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Average pay in arts, entertainment and recreation: U.S. states ranked

Measure: Average pay in arts, entertainment and recreation ($). All 50 states and District of Columbia with data in Jobs in restaurants, hotels, arts and recreation by state, ranked from highest to lowest. Reference period: 2024.

Licence
Public domain (U.S. federal government work).
Data last updated
2026-11-09
Download full table CSVSource: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (opens in a new tab)

National value: 50,483 (United States).

Washington: 44,541Idaho: 27,913Montana: 27,115North Dakota: 22,648Minnesota: 45,638Michigan: 43,289Ohio: 43,637Pennsylvania: 44,493New York: 74,738Vermont: 32,178New Hampshire: 31,673Maine: 36,890Arizona: 54,600California: 70,760New Mexico: 32,857Texas: 46,117Louisiana: 48,068Mississippi: 22,747Alabama: 25,780Florida: 52,772Georgia: 49,407South Carolina: 27,955North Carolina: 41,274Virginia: 36,483District of Columbia: 89,640Maryland: 41,668Delaware: 29,762New Jersey: 53,053Connecticut: 40,141Rhode Island: 39,736Massachusetts: 55,031Oregon: 37,912Utah: 36,749Wyoming: 31,664Nevada: 58,036Colorado: 49,916South Dakota: 24,807Nebraska: 24,808Kansas: 26,244Oklahoma: 38,248Iowa: 24,059Missouri: 45,764Wisconsin: 38,640Illinois: 47,945Kentucky: 34,213Arkansas: 31,231Tennessee: 71,042West Virginia: 22,780Indiana: 44,507Alaska: 31,543Hawaii: 40,011

Small states, hard to see on the map:

  • DC 89,640 $
  • RI 39,736 $
  • DE 29,762 $
  • CT 40,141 $
  • NJ 53,053 $
  • MD 41,668 $
  • MA 55,031 $
  • VT 32,178 $
  • NH 31,673 $
  • Lowest: 22,648 to 27,955 $
  • Group 2: 27,955 to 36,749 $
  • Group 3: 36,749 to 43,289 $
  • Group 4: 43,289 to 49,407 $
  • Highest: 49,407 to 89,640 $
The map is a visual summary; every value is in the table below, which is the keyboard and screen-reader path. Groups are quintiles of the values shown (a derived grouping). Boundaries: Natural Earth (public domain), simplified. Alaska and Hawaii are shown as insets, not to scale.

Rank is derived by Quadranac: 1 = highest value; ties share a rank. Values are as published in the source table.

Note: Shares use private-sector jobs in each industry over all jobs covered by unemployment insurance (all ownerships).

1District of Columbia89,640
2New York74,738
3Tennessee71,042
4California70,760
5Nevada58,036
6Massachusetts55,031
7Arizona54,600
8New Jersey53,053
9Florida52,772
10Colorado49,916
11Georgia49,407
12Louisiana48,068
13Illinois47,945
14Texas46,117
15Missouri45,764
16Minnesota45,638
17Washington44,541
18Indiana44,507
19Pennsylvania44,493
20Ohio43,637
21Michigan43,289
22Maryland41,668
23North Carolina41,274
24Connecticut40,141
25Hawaii40,011
26Rhode Island39,736
27Wisconsin38,640
28Oklahoma38,248
29Oregon37,912
30Maine36,890
31Utah36,749
32Virginia36,483
33Kentucky34,213
34New Mexico32,857
35Vermont32,178
36New Hampshire31,673
37Wyoming31,664
38Alaska31,543
39Arkansas31,231
40Delaware29,762
41South Carolina27,955
42Idaho27,913
43Montana27,115
44Kansas26,244
45Alabama25,780
46Nebraska24,808
47South Dakota24,807
48Iowa24,059
49West Virginia22,780
50Mississippi22,747
51North Dakota22,648

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW), 2024 annual averages, private ownership, NAICS 72 and 71 (open data files industry/72.csv and industry/71.csv), with all-industry totals (industry/10.csv). Reference period: 2024.

Cite this ranking

U.S. states ranked by average pay in arts, entertainment and recreation ($) (2024). Data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW), 2024 annual averages, private ownership, NAICS 72 and 71 (open data files industry/72.csv and industry/71.csv), with all-industry totals (industry/10.csv); rank derived by Quadranac. Data last updated 2026-11-09. https://quadranac.com/rankings/us-states-by-average-pay-in-arts-entertainment-and-recreation/

Download source table CSV All rankings