Economic Impact of the Arts

Arts & Economic Prosperity 6, or AEP6, is an economic and social impact study of the nation’s nonprofit arts and culture industry. This report documents the economic and social contributions of arts and culture in all 50 states and Puerto Rico. To measure industry spending, local and statewide research partners representing the 373 study regions collected expenditure and attendance data from over 16,000 arts and culture organizations and the event-related spending information from nearly 225,000 of their attendees. Nationally, the sector generated close to $152 billion dollars in economic activity in 2022 with $73 billion dollars in spending by nonprofit arts and culture organizations and an additional $78 billion dollars in event-related expenditures by their audiences. It also supported 2.6 million jobs, provided $101 billion dollars in personal income to residents, and generated $29 billion dollars in tax revenue to local, state, and federal governments.

The Caldwell Arts Council spent almost a year collecting over 800 audience surveys for AEP6, and the results are impressive. They reveal that in 2022, nonprofit arts and culture organizations and their audiences generated $4.4 million dollars in economic activity in Caldwell County alone. In addition, they leveraged over $800,000 in organizational spending that resulted in $3.5 million dollars in audience event-related spending here. This economic impact supported approximately 80 jobs and generated nearly $1.9 million dollars in tax revenue.

Arts & Economic Prosperity 6 study was conducted by Americans for the Arts and endorsed by the North Carolina Arts Council.

Click for the 1-page summary or to view the full report.