Contents
- Performing arts participation statistics: U.S. attendance by performance type
- Performing arts participation statistics: demographic patterns in live attendance
- Performing arts participation statistics: venues and event discovery
- Performing arts participation statistics: digital performance engagement
- Performing arts participation statistics: regional and metro attendance
- Performing arts participation statistics: performance making and arts learning
- Sources
Performing arts participation statistics: U.S. attendance by performance type
The 2022 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts (SPPA) measured whether U.S. adults had attended a live, in-person performance at least once during the previous 12 months. The individual performance types show that participation varied considerably across music, theater, and dance. Musical plays recorded the highest attendance among the listed forms, at 10.3%. Jazz attendance was 6.3%, classical music 4.6%, and Latin music 3.9%. These figures describe adults who went to a live performance; they do not count digital viewing or listening. Source: NEA, By All Means: The Arts (Table 14)
| Live performance type | U.S. adults attending in 2022 |
|---|---|
| Musical play | 10.3% |
| Jazz | 6.3% |
| Classical music | 4.6% |
| Non-musical play | 4.5% |
| Latin music | 3.9% |
| Other dance | 3.3% |
| Ballet | 1.9% |
| Opera | 0.7% |
Opera was the least common of these listed live, in-person categories, at 0.7%. Ballet attendance was 1.9%, while another live dance performance was reported by 3.3% of adults. The table is useful for distinguishing disciplines that can otherwise be folded into broad labels such as “performing arts.” Each percentage refers to the share of U.S. adults attending that type at least once in the prior 12 months, rather than the share of all tickets sold or the number of visits. Source: NEA, By All Means: The Arts (Table 14)
Performing arts participation statistics: demographic patterns in live attendance
Across the demographic series, 37.0% of U.S. adults attended a listed live, in-person performance in 2017, compared with 32.7% in 2022. These figures describe the series’ overall measure and provide context for the subgroup results below. They should not be confused with the type-specific percentages above, which measure attendance at each performance category. Source: NEA, By All Means: The Arts (Table 2)
| U.S. adult group | Live, in-person attendance in 2022 |
|---|---|
| Women | 35.2% |
| Men | 30.1% |
| Hispanic adults | 28.0% |
| Non-Hispanic White adults | 37.0% |
| Non-Hispanic Black adults | 23.3% |
| Non-Hispanic Asian adults | 21.0% |
The demographic categories show different reported attendance rates. Women’s rate was 35.2%, compared with 30.1% for men. Among the listed race and ethnicity groups, non-Hispanic White adults were at 37.0%, Hispanic adults at 28.0%, non-Hispanic Black adults at 23.3%, and non-Hispanic Asian adults at 21.0%. These descriptive comparisons do not explain why the rates differ, and the figures should not be read as measuring preferences for any particular art form. Source: NEA, By All Means: The Arts (Table 2)
Age-group rates were highest among adults in the middle age bands shown, with 39.7% of adults aged 25–34 reporting attendance and 38.3% of those aged 35–44. Attendance was 36.4% for ages 18–24 and 35.9% for ages 45–54. The rate was 27.2% among adults aged 55–64 and 27.3% among those aged 65–74, then 16.3% for adults aged 75 and older. This pattern concerns attendance across the survey’s listed performance types, not opera or any single genre alone. Source: NEA, By All Means: The Arts (Table 2)
Performing arts participation statistics: venues and event discovery
Live performance attendance took place across a range of settings. Among U.S. adults who attended at least 1 live performance in 2022, 54.9% reported attending at an open-air facility such as a park, pavilion, or amphitheater. Other reported locations included restaurants, bars, nightclubs, or coffee shops (32.7%); college or university campuses (18.4%); community centers or public libraries (15.7%); elementary, middle, or high schools (14.2%); and churches, synagogues, or other places of worship (13.8%). The percentages describe venue types used by attendees; the categories are not a single exclusive allocation of all attendance. Source: NEA, By All Means: The Arts (Exhibit 3)
Discovery also involved both online information and personal recommendations. Among adults who attended at least 1 live, in-person art performance in 2022, 55.3% learned about a performance through social media, websites, or other online sources. A friend, neighbor, or co-worker was a source for 47.5%. The figures identify reported ways attendees learned about performances; they do not show which source prompted a specific purchase or attendance decision. Source: NEA, By All Means: The Arts (Table 4)
Performing arts participation statistics: digital performance engagement
The survey counted watching or listening on a device separately from attending a live event. In 2022, 16.8% of U.S. adults used a device to watch or listen to Latin, Spanish, or salsa music performances, and 16.3% did so for jazz performances. The corresponding figure for classical music or opera performances was 14.3%. Theater productions registered 11.0%, while dance performances registered 9.9%. These measures capture digital engagement across devices and combine classical music with opera in the same category. Source: NEA, By All Means: The Arts (Exhibit 7)
For adults who used a device to watch or listen to classical music or opera in 2022, the reported frequency varied. The “every day” category was 16.4%; “at least once a week” was 32.5%; and “at least once a month” was 29.3%. These frequency values use device users for classical music or opera as their population. They should not be read as percentages of all U.S. adults, or as attendance rates for live opera. Source: NEA, By All Means: The Arts (Exhibit 8)
Performing arts participation statistics: regional and metro attendance
Metropolitan and non-metropolitan adults reported different rates for live, in-person performance attendance in 2022. The overall rate was 33.9% in metropolitan areas and 25.7% in non-metropolitan areas. For live opera specifically, attendance was 0.8% among metropolitan adults and 0.2% among non-metropolitan adults. Live musical attendance was 10.9% in metropolitan areas and 6.3% in non-metropolitan areas. These are geographic comparisons within the U.S. adult survey; they do not establish what accounts for the differences. Source: NEA, By All Means: The Arts (Table 19)
The NEA’s regional groupings also show variation in live, in-person art performance attendance. New England recorded 40.2%, the highest rate among the 6 regions listed, followed by the Midwest at 39.1%. The West was at 33.4%, Mid-America at 33.1%, and Mid-Atlantic at 29.2%. The South recorded 27.9%, the lowest rate in this regional series. These are broad regional summaries, not a ranking of individual cities or performance organizations. Source: NEA, By All Means: The Arts (Exhibit 25)
Among the 20 metro areas listed in the report, Minneapolis–St. Paul–Bloomington recorded 49.6% of adults attending live, in-person art performances in 2022, the highest listed rate. Riverside–San Bernardino–Ontario recorded 19.4%, the lowest among those 20 areas. This comparison is limited to the metro areas in the table; it does not represent every U.S. metropolitan area. Source: NEA, By All Means: The Arts (Table 23)
Performing arts participation statistics: performance making and arts learning
Participation includes making and performing art as well as attending it. In the comparable limited activity measure, 42.8% of U.S. adults created or performed art in 2022, compared with 31.9% in 2017. The report notes that this trend uses a limited set of activities that can be compared across the 2 survey years. In 2022, the rate was 45.9% for women and 39.4% for men. Among adults aged 18–24, 53.3% created or performed art. These measures cover the table’s creation and performance activity set and are not an attendance statistic. Source: NEA, By All Means: The Arts (Table 12)
Arts learning figures distinguish informal or “other means” learning from a combined measure that includes classes or lessons. In 2022, 12.1% of U.S. adults learned music by other means, while 14.2% learned music either through classes or lessons or by other means. For acting or theater, the corresponding values were 1.7% by other means and 2.1% through either classes or lessons or other means. Dance learning was reported by 6.7% through other means and 8.0% through either route. The combined measure includes those who learned through classes or lessons as well as those who learned by other means; it is not an additional category to add to the other-means figure. Source: NEA, Arts Participation Patterns in 2022 (Figure 13)
Together, these measures describe several distinct ways U.S. adults engaged with performing arts in the 2022 survey: attending live events, watching or listening on a device, creating or performing art, and learning music, theater, or dance. Each percentage retains its own population and definition, so comparisons are most useful within the particular measure and period reported.