Which Outdoor Activities Do People Spend the Most (and Least) On?

“I see an America whose rivers and valleys and lakes—hills and streams and plains—the mountains over our land and nature's wealth deep under the earth—are protected as the rightful heritage of all the people.” ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt

America offers a spectacular abundance of outdoor recreational opportunities of every kind imaginable. The natural wonders of the United States not only enrich the health and happiness of citizens and visitors, they are also a fountain of economic prosperity. 2022 was a groundbreaking year for America’s outdoor recreation economy; gross output surpassed $1 trillion for the first time in American history! Here at AAA State of Play, we all about showcasing and celebrating how people of all ages play, exercise, and enjoy nature. To highlight this promising trend in how Americans spend their time and money, we created this infographic on which outdoor activities people spend the most on in the United States:

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Which Outdoor Activity Do People Spend the Most on?

The outdoor activity that Americans spend the most on is RVing. In 2022, the U.S. RV industry reached around $70.76 billion in 2022. This momentum shows no signs of stopping. RVing was the sixth fastest-growing outdoor recreation activity between 2017 and 2022 at a 67.79% growth. To serve all of these RV enthusiasts, there are over 15,000 RV parks and campgrounds across the United States!

How Much Does the U.S. Spend on Outdoor Recreation?

How much do Americans spend on outdoor recreation? In 2022, Americans spent around $1,078,521,000,000 on outdoor recreation in total. That is over a trillion dollars! This figure includes conventional outdoor recreational activities (such as boating, bicycling, camping, etc.), other outdoor recreational activities (amusem*nt parks, field sports, guided tours, etc.), and infrastructure that supports outdoor recreation (construction, travel, lodging, government spending, etc.). For this report, we focused on money spent on outdoor activities rather than the supporting factors. Americans spent $578,997,000,000 in total on outdoor recreation activities; $369,572,000,000 of that went to conventional outdoor activities and $209,426,000,000 went to other outdoor activities.

Are Americans Spending More on Outdoor Recreation?

All in all, how much Americans spend on outdoor recreation has been steadily rising. Between 2017 and 2022, the total gross output on outdoor recreation in the United States has grown from around $819.95 billion to $1.078 trillion, an impressive increase of 31.47%!

How Did the Pandemic Affect Outdoor Recreation in America?

While we are on the topic of outdoor recreation spending trends over time, let’s explore this question: how did COVID-19 affect outdoor recreation in the United States? Quarantine measures compelled many Americans to try new ways to have fun and stay active. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, an estimated 7.1 million more Americans enjoyed an outdoor activity in 2020 (the first year of the pandemic) than in 2019. When many businesses were closed, this left people with fewer options and led to more people heading to parks and playgrounds. This is reflected in the gross output values; in 2020, Americans spent around $278 billion on conventional outdoor recreation activities, slightly higher than the previous year. This number jumped to $341.6 billion in 2021 and has continued to rise from there, which may suggest that one bright side to the pandemic has been the discovery (or re-discovery) of new healthy hobbies for many Americans. The amount spent on other recreational activities (many of which involve interaction or crowds) dropped 22.7% between 2019 and 2020. However, productive outdoor activities (such as gardening) was the only subcategory to increase during this time period. We hope that those gardens are still thriving, especially because gardening is a wonderfully enriching activity especially for children!

Which State Spends the Most on Outdoor Recreation?

According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the state that spends the most on outdoor recreation is California, which spent around 73.8 billion dollars in 2022. Of course, California is the most populous state, so this number is heavily influenced by that. In terms of value added by outdoor recreation as a share of state GDP, Hawaii ranks first at 5.6 percent. Here are the top ten states with the highest percentage of GDP value being generated by outdoor recreation:

Hawaii outdoor recreation GDP value – 5.6%
Vermont outdoor recreation GDP value – 4.6%
Montana outdoor recreation GDP value – 4.3%
Wyoming outdoor recreation GDP value – 4.1%
Alaska outdoor recreation GDP value – 4%
Maine outdoor recreation GDP value – 3.9%
Florida outdoor recreation GDP value – 3.6%
Indiana outdoor recreation GDP value – 3.4%
Utah outdoor recreation GDP value – 3.2%
New Hampshire outdoor recreation GDP value – 3.2%

While these states generate the most profit through outdoor recreation, there are an abundance of diverse, dynamic outdoor recreation opportunities in every state! Experiment with the National Park Service’s Find a Park tool to find the right park for your goals. You can sort by state, activity, and topic, making it easier to enjoy nature your way!

What is Gross Output?

You may be wondering what is meant by gross output. The Bureau of Economic Analysis, the government organization that has provided the data on this infographic, defines gross output as this: “Gross output is principally a measure of sales or revenue from production for most industries, although it is measured as sales or revenue less cost of goods sold for margin industries like retail and wholesale trade.”

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Outdoor Recreation Is What We Do!

Here at AAA State of Play, we are supporters of all things outdoor! Take a look at our sports equipment, campground playgrounds, and other playground equipment.

Here is the Complete List of The Outdoor Recreational Activities People Spend the Most (and Least) On In the United States

Conventional Outdoor Recreation: 369,572 (millions)

Conventional Outdoor Recreation (Excluding Apparel/Accessories): 244,058

Activity	Gross Output (Millions)
1. Multi-use Apparel and Accessories¹	125514
2. Other Outdoor Recreation Activities Air and Land Activities² Water Activities³	30870 19988 10882
2. RVing	70759
Boating/Fishing Other boating Sailing Fishing (excludes boating) Kayaking Canoeing	60860 44487 12453 2848 908 164
Hunting/Shooting/Trapping Shooting (Includes Archery) Hunting/Trapping	18780 9875 8904
Motorcycling/ATVing	18460
Snow Activities Other Snow Activities⁴ Skiing Snowboarding	13201 6163 3745 3294
Climbing/Hiking/Tent Camping	10171
Equestrian	10161
Recreational Flying	6474
Bicycling	4322

¹ Includes backpacks, bug spray, coolers, general outdoor clothing, GPS equipment, hydration equipment, lighting, sports racks, sunscreen, watches, and other miscellaneous gear and equipment.

² Includes air sports, driving for pleasure, geocaching/orienteering/rock hounding, ice skating, inline skating, land/sand sailing, races, running/walking/jogging, skateboarding, and wildlife watching/birding.

³ Consists of boardsailing/windsurfing, SCUBA diving, snorkeling, stand-up paddling, surfing, tubing, wakeboarding, water skiing, and whitewater rafting.

⁴ Consists of dog mushing, sleighing, snowmobiling, snow shoeing, snow tubing.

Other Outdoor Recreation: 209,426 (millions)

Activity	Gross Output (Millions)
Game Areas (Includes Golf and Tennis)	44352
Guided Tours/Outfitted Travel Boating and Fishing Charters Air and Land	42248 25038 17210
Festivals/Sporting Events/Concerts	33733
Amusem*nt Parks/Water Parks	29870
Productive Activities (Includes Gardening)	22798
Other Outdoor Recreation Activities¹	18758
Field Sports	9328
Multi-use Apparel and Accessories	8338

¹ Includes agritourism, augmented reality games, beachgoing, disc golf, hot springs soaking, kite flying, model airplane/rocket/UAV, paintball, photography, stargazing/astronomy, swimming, therapeutic programs, water polo, yard sports.

Top 5 Activities That Grew the Most From 2017 – 2022

Other Snow Activities (Includes Snowmobiling) – 186.78%
Recreational Flying – 100.18%
Canoeing – 95.2%
Other Water Activities: 89.97%
RVing – 67.69%

Source:

U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (https://www.bea.gov/data/special-topics/outdoor-recreation)

Find more about the author: Kim Hart

Which Outdoor Activities Do People Spend the Most (and Least) On? | AAA State of Play (2024)