Outdoor recreation is both a major part of the U.S. economy and a widely shared public activity. The latest figures below cover participation in 2023, economic measures in 2024, and selected National Park Service measures from 2024 and 2025.
Contents
- Economic scale
- Participation and participants
- Activities and industries
- State-level patterns
- National park visitation
- Great Smoky Mountains and Joshua Tree
- Grand Canyon use and safety
Economic scale
The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA Outdoor Recreation 2024) reported that outdoor recreation value added reached $696.7 billion in 2024, equal to 2.4% of U.S. GDP. Real outdoor recreation GDP rose 2.7% during the year, while real GDP for the overall U.S. economy rose 2.8%. The sector’s real GDP had grown 5.3% in 2023, so the 2024 increase was positive but slower than the previous year’s reported growth.
Other BEA measures also show expansion. Real gross output increased 2.0% in 2024, compensation increased 5.2%, and employment increased 1.1%. Outdoor recreation employment increased in 36 states plus the District of Columbia. State employment growth ranged from a 4.3% increase in North Dakota to a 4.0% decline in Hawaii (BEA Outdoor Recreation 2024).
The sector’s economic footprint extends beyond production and employment. The US Forest Service, in Managing for Recreation, reported annual outdoor recreation consumer spending of $887 billion. The same source reported 7.6 million American jobs supported annually, along with $65.3 billion in federal tax revenue and $59.2 billion in state and local tax revenue. These annual figures come from the US Forest Service source and are not the same measurement as BEA’s 2024 value-added estimate.
BEA’s 2024 state comparison also shows how differently outdoor recreation contributes to state economies. Outdoor recreation value added represented 6.1% of Hawaii’s state GDP, the highest reported share, and 1.0% of the District of Columbia’s state GDP, the lowest reported share (BEA Outdoor Recreation 2024).
Participation and participants
The Outdoor Industry Association’s 2024 Outdoor Participation Trends Report counted 175.8 million outdoor participants in 2023, an increase of 4.1%. That total represented 57.3% of Americans aged 6 and older. Participation was 22.2 million people above the 2019 level, indicating a larger participant base than before the comparison period.
The report also identified 7.7 million Americans who tried one or more outdoor recreation activities for the first time in 2023 (OIA 2024 Outdoor Participation Trends Report). New participants therefore formed a notable part of the year’s participation picture, alongside people who had already been active outdoors.
Participation rates varied among reported demographic groups. American women’s outdoor participation rate reached 51.9% in 2023, while LGBTQ+ outdoor participation reached 60% among adults. The 2023 participant base was reported as 69.7% White, 10.3% Black, 13.4% Hispanic, 5.3% Asian or Pacific Islander, and 1.4% people with other ethnic or racial origins (OIA 2024 Outdoor Participation Trends Report).
The number of people participating and the frequency of participation moved in different directions. Average outings per participant fell 11.4%, from 70.5 in 2022 to 62.5 in 2023. This means the participant base expanded even as the reported average number of outings per participant declined (OIA 2024 Outdoor Participation Trends Report).
Activities and industries
BEA divided 2024 outdoor recreation value added into three broad groups. Supporting activities accounted for 51.5% of the total, conventional outdoor recreation accounted for 29.5%, and other outdoor recreation accounted for 19.0% (BEA Outdoor Recreation 2024).
Several conventional activities had substantial national value added. Boating and fishing generated $38.4 billion in 2024 and was the largest conventional activity in 34 states. RVing generated $27.5 billion and was the largest conventional activity in 9 states. Hunting, shooting, and trapping generated $16.5 billion and was the largest conventional activity in Arizona and Wyoming (BEA Outdoor Recreation 2024).
The leading state contributions differed by activity. Florida contributed $4.4 billion in boating and fishing value added, followed by California at $3.3 billion and Texas at $3.0 billion. For RVing, Indiana contributed $5.2 billion, Texas contributed $2.7 billion, and California contributed $2.1 billion (BEA Outdoor Recreation 2024).
Industry groups show how outdoor recreation is connected to the wider supply chain. Retail trade generated $169.1 billion in outdoor-recreation value added, representing 24.3% of the total, and was the largest industry group in 24 states. Manufacturing generated $91.3 billion, or 13.1% of outdoor recreation value added, and was the largest industry group in 2 states.
Within outdoor-recreation manufacturing, Texas contributed $13.1 billion and California contributed $11.6 billion in 2024. Within outdoor-recreation retail trade, California contributed $19.3 billion, Texas contributed $14.4 billion, and Florida contributed $13.4 billion (BEA Outdoor Recreation 2024).
State-level patterns
For 2024 reporting that used 2023 performance data, BEA ranked California first among states for outdoor recreation value added at $81.5 billion. Florida ranked second at $57.8 billion, Texas third at $55.8 billion, and New York fourth at $33.9 billion. The ranking is labeled here as 2023 performance data because that is the performance period identified by the source, even though the ranking appeared in 2024 reporting (BEA Outdoor Recreation 2023 performance).
| Rank | State | Outdoor recreation value added |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | $81.5 billion |
| 2 | Florida | $57.8 billion |
| 3 | Texas | $55.8 billion |
| 4 | New York | $33.9 billion |
| 5 | Illinois | $24.4 billion |
| 6 | Washington | $22.5 billion |
| 7 | Ohio | $19.3 billion |
| 8 | Pennsylvania | $18.9 billion |
| 9 | Georgia | $18.5 billion |
| 10 | Colorado | $17.2 billion |
The same state-level material reported 2024 outdoor recreation value added of $24.1 billion for California, $22.7 billion for Florida, and $11.8 billion for New York (BEA Outdoor Recreation 2024). Those figures should be kept distinct from the separate state ranking based on 2023 performance data.
State specialization is also visible in the conventional activity results. Boating and fishing led in 34 states, RVing led in 9 states, and hunting, shooting, and trapping led in Arizona and Wyoming. The state employment range—from 4.3% growth in North Dakota to a 4.0% decline in Hawaii—shows that a strong national result did not produce identical outcomes everywhere (BEA Outdoor Recreation 2024).
National park visitation
The National Park Service Visitor Use Data Dashboard recorded 331.9 million recreation visits in 2024. The National Park Service’s 2025 visitation announcement reported more than 323 million recreation visits in 2025, more than 13 million overnight stays, and 26 national parks setting new visitation records. The 2025 figures are reported as “more than” the stated totals and should not be treated as exact counts.
Visitor activity also has a local economic dimension. The National Park Service Visitor Spending Effects source estimated that park visitors spent $29.0 billion in local gateway regions around national parks in 2024. The estimate concerns gateway-region spending, while the national visitation totals count recreation visits; the measures describe related but different parts of park use.
The scale of individual parks varied considerably. Great Smoky Mountains National Park drew more than 12 million recreational visits in 2024, while Joshua Tree National Park recorded 2,991,874 visits and Grand Canyon National Park recorded 4,919,163 total visits in the same year (NPS Great Smoky Mountains statistics; NPS Joshua Tree statistics; NPS Grand Canyon statistics).
Great Smoky Mountains and Joshua Tree
Great Smoky Mountains National Park reported 10 campgrounds with a combined 1,000 sites in 2024 and more than 420,000 camper nights. Its economic impact exceeded $2.2 billion in 2023 and supported 33,748 jobs in surrounding communities. These are separate 2023 economic and employment measures, not 2024 visitation totals.
The park’s FY 2024 financial figures included a $21.56 million base budget and $9 million in recreation fee revenue (NPS Great Smoky Mountains statistics). Together, the visitation, campground, economic-impact, jobs, budget, and fee figures describe several distinct dimensions of the same park rather than one combined total.
Joshua Tree National Park covers 795,156 gross acres, including private and state inholdings. Its highest point is 5,814 feet at Quail Mountain, and its lowest point is 536 feet at the southeastern boundary (NPS Joshua Tree statistics).
Joshua Tree’s reported visit history provides a longer comparison. The park recorded 3,270,404 visits in 2023, 3,058,294 in 2022, and 2,991,874 in 2024. It first surpassed 3 million visits in 2021, with 3,064,400 visits; first surpassed 2 million in 2015, with 2,025,756 visits; and first surpassed 1 million in 1990, with 1,022,396 visits (NPS Joshua Tree statistics).
Grand Canyon use and safety
Grand Canyon National Park’s 2024 total of 4,919,163 visits was accompanied by several activity-specific measures. Shuttle boardings reached 5,176,056, backpacking user nights reached 70,402, and the park issued 15,330 backcountry permits, of which 11,806 were used (NPS Grand Canyon statistics).
River use was reported separately by route and user type. Commercial Colorado River use from Lees Ferry to Diamond Creek reached 96,852 user days. Noncommercial use on that segment reached 109,521 user days, while noncommercial use from Diamond Creek to Pearce Ferry reached 11,498 user days. The park also logged 148,024 north-bound train boardings in 2024 (NPS Grand Canyon statistics).
The park’s public-safety statistics show the operational demands associated with this level of use. Grand Canyon recorded 1,435 criminal cases, 53 arrests, 75 Part I offenses, and 2,688 Part II offenses in 2024. It also logged 1,058 emergency medical service incidents, 21 fatalities, and 348 search-and-rescue incidents.
Preventive work was counted separately from emergency response. Grand Canyon recorded 140,362 preventive search-and-rescue contacts and 30,442 preventive actions in 2024 (NPS Grand Canyon statistics). These figures are activity counts for the park’s reported categories; they are not estimates of all outdoor recreation safety incidents in the United States.