Creative Industries: Business & Employment in the Arts

Americans for the Arts’ Creative Industries 2005 report statistically measures the scope and economic size of the arts in America. The creative industries are composed of arts-centric businesses that range from nonprofit museums, symphonies, and theaters to for-profit film, architecture, and advertising companies. According to this study:

• As of January 2005, there were 578,487 arts-centric businesses in the U.S. that employed 2.97 million people. The Creative Industries represent an important portion of the nation’s economy-4.4 percent of all businesses and 2.2 percent of U.S. employment.
• Between 2004 and 2005, growth in the number of arts businesses outpaces total U.S. business growth (5.5 percent to 3.8 percent). Similarily, at a time when the total number of U.S. jobs shrank by 1.9 percent, employment in the arts dropped by only 0.79 percent.