Contents
- Opera company counts statistics in New England and the Mid-Atlantic
- Opera company counts statistics across the Great Lakes
- Opera company counts statistics in the Plains and interior states
- Opera company counts in the Southeast and Gulf states
- Opera company counts in the Southwest and Texas
- Opera company counts across the Pacific and Mountain states
- Opera company counts statistics by state: the final western block
- Sources
Opera company counts statistics in New England and the Mid-Atlantic
The 2002 Economic Census table gives a state-by-state count of opera-company establishments. In New England and the Mid-Atlantic, New York recorded 19, Pennsylvania 9, and Massachusetts 5. Connecticut, Maryland, and New Jersey each recorded 2; Delaware, Maine, and New Hampshire each recorded 1. Rhode Island recorded 0. These figures describe qualifying establishments in 2002, not a current directory of opera companies. Source: NEA, Research Note #93, Table 2 (PDF, pp. 11–12)
| State | Opera-company establishments, 2002 |
|---|---|
| Connecticut | 2 |
| Delaware | 1 |
| Maine | 1 |
| Maryland | 2 |
| Massachusetts | 5 |
| New Hampshire | 1 |
| New Jersey | 2 |
| New York | 19 |
| Pennsylvania | 9 |
| Rhode Island | 0 |
The counts vary within this group: New York has the largest reported value, followed by Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. The other listed jurisdictions have counts from 0 to 2. A count of 0 means the table reported no establishments meeting its definition for that jurisdiction. It does not establish that there was no opera performance, volunteer activity, or other opera-related work there. The census tabulation excludes establishments without paid employees, an important boundary for interpreting small counts. Source: NEA, Research Note #93, Table 2 and technical notes
“Establishment” is the key unit in this comparison. The census counts business locations, and a company operating at multiple locations can appear as separate establishments. The state figures therefore should not automatically be read as counts of distinct parent organizations. The publication is an NEA research note from November 2006 that reports 2002 Economic Census data; the year of publication does not change the measurement period. Source: NEA, Research Note #93, technical notes and publication details
Opera company counts statistics across the Great Lakes
Among the Great Lakes entries, Illinois recorded 8 opera-company establishments in 2002, Ohio recorded 6, Michigan recorded 4, and Indiana and Minnesota recorded 2 each. These are the values in the state table for the 2002 Economic Census. Source: NEA, Research Note #93, Table 2 (PDF, pp. 11–12)
| State | Opera-company establishments, 2002 |
|---|---|
| Illinois | 8 |
| Indiana | 2 |
| Michigan | 4 |
| Minnesota | 2 |
| Ohio | 6 |
The five reported counts span 2 to 8. Illinois is the highest value in this group, while Indiana and Minnesota are tied at 2. This is a direct comparison of the listed counts. The table does not measure performances, ticket sales, seating capacity, budgets, artists, or audience size, so it cannot answer questions about those aspects of opera activity. Source: NEA, Research Note #93, Table 2
The distinction between establishments and organizations applies here as elsewhere. A multi-location opera company can contribute more than 1 establishment, while an organization without paid employees falls outside the tabulation. The figures should be understood within those census rules, not as a complete inventory of every opera group operating in the region. Source: NEA, Research Note #93, technical notes
Opera company counts statistics in the Plains and interior states
The 2002 census reported 3 opera-company establishments in Missouri. Kansas and Montana each had 2. Iowa, Kentucky, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota each had 1. Source: NEA, Research Note #93, Table 2 (PDF, pp. 11–12)
| State | Opera-company establishments, 2002 |
|---|---|
| Iowa | 1 |
| Kansas | 2 |
| Kentucky | 1 |
| Missouri | 3 |
| Montana | 2 |
| Nebraska | 1 |
| North Dakota | 2 |
| South Dakota | 1 |
Missouri has the largest count in this set, at 3. The remaining reported values are 1 or 2. These observations show how the source’s establishment counts differ across the selected states, but do not explain why. The table provides no basis for attributing differences to population, demand, arts funding, geography, or any other cause. Source: NEA, Research Note #93, Table 2
A low count should be read alongside the scope of the measure. The census excludes establishments without paid employees and treats locations of multi-location companies separately. Those rules affect what is included and what the number represents; they do not describe all informal, volunteer, or unpaid opera activity. Kentucky is included here as an interior-state comparison, and its reported count is 1. Source: NEA, Research Note #93, technical notes and Table 2
Opera company counts in the Southeast and Gulf states
Florida recorded 8 opera-company establishments in 2002. Virginia recorded 5, while Louisiana and North Carolina each recorded 4. Tennessee had 3; Alabama and Georgia each had 2; Arkansas had 1. Mississippi and South Carolina each recorded 0. The District of Columbia, which is not a state, appears in the source table with 3 establishments. Source: NEA, Research Note #93, Table 2 (PDF, pp. 11–12)
| Jurisdiction | Opera-company establishments, 2002 |
|---|---|
| Alabama | 2 |
| Arkansas | 1 |
| District of Columbia | 3 |
| Florida | 8 |
| Georgia | 2 |
| Louisiana | 4 |
| Mississippi | 0 |
| North Carolina | 4 |
| South Carolina | 0 |
| Tennessee | 3 |
| Virginia | 5 |
The values range from 0 in Mississippi and South Carolina to 8 in Florida. The District’s figure is kept separate in the table as a jurisdictional entry, preserving its status rather than implying it is a state. Source: NEA, Research Note #93, Table 2
As with the other zero values, Mississippi’s and South Carolina’s counts indicate no establishments meeting the table’s definition in 2002. They are not counts of every opera performance or group, and do not establish the absence of opera-related activity. Establishments without paid employees are excluded. The measure is also establishment-based, meaning that multi-location companies may be represented at more than 1 location. Source: NEA, Research Note #93, technical notes
Opera company counts in the Southwest and Texas
Texas recorded 13 opera-company establishments in 2002. Utah had 4, Oklahoma 3, Arizona 2, and New Mexico 1. These are the full set of Southwest and Texas entries used here, taken from the state-level Economic Census table. Source: NEA, Research Note #93, Table 2 (PDF, pp. 11–12)
| State | Opera-company establishments, 2002 |
|---|---|
| Arizona | 2 |
| New Mexico | 1 |
| Oklahoma | 3 |
| Texas | 13 |
| Utah | 4 |
Texas has the largest reported count among these entries; New Mexico has the smallest, at 1. This comparison is limited to the values shown and does not indicate a trend or explain the difference. Every value refers to establishments in 2002, rather than a later estimate or a current count of opera companies. Source: NEA, Research Note #93, Table 2
The note reporting the figures was published in November 2006, but the data period is the 2002 Economic Census. The census’s establishment basis and paid-employee exclusion apply to Texas and the other states in this section as well. A count consequently represents qualifying locations under the census’s coverage rules. Source: NEA, Research Note #93, technical notes and publication details
Opera company counts across the Pacific and Mountain states
California recorded 24 opera-company establishments in the 2002 census. Colorado and Oregon each recorded 4; Washington recorded 3; Idaho recorded 2; and Alaska, Hawaii, and Nevada each recorded 1. Source: NEA, Research Note #93, Table 2 (PDF, pp. 11–12)
| State | Opera-company establishments, 2002 |
|---|---|
| Alaska | 1 |
| California | 24 |
| Colorado | 4 |
| Hawaii | 1 |
| Idaho | 2 |
| Nevada | 1 |
| Oregon | 4 |
| Washington | 3 |
California’s count is the largest among the entries in this group. The other reported figures range from 1 to 4. This spread describes the state counts in the table and does not say how many distinct organizations existed, because the census counts establishments and can count separate locations of a multi-location company. Source: NEA, Research Note #93, Table 2 and technical notes
The small counts have the same coverage limitation as the larger ones: establishments without paid employees are not included. Thus a reported establishment count is not equivalent to every possible opera organization or activity in a state. It is a historical measure defined by the Economic Census, and should be read with its year and unit intact. Source: NEA, Research Note #93, technical notes
Opera company counts statistics by state: the final western block
The final entries in the state table are West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. Wisconsin recorded 5 opera-company establishments in 2002. West Virginia and Wyoming each recorded 0. Source: NEA, Research Note #93, Table 2 (PDF, p. 13)
These 3 values complete the state observations covered in this article. Wisconsin’s reported count is 5, while the other 2 entries are 0. As elsewhere, a zero is the table’s count of establishments meeting the census definition; it should not be expanded into a claim that there was no opera activity of any kind. Source: NEA, Research Note #93, Table 2 (PDF, p. 13)
Across the listed states and the District of Columbia, the figures come from the 2002 Economic Census as reported by the NEA in a note published in November 2006. The technical notes describe an establishment basis: separate locations of a multi-location company are counted separately, and establishments with no paid employees are excluded. The scope includes Sector 71 companies subject to and exempt from federal income tax. These definitions frame the meaning of every number here. The figures are historical establishment counts, not current estimates or a complete count of every opera organization. Source: NEA, Research Note #93, technical notes and publication details