Arts and culture has a $3.3 billion impact and accounts for 11 jobs per thousand residents in Greater Philadelphia, ranking the region first in job creation among 182 cities across the country, says a new report from the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance.
Arts, Culture + Economic Prosperity in Greater Philadelphia, released on Monday, follows up on previous reports issued by the Cultural Alliance that measure the vast impact of the region's arts and culture sector. This report's finding are among the most impressive, with the sector contributing 44,000 jobs and $1 billion in income to the region. That includes $169 million in tax revenues for state and local governments.
The City of Philadelphia ranked behind only Washington, D.C. and San Francisco inper-capita cultural expenditures in a ranking of major cities, ahead of Chicago, Seattle and Atlanta.
Other highlights include:
-- The sector's $3.3 billion economic impact includes $1.4 billion of direct spending by organizations and audiences and $1.9 billion in indirect expenditures.
-- People working in the arts and culture sector and living in the City of Philadelphia earn a combined $500 million.
-- Cultural tourism accounts for $230 million in direct spending, 39 percent of cultural attendees and 44 percent of total audience spending (cultural visitors spend $45 per excursion versus $24 by locals).
-- Cultural audiences spend $237.8 million on meals before and after events and $84.3 million on overnight lodging.
The report was made possible by the William Penn Foundation, Dolfinger-McMahon Foundation, Bank of America and the Pennsylvania Council of the Arts. It included data gathered from 345 local arts and cultural organizations through the Pennsylvania Cultural Data Project.
Source: Karim Olaechea, Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance
Writer: Joe Petrucci