Profit Margin
15.7%
Net income ÷ total receipts (IRS SOI)
Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation ·NAICS 711
NAICS 711 · IRS SOI 2023 · Census CBP
Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries - Industry Benchmarks
$112,036/yr average annual pay, with 2,403 SBA loans on record for NAICS 711.
- 15.7%
- Net margin
- 542K
- Workers employed
- $112,036/yr
- Avg payroll / employee
- $1.0B
- SBA lending, FY20–26
Data updated July 2026
The verdict · NAICS 711
Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries runs a 15.7% pre-tax net margin - above average for US industries - across 69K establishments employing 542K workers.
- 15.7%
- Pre-tax net margin (IRS SOI)
- 542K
- Workers employed (Census CBP)
- $112,036/yr
- Avg payroll / employee
- $1.0B
- SBA lending, FY20–26
Benchmarking Insights for Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries
Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries sits inside Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation at a 15.7% net margin (above average for US industries), $112.8B in aggregate receipts across 1,674,801 returns, averaging $67.4M per establishment.
68,638 establishments employ 542,145 workers (7.9/location) at $112,036/yr average annual pay. California leads employment, followed by New York and Florida.
Total Receipts
$112.8B
Annual revenue (IRS SOI)
Net Income
$17.7B
Pre-tax net income
Employment
542,145
Total employees (Census CBP)
Avg Payroll / Employee
$112,036/yr
Annual compensation
Establishments
68,638
Business locations
Release-over-release change
What changed from Census CBP 2022 to 2023
Employment increased by 36,962; establishment count increased by 1,282. This comparison uses two published national Census County Business Patterns releases; suppressed fields are omitted rather than estimated.
Where each dollar of Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries revenue goes
Workforce scale
Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries margin vs national reference points
Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries net margin 52.3%
Cross-industry median (5%)
p25/median/p75 = 3%/5%/8%
Business Structure Breakdown
How businesses in this industry are legally structured (IRS SOI)
C Corporation
78,412 returns 5%
Margin: 5.8% · Receipts: $64.2B
Sole Proprietorship
1,596,389 returns 95%
Margin: 28.7% · Receipts: $48.6B
Financial Detail
- Total Tax Returns Filed
- 1,674,801
- Avg Receipts per Business
- $67.4M
- Annual Payroll (Total)
- $60.7B
- Avg Employees per Establishment
- 7.9
Sub-Industries
| Industry | Profit Margin |
|---|---|
| Agents and Managers for Artists, Athletes, Entertainers, and Other Public Figures NAICS 7114 | N/A |
| Independent Artists, Writers, and Performers NAICS 7115 | N/A |
| Performing Arts Companies NAICS 7111 | N/A |
| Promoters of Performing Arts, Sports, and Similar Events NAICS 7113 | N/A |
| Spectator Sports NAICS 7112 | N/A |
Top States by Employment
| State | Employment |
|---|---|
| California | 94,097 |
| New York | 66,406 |
| Florida | 44,953 |
| Texas | 33,746 |
| Pennsylvania | 20,927 |
| Ohio | 18,313 |
| Illinois | 17,071 |
| Tennessee | 14,077 |
| North Carolina | 13,755 |
| Massachusetts | 12,857 |
Showing top 10 of 51 states
SBA Lending Activity
SBA FY2020–2026SBA Loans Approved
2,403
Total Loan Volume
$1.0B
Avg Loan Size
$432K
Jobs Supported
15,988
Program Breakdown
7(a) 2,114 (88%)
504 289 (12%)
Top SBA Lender
The Huntington National Bank
160 loans in this industry
New Business Share
28.0% of borrowers were new/startup businesses
Annual Lending Trend (7 yrs)
2020 198
2021 208
2022 293
2023 399
2024 594
2025 620
2026 91
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the average revenue for Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries?
$112.8B in total annual receipts across all Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries businesses. Average per business: $67.4M.
How profitable is Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries?
15.7% net profit margin, above average for US industries.
How many businesses are in Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries?
68,638 business establishments. Together they employ 542,145 workers.
What is the average payroll per employee in Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries?
$112,036/yr average annual pay per employee. Businesses average 7.9 employees per establishment.
Which states have the most Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries employment?
California leads with 94,097 workers. New York (66,406) and Florida (44,953) round out the top three.
How much SBA lending does Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries receive?
Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries businesses received 2,403 SBA loans totaling $1.0 billion between FY2020 and FY2026. The average loan size was $432K. These loans supported 15,988 jobs at origination. Most lending (88%) came through the SBA 7(a) program.
Comparable industry benchmarks
These links are calculated from the current national dataset. They are comparison paths, not recommendations or evidence that businesses operate alike.
Closest reported net margins
Same NAICS detail level, ordered by the smallest difference in reported IRS pre-tax margin.
Closest workforce scale
Same NAICS detail level, ordered by the smallest difference in reported Census employment.
- Rental and Leasing Services 528,160
- Miscellaneous Manufacturing 557,897
- Waste Management and Remediation Services 493,864
Benchmarking Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries
- Net margin: 15.7% vs sector. Browse Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation
- 68,638 establishments, 542,145 workers. Payroll benchmarks
- 2,403 SBA loans on record. SBA lending rankings
Disclaimer: Public IRS/Census data, not financial or tax advice. See our full disclaimer.
Sources: IRS Statistics of Income (SOI) Business Tax Statistics · Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023
NAICS 711 · Data year: 2023
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, which released its 2023 County Business Patterns dataset in June 2025, PlainBizBench benchmarks 2,002 U.S. industries against Internal Revenue Service Statistics of Income data. See our methodology for the full compilation process.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns / SUSB Industry employment scale, payroll, and firm-size benchmarks · 2023
Every figure on PlainBizBench is rendered directly from federal source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page aggregates profit-margin, payroll, entity-type, and SBA-lending benchmarks for this industry, live from the dataset. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.
Disclaimer: Public IRS/Census data, not financial or tax advice. See our full disclaimer.