D.C.’s arts industries contribute $10.2 billion in value to the city’s economy, employing 52,096 arts workers who earned $7 billion, according to recent data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Overall, the value added by the arts and culture industry represents 8.4 percent of the District’s economy.
“This is an exciting time of growth for the arts and culture industry in the District of Columbia,” said Arthur Espinoza Jr., director of the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. “Year after year, we continue to see a significant positive impact on our local economy from the output of our city’s creative workforce. These findings affirm that in the District, the arts mean business.”
Produced by the BEA and NEA, the Arts and Cultural Production Satellite Account tracks the annual economic impact of arts and cultural production from 35 industries, both commercial and nonprofit.
The ACPSA reports on economic measures-value — added to gross domestic product as well as employment and compensation — at the national and state levels.
The data in the report is from 2015, the most recent year available.