Colorado · NAICS 71 · Annual, 2025

Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation in Colorado

Employment, establishments and average pay for NAICS 71 in Colorado, 2004–2025, from DTG's QCEW-based estimates.

In 2025, Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation (NAICS 71) employed about 71,700 people in Colorado across roughly 4,204 establishments, with average annual pay of $51,260.

Employment in Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation in Colorado grew 45.6% from 2020 to 2025. The industry is 1.3× as concentrated in Colorado as in the nation as a whole (location quotient 1.27). Average pay in the industry is 39.1% below the all-industries average in Colorado. Quarterly values, full industry detail and projections to 2036 for Colorado are included with a free account. County-level detail is part of every paid plan, or one county free for seven days.

  • 71,700Employment, 2025
  • 4,204Establishments
  • $51,260Avg. annual pay
  • 2.5%Share of Colorado jobs
  • 1.27Location quotient

Employment, 2004 to 2025

Annual average · all ownerships

Employment in Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation in Colorado, 2004–2025Line chart of annual employment from 2004 to 2025, from 47,000 to 71,700.020K40K60K80K20042010201520202025

Annual employment, 2004–2025: 2004 47,000; 2005 48,300; 2006 49,300; 2007 49,700; 2008 51,000; 2009 50,000; 2010 50,100; 2011 51,100; 2012 52,600; 2013 53,000; 2014 54,800; 2015 56,800; 2016 58,800; 2017 61,600; 2018 63,200; 2019 65,800; 2020 49,300; 2021 56,100; 2022 63,200; 2023 68,800; 2024 70,700; 2025 71,700.

Last ten years

Annual · 10 years

YearEmploymentEstab.Avg. annual payChangeSource
202571,7424,204$51,258 1.4%pub.
202470,7274,165$48,197 2.8%pub.
202368,8114,295$47,754 8.9%pub.
202263,1584,089$45,631 12.5%pub.
202156,1493,791$42,639 13.9%est. · 1.00
202049,2913,627$41,672 25.0%est. · 1.00
201965,7603,467$36,843 4.1%est. · 1.00
201863,1723,337$36,531 2.6%est. · 1.00
201761,5543,260$34,770 4.6%est. · 1.00
201658,8293,084$34,657 3.6%est. · 1.00

† Not disclosed in QCEW; DTG estimate.

The full history from 2004 and quarterly values are available with a free account.

By subsector, 2025

3-digit NAICS · 3 shown

CodeSubsectorEmploymentShare of arts, entertainment, and recreationLQSource
711Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries10,16214.2%0.93pub.
712Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions4,8356.7%1.00pub.
713Amusement, Gambling, and Recreation Industries56,74679.1%1.40pub.

Where these numbers come from

Reading these figures

The figures on this page come from one named vintage, stated below, and are annual values for all ownerships combined. Where QCEW withheld a value, the marked figure is an estimate that DTG produced under the constraints of the published record; suppression is a property of QCEW, not of DTG, and a withheld value is marked rather than silently omitted. Two things DTG itself holds back, and says so where it does: an estimate that cannot be given a reliability score is not shown, and average pay is not shown where fewer than three jobs are reported. The row is marked withheld, with the reason in a note beneath the table. The mark is on every row that carries a value: the headline, the yearly history, the subsectors and the other states. An estimated value that rounds below one is shown as less than one, not as zero. Quarterly figures, county figures and projected years are in the app.

How this figure was built

Employment is the average of the three monthly counts in each quarter, averaged across the year, and establishments are averaged across the year the same way. Average annual pay is the year’s total wages divided by that average employment. Each of these is DTG’s value: QCEW’s published figure where QCEW disclosed it, and DTG’s estimate, marked, where it did not. How withheld values are estimated, and what the reliability score beside a figure means, are described on the industry data and disclosure and provenance pages.

Estimated by Data Tactical Group from BLS QCEW, with CES/SAE and projection inputs described in the methodology. Method: Disclosure, Industry.

Notes

Data Tactical Group is an independent company and is not affiliated with or endorsed by any federal agency.

Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation in Colorado, quarterly, at full depth

This page shows annual figures for arts, entertainment, and recreation in Colorado. A free account shows every detailed industry beneath it, quarterly, for every state, with projections to ten years. No card.

County figures, file export and the API are on paid plans.