Creative Economy State Profiles

NASAA’s Creative Economy Research: A Primer Policy Brief attempts to address some of challenges in communicating about the creative economy, such as definitional questions and using ACPSA data in conjunction with other research.

Learn about the Creative Economy in the U.S. Territories, including businesses, employment figures and key industries.

For more state level estimates and access to the BEA’s State Fact Sheets, visit the National Endowment for the Arts.



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Source Data and Definitions

Arts and Cultural Production Satellite Account (ACPSA) is a partnership between the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Office of Research & Analysis and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). ACPSA is part of the BEA’s satellite accounts series that complements the bureau’s core economic accounts with detailed data on key industries. Detailed documentation on ACPSA method and data sources is available from the BEA and the NEA.

Statistics reported this year supersede all prior ACPSA statistics. The 2017 Benchmark Input-Output Table, produced by the BEA in 2023, is the new interindustry framework for ACPSA statistics. Prior ACPSA data sets used the 2012 interindustry framework and, therefore, are not directly comparable.

Comparison industries are selected industry categories using the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), drawn from the BEA’s 2015 state level data for employment (full-time and part-time workers), compensation and value added by industry. Some industries displayed on the comparison charts produce arts and cultural commodities, though such commodities may not always account for a large share of that industry’s total output. Comparison industries were selected within a range of NAICS industries with similar total value added figures. For other industry comparisons, contact NASAA. Note that there are slight variances in how employment and value-added data are aggregated; for instance, value-added data incorporates agriculture with forestry, fishing and hunting, whereas employment data does not.

Compensation consists of the remuneration (including wages and salaries, as well as benefits such as employer contributions to pension and health funds) payable to employees in return for their work during a given year.

Core arts and cultural production industries are originators of ideas and content associated with the creation of arts and culture.

Employment consists of all wage-and-salary jobs where the workers are engaged in the production of goods and services.

Gross state product is the market value of goods and services produced by the labor and property located in a state. Gross state product is the state counterpart of the nation’s gross domestic product, the BEA’s primary and most comprehensive measure of U.S. economic activity.

Location quotients (LQ) measure an industry’s state concentration relative to the U.S. rate. For example, an LQ of 1.2 indicates that state level employment in a given industry or sector is 20% greater than the national rate; an LQ of 0.8 indicates that the state’s employment in the industry or sector is 20% below the national rate.

Regions, for the purpose of this dashboard, are defined by the geography groupings for the nation’s six regional arts organizations (RAOs). RAOs are nonprofit organizations that partner with their constituent state arts agencies and with the National Endowment for the Arts on planning and program delivery. They are: Arts Midwest (IL, IN, IA, MI, MN, ND, OH, SD, WI), Mid-America Arts Alliance (AR, KS, MO, NE, OK, TX), Mid Atlantic Arts (DE, DC, MD, NJ, NY, PA, PR, VA, VI, WV), New England Foundation for the Arts (CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, VT), South Arts (AL, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, SC, TN) and Western States Arts Federation (AK, AS, AZ, CA, CO, GU, HI, ID, MP, MT, NM, NV, OR, UT, WA, WY).

Supporting arts and cultural production industries produce and disseminate arts and cultural commodities.

Total arts and cultural industries includes all arts and cultural industries, both core and supporting, associated with the creation, production and dissemination of arts and cultural commodities. See the ACPSA Industry Key.

Total state employment and compensation aggregates all industries within a state.

Value added is an industry’s total market value of goods and services as a contribution to gross state product. Value added is industry output minus intermediate inputs (e.g., energy, raw materials, semifinished goods, purchased services).