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After a long delay due to the U.S. government shutdown, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has finally released the consumer expenditure data for 2024.
Compared to pre-pandemic 2019, community-based entertainment spending for fees and admissions to parks and museums, which includes theme parks, LBEs, and admissions to other non-live entertainment venues (not including cinemas), did not recover in 2024. In 2019, average household expenditures were $34. In 2024, they were down 12% to $30 (inflation-adjusted).
Households across all quintiles of household income have decreased spending compared to 2019. The highest quintile, with incomes starting at $156,000, only say a 1% decline.
Spending has shifted to households headed by a person with a bachelor's degree or higher. That group now accounts for almost three-quarters of spending on fees and admissions to parks and museums (74%), up from 62% in 2019.
There appears to be a long-term trend of local out-of-home entertainment spending shifting to live events. Average household spending on admissions to local sporting events increased by 40%, from $65 in 2019 to $92 in 2024 (inflation-adjusted), across all household income quintiles, except the lowest, and all age groups.
The same was true for tickets to live concerts, plays, theater, and opera. Average household spending increased 35% from $80 in 2019 to $109 in 2024 for all quintiles of income and for all household age groups, except for age 65+.
We'll discuss this shift from local non-live to live location-based entertainment and arts in more detail in our next issue
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