	513	550	564
Delaware	106	96	106	111	131	-	-	-	114	89	111
District of Columbia	-	-	890	1015	1005	1106	1102	671	1111	1118	1160
Florida	63,555	68,271	70,327	72,148	72,808	75,099	78,227	53,385	60,865	76,787	81,752
Georgia	2,492	2,618	2,827	3,040	3,085	3,393	3,374	1,980	2,404	2,131	2,238
Hawaii	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Idaho	814	856	885	924	1,035	1,122	1,144	869	1,097	1,212	1,469
Illinois	2,084	2,086	2,303	2,389	2,444	2,572	2,719	997	1,836	1,936	2,328
Indiana	1,265	1,331	1,325	1,368	1,364	1,252	1,168	725	1,007	1,005	1,068
Iowa	728	690	731	887	877	833	883	665	760	980	919
Kansas	259	-	243	290	355	309	184	74	98	86	84
Kentucky	322	624	766	769	893	863	793	465	524	738	702
Louisiana	292	319	382	434	338	321	343	230	324	322	355
Maine	299	287	-	-	277	283	281	114	222	240	269
Maryland	900	903	949	1,037	1,057	1,106	1,034	663	1,106	1,053	1,132
Massachusetts	1,130	-	1,212	-	1,415	1,344	1,330	298	979	-	1,078
Michigan	227	363	405	851	878	945	935	441	672	812	1,112
Minnesota	1,707	1,693	-	-	1,746	1,768	1,780	678	1,229	1,504	1,722
Mississippi	-	133	146	-	-	-	184	183	237	224	204
Missouri	3,573	3,439	3,434	3,538	3,751	3,827	3,785	2,427	3,152	3,332	3,481
Montana	-	-	-	-	-	49	53	40	44	38	42
Nebraska	146	148	185	177	168	-	-	-	131	-	-
Nevada	403	557	643	661	663	775	736	554	612	917	1,139
New Hampshire	867	919	889	898	844	854	900	421	660	758	923
New Jersey	3,609	3,742	3,693	4,090	4,016	4,117	4,042	2,210	3,312	3,473	3,759
New Mexico	265	264	239	232	441	557	607	-	423	488	570
New York	2,158	2,551	2,784	2,663	2,611	2,635	2,615	628	2,459	2,922	3,478
North Carolina	1,689	1,658	1,871	2,007	2,017	2,022	2,137	974	1,872	2,539	2,190
North Dakota	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	21	-	-	31
Ohio	5,377	4,782	5,174	-	-	-	-	-	5,432	6,058	6,242
Oklahoma	502	535	575	586	608	487	515	503	564	494	521
Oregon	233	247	254	268	271	258	279	112	216	360	441
Pennsylvania	7,905	7,967	7,976	8,150	8,403	7,989	8,037	3,814	6,350	7,234	7,743
Rhode Island	35	38	51	52	42	-	-	-	-	-	-
South Carolina	1,111	1,195	1,319	1,336	1,262	1,223	1,230	597	970	757	1,330
South Dakota	207	221	232	182	176	172	173	165	220	237	268
Tennessee	2,112	2,213	2,478	2,685	2,818	2,762	2,997	2,348	2,704	3,041	3,773
Texas	8,747	9,093	9,326	9,773	10,321	10,933	10,763	6,581	9,275	10,023	10,798
Utah	-	-	-	-	-	-	1,624	1,350	1,597	1,639	1,759
Vermont	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Virginia	4,237	4,037	-	4,179	4,114	4,672	4,416	1,424	3,288	4,370	4,246
Washington	477	538	525	534	506	611	584	178	379	412	730
West Virginia	119	120	108	113	110	96	-	-	-	-	-
Wisconsin	358	387	390	375	368	427	426	324	422	426	467
Wyoming	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Note: - indicates that data was not available or did not meet publication standards.

Florida led the nation in amusement and theme parks jobs from 2013 to 2023

In 2013, Florida had the most jobs in the amusement and theme parks industry (63,555), followed by California (39,883). Collectively, the two states accounted for 60 percent or more of all jobs in the amusement and theme parks industry in each year from 2013 to 2023. Florida had 81,752 jobs in the industry in 2023, and California had 47,918 jobs.

Counties with the highest concentration of amusement and theme parks employment, location quotients, 2023
Area	Employment location quotient
Orange County, FL	59.2
Sevier County, TN	50.9
Cape May County, NJ	12.1
Ocean County, NJ	7.2
Bexar County, TX	2.8
Lake County, IL	2.6
San Diego County, CA	2.3
Worcester County, MD	2.1
Horry County, SC	2.1
Prince George's County, MD	2.0

Orange County, Florida had the highest concentration of amusement and theme parks employment

In 2023, 10 counties had at least twice the average concentration of employment in the amusement and theme parks industry. Orange County, Florida, had the highest concentration of jobs for amusement and theme parks. Orange County’s employment was 59.2 times more concentrated than the U.S. average for the industry. Sevier County, Tennessee, had the next highest concentration at 50.9 times the U.S. average.

We compare employment concentrations across areas using location quotients. Location quotients are calculated by dividing the percentage of total employment for an industry at the local level by the percentage of total employment in the industry at the national level. If a location quotient is equal to 1, then the industry has the same share or concentration of local employment as the nation. A location quotient greater than 1 indicates an industry with a greater share of employment in the local area than nationwide.

Average annual pay for the amusement and theme parks industry, 2013 to 2023
Year	Average annual pay, U.S. dollars
2013	25,491
2014	26,661
2015	27,730
2016	28,403
2017	27,209
2018	28,273
2019	29,526
2020	36,112
2021	34,221
2022	35,610
2023	36,015
Note: Wage data are not adjusted for inflation.

Average annual pay in the amusement and theme parks industry from 2013 to 2023 was $30,477

Average annual pay in the amusement and theme parks industry was $36,015 in 2023. Wages in 2023 were down from the industry peak of $36,112 in 2020. The largest over-the-year increase in wages was in 2020 (+$6,586), followed in 2021 by the largest decline in wages (-$1,891). The largest percentage increase was 22.3 percent from 2019 to 2020.

12-month percent changes in output, hours, and labor productivity for amusement parks and arcades, 2013 to 2023
Year	Output	Hours worked	Labor productivity
2013	1.1	0.4	0.8
2014	4.2	5.6	-1.3
2015	6.5	8.1	-1.5
2016	0.7	1.5	-0.8
2017	2.4	-3.9	6.5
2018	5.4	-1.0	6.5
2019	1.3	10.7	-8.5
2020	-58.8	-26.9	-43.7
2021	115.1	10.1	95.3
2022	31.5	10.3	19.3
2023	0.4	8.2	-7.2

Labor productivity for the amusement parks and arcades industry down from post pandemic peaks

Labor productivity for amusement parks and arcades declined 7.2 percent in 2023, after large post-pandemic increases in 2021 (+95.3 percent) and 2022 (+19.3 percent). Output for the industry rose 0.4 percent in 2023 but was more than offset by an 8.2-percent increase in hours worked. In comparison, output increased 115.1 percent in 2021 and 31.5 percent in 2022, while hours worked rose 10.1 percent and 10.3 percent over the same periods.

Average annual expenditures for entertainment, fees and admissions, 2013 to 2023
Year	United States	Northeast	Midwest	South	West
2013	569	753	546	401	724
2014	636	770	665	477	763
2015	652	742	619	513	852
2016	681	752	667	492	964
2017	750	925	708	610	890
2018	766	922	708	648	901
2019	880	924	751	871	983
2020	425	421	392	377	539
2021	654	853	745	476	718
2022	833	1,049	862	637	974
2023	951	1,096	907	790	1,165

Consumer expenditures for entertainment fees and admissions bounced back from 2020 decline

Consumer expenditures for entertainment fees and admissions were $951 in 2023, up 124 percent from 2020 when expenditures declined due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Among the four census regions, consumers in the West spent the most on entertainment fees and admissions in 2023 ($1,165), while those in the South spent the least ($790). The South was the only region to have expenditures lower than the pre-pandemic high seen in 2019.

Percent changes from 2013 in selected producer price indexes for amusement and theme parks
Year	Amusement and theme parks	Amusement and theme park admissions	Amusement and theme park food and beverage sales	Amusement and theme park merchandise sales, games, and other services
2013	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
2014	5.1	5.2	2.5	1.0
2015	10.0	11.1	5.7	1.4
2016	16.2	19.4	10.6	6.9
2017	22.1	25.9	16.1	12.3
2018	25.2	27.5	23.6	14.1
2019	31.9	32.6	33.7	18.1
2020	34.0	34.2	36.6	19.9
2021	34.8	32.7	42.3	23.1
2022	45.0	41.0	51.2	34.4
2023	51.2	48.4	62.0	17.2

Producer prices for amusement and theme parks increased 51.2 percent from 2013 to 2023

From 2013 to 2023, prices increased for each of the three components of the amusement and theme parks producer price index. Prices for food and beverages had the largest percentage increase over the decade at 62.0 percent, followed by prices for admissions at 48.4 percent. Prices for merchandise sales, games, and other services rose 17.2 percent from 2013 to 2023.

For more information

This Spotlight on Statistics was prepared by Timothy Ewing, a supervisory statistician in the Southeast Economic Analysis and Information Division of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. For questions about this Spotlight, please email BLSInfoAtlanta@bls.gov.

The data presented in this Spotlight are from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW), the Office of Productivity and Technology (OPT), the Consumer Expenditure Surveys program (CE), and the Producer Price Index program (PPI). QCEW data are published quarterly, and measure employment and wages reported by employers covering more than 95 percent of all U.S. jobs. QCEW data are available by industry for counties, Metropolitan Statistical Areas, states, and the nation. The OPT measures how efficiently the U.S. converts inputs into the outputs of goods and services. The CE program provides data on expenditures, income, and demographic characteristics of consumers in the United States. The PPI measures the average change over time in the selling prices received by domestic producers for their output.