Industry · NAICS 71

Arts, entertainment, and recreation

The United States has 166,356 employer establishments in arts, entertainment, and recreation (4.9 per 10,000 residents), employing 2,491,408 people at an average annual pay of $47,770, plus 1,806,368 nonemployer businesses.

In the United States

Establishments
166,356
1,806,368 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents
4.9
Paid employees
2,491,408
Average annual pay
$47,770

Places ranked by residents per establishment

Places ranked by residents per establishment: more residents for each business, fewer competitors per resident. A count, not a measure of demand: retirement areas, low incomes or tourism change what a business needs.

Places
State
Size
Arts, entertainment, and recreation by residents per establishment
#Placevs US
1Corbin, KY149,593178,8001.10.23×312$26,067326
2Visalia, CA480,816647,5131.30.27×1,476$38,081893
3Anderson Creek, NC141,772197,4621.30.27×165$15,764492
4El Centro, CA180,683257,2271.40.28×330$29,733276
5Hanford-Corcoran, CA153,197226,9641.40.29×362$25,398221
6Merced, CA294,319446,6891.50.30×635$32,523565
7McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX901,0961376,5771.50.31×2,727$20,3282,545
8Lumberton, NC118,005186,5561.50.31×134$15,269226
9Yuma, AZ214,228346,3011.60.32×337$23,092412
10Brownsville-Harlingen, TX428,906706,1271.60.33×1,076$20,5471,151
11Decatur, AL158,918275,8861.70.34×306$19,552462
12Las Cruces, NM225,966395,7941.70.35×874$19,753793
13Clarksville, TN-KY340,083595,7641.70.35×777$17,9511,083
14Gadsden, AL103,227185,7351.70.35×337$16,599349
15Stockton-Lodi, CA806,0551435,6371.80.36×2,275$26,7481,898
16Wildwood-The Villages, FL151,889275,6261.80.36×239$16,594565
17Salisbury, MD130,620255,2251.90.39×495$16,376546
18Morristown, TN124,431245,1851.90.39×187$20,930406
19Bakersfield-Delano, CA917,5991775,1841.90.39×3,301$23,4141,923
20Anniston-Oxford, AL116,341235,05820.40×295$20,668358
21Warner Robins, GA200,730405,01820.40×1,014$12,466899
22Goldsboro, NC119,731244,98920.41×294$14,279332
23Sumter, SC104,396214,97120.41×244$15,574291
24Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL824,7941664,96920.41×3,297$27,5713,241
25Alexandria, LA148,419314,7882.10.42×262$13,805416

1–25 of 398 places

Sources: County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024).

  • Residents per establishment is the place's population estimate for 2023 divided by its establishments; more residents per business means fewer competitors per resident. Places with fewer than the minimum establishments are left out because a handful of businesses makes the ratio jump around.
  • Metro areas are made of whole counties and their figures are the exact sums of those counties'. A metro area is listed under its principal state.
  • This compares counts of businesses with counts of residents. It does not measure demand, spending power, visitors, the size or quality of the businesses, or whether a market is open. Employment and payroll carry the Census Bureau's noise infusion.
  • County Business Patterns 2023 uses NAICS 2017 codes; the nonemployer figures use NAICS 2022. Industries are matched by name between editions.
  • Growth needs a second reference year of County Business Patterns in the same industry classification; only 2023 is loaded, so there is no growth column yet.

Federal contracts in this industry

Federal agencies obligated $99.8M on contracts under NAICS 71 in fiscal year 2026, nationwide (1,425 awards, each counted once per county where it was performed).

Metro areas

  1. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV$23.3M23%
    184 awards
  2. Norwich-New London-Willimantic, CT$19M19%
    3 awards
  3. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX$4.2M4.2%
    10 awards
  4. Columbus, GA-AL$3.6M3.6%
    3 awards
  5. Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO$3.1M3.1%
    10 awards
  6. Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI$2.8M2.8%
    15 awards
  7. Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL$2.2M2.2%
    27 awards
  8. Kansas City, MO-KS$2.2M2.2%
    3 awards
  9. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA$2.1M2.1%
    14 awards
  10. New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ$1.8M1.8%
    41 awards

Counties

  1. Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region, CT$19M19%
    3 awards
  2. Fairfax County, VA$9.4M9.4%
    19 awards
  3. Arlington County, VA$6.8M6.8%
    24 awards
  4. District of Columbia, DC$5.3M5.3%
    101 awards
  5. Collin County, TX$3.6M3.6%
    2 awards
  6. Muscogee County, GA$3.5M3.5%
    2 awards
  7. Denver County, CO$2.8M2.8%
    2 awards
  8. Hennepin County, MN$2.7M2.7%
    6 awards
  9. Jackson County, MO$2.1M2.1%
    2 awards
  10. Miami-Dade County, FL$2.1M2.1%
    19 awards

Cities and towns

  1. New London city, CT$18.9M19%
    2 awards
  2. Arlington CDP, VA$6.8M6.8%
    24 awards
  3. Washington city, DC$5.3M5.3%
    101 awards
  4. Columbus city, GA$3.5M3.5%
    2 awards
  5. Franklin Farm CDP, VA$3M3.0%
    2 awards
  6. Denver city, CO$2.8M2.8%
    2 awards
  7. Plymouth city, MN$2.7M2.7%
    3 awards
  8. Kansas City city, MO$2.1M2.1%
    2 awards
  9. Floris CDP, VA$2M2.0%
    2 awards
  10. Miami city, FL$2M2.0%
    11 awards

Where the work was performed, as agencies report it (often the contractor's office). Metro areas are the exact sums of their counties. Cities are estimated: each action's county money split by the share of its ZIP code's land inside the city, so a city's figure is part of its county's.

USAspending.gov, prime award contract transactions (FPDS)