Illinois · NAICS 71 · Annual, 2025
Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation in Illinois
Employment, establishments and average pay for NAICS 71 in Illinois, 2004–2025, from DTG's QCEW-based estimates.
In 2025, Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation (NAICS 71) employed about 132,100 people in Illinois across roughly 6,460 establishments, with average annual pay of $43,660.
Employment in Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation in Illinois grew 55.6% from 2020 to 2025. Average pay in the industry is 45.5% below the all-industries average in Illinois. Employment reached its 2004–2025 peak in 2025, at about 132,100. Quarterly values, full industry detail and projections to 2036 for Illinois are included with a free account. County-level detail is part of every paid plan, or one county free for seven days.
- 132,100Employment, 2025
- 6,460Establishments
- $43,660Avg. annual pay
- 2.2%Share of Illinois jobs
- 1.12Location quotient
The 2025 figures above are a DTG estimate: Estimated · 1.00. † Not disclosed in QCEW; DTG estimate.
Employment, 2004 to 2025
Annual average · all ownerships
Annual employment, 2004–2025: 2004 111,000; 2005 111,000; 2006 111,500; 2007 111,700; 2008 112,400; 2009 109,200; 2010 107,300; 2011 108,300; 2012 110,400; 2013 111,100; 2014 114,100; 2015 117,600; 2016 121,200; 2017 124,700; 2018 126,000; 2019 128,200; 2020 84,900; 2021 96,900; 2022 111,600; 2023 121,500; 2024 128,300; 2025 132,100.
Last ten years
Annual · 10 years
| Year | Employment | Estab. | Avg. annual pay | Change | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 132,132 | 6,460 | $43,665 | 3.0% | est. · 1.00 |
| 2024 | 128,291 | 6,430 | $42,594 | 5.6% | est. · 1.00 |
| 2023 | 121,464 | 6,260 | $41,274 | 8.8% | est. · 1.00 |
| 2022 | 111,587 | 6,073 | $40,743 | 15.1% | est. · 1.00 |
| 2021 | 96,919 | 5,904 | $39,288 | 14.1% | est. · 1.00 |
| 2020 | 84,903 | 5,849 | $38,675 | 33.8% | est. · 1.00 |
| 2019 | 128,245 | 5,864 | $32,801 | 1.8% | est. · 1.00 |
| 2018 | 126,028 | 5,746 | $32,104 | 1.1% | est. · 1.00 |
| 2017 | 124,718 | 5,577 | $31,107 | 2.9% | est. · 1.00 |
| 2016 | 121,154 | 5,949 | $30,877 | 3.0% | 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
| Code | Subsector | Employment | Share of arts, entertainment, and recreation | LQ | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 711 | Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries | 19,009 | 14.4% | 0.83 | est. · 1.00 |
| 712 | Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions | 10,049 | 7.6% | 0.99 | est. · 1.00 |
| 713 | Amusement, Gambling, and Recreation Industries | 103,074 | 78.0% | 1.21 | pub. |
† Not disclosed in QCEW; DTG estimate.
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.
Notes
Data Tactical Group is an independent company and is not affiliated with or endorsed by any federal agency.
Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation in Illinois, quarterly, at full depth
This page shows annual figures for arts, entertainment, and recreation in Illinois. 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.