Arts & Economic Prosperity VI

 AEP6 is  the sixth economic impact study of the nonprofit arts and culture  industry in the U.S. This study is conducted approximately every five  years to gauge the economic impact (on employment, government revenue,  and household income) of spending by nonprofit arts and culture  organizations and the event-related spending by their audiences.  Previous studies were published in 1994, 2002, 2007, 2012, and 2017.  (Due to the unique nature of the realities of the global COVID-19  pandemic, the AEP6 study was postponed for 16 months.)

In 2017, the previous study, AEP5,  documented that the nonprofit arts and culture industry generated  $166.3 billion in economic activity (spending by organizations plus the  event-related spending by their audiences) which supported 4.6 million  jobs and generated $27.5 billion in government revenue. The AEP series  demonstrates that an investment in the arts provides both cultural and  economic benefits.

Local and state research partners continue to  collect audience-intercept surveys from attendees to in-person arts and  culture events taking place in their community. This process will  continue for 12 months from May 2022 through April 2023. As of November 1, Americans for the Arts has received a total of 50,171 audience surveys.