Arts access varies substantially by household income in the available U.S. statistics. In 1997, adults in higher-income households reported more visits to art museums and more attendance at live jazz, classical music, opera, and musical plays. In 2022, higher-income consumer units and households also reported higher average entertainment spending and higher spending on several arts and culture categories.
Table of contents
- How participation changes with income
- Live jazz and classical music
- Opera and musical plays
- Art-museum visits
- Entertainment spending in 2022
- Arts and culture spending in 2022
How participation changes with income
The participation figures below come from the Survey of Public Participation in the Arts: Summary Report 1997, published by the National Endowment for the Arts. Each percentage describes adults in a household-income group who attended or visited during the prior 12 months. The measurement year is 1997, so these figures describe that historical period rather than current participation.
Across the four activities, the lowest and highest reported income groups show a consistent gap, although the size of the gap differs by activity.
| Activity | $10,000 or less | More than $100,000 |
|---|---|---|
| Live jazz performance | 4.6% | 26.6% |
| Classical-music performance | 4.3% | 35.0% |
| Opera | 1.8% | 13.3% |
| Musical play | 11.6% | 51.3% |
| Art-museum visit | 16.1% | 59.6% |
The spread between the two endpoints was 22.0 percentage points for live jazz, 30.7 points for classical music, 11.5 points for opera, 39.7 points for musical plays, and 43.5 points for art-museum visits. These are direct comparisons of the reported percentages, not estimates of causation.
Live jazz and classical music
Live jazz participation rose across most of the income bands in the 1997 report. Attendance was 4.6% among adults in households earning $10,000 or less, 5.7% at $10,001–$20,000, and 7.5% at $20,001–$30,000. It reached 11.1% at $30,001–$40,000, then was 10.7% at $40,001–$50,000.
The reported percentages increased to 16.3% for the $50,001–$75,000 group and 23.3% for $75,001–$100,000. Among adults in households earning more than $100,000, 26.6% attended a live jazz performance during the prior 12 months. The small decline between the $30,001–$40,000 and $40,001–$50,000 groups is part of the source’s reported pattern.
Classical-music participation also generally increased with household income. The rate was 4.3% for the $10,000-or-less group, 8.2% for $10,001–$20,000, and 9.7% for $20,001–$30,000. It was 13.1% for $30,001–$40,000 and 14.8% for $40,001–$50,000.
For adults in households earning $50,001–$75,000, the reported classical-music participation rate was 22.1%. It was 26.3% for $75,001–$100,000 and 35.0% for more than $100,000. The highest income-group percentage was therefore more than eight times the lowest group’s reported percentage, using the figures in the 1997 report.
Opera and musical plays
Opera had the lowest participation percentages among the four live-performance categories at the lower end of the income distribution. In 1997, 1.8% of adults in households earning $10,000 or less attended an opera during the prior 12 months. The figure was 1.9% at $10,001–$20,000, 2.4% at $20,001–$30,000, and 2.5% at $30,001–$40,000.
The rate rose to 4.5% for households earning $40,001–$50,000 and 7.5% for $50,001–$75,000. It was 5.8% for $75,001–$100,000, before reaching 13.3% among adults in households earning more than $100,000. As with the jazz figures, the $75,001–$100,000 result is lower than the immediately preceding income band in the reported data.
Musical-play attendance was higher than opera attendance in every listed income group. The reported rate was 11.6% among adults in households earning $10,000 or less and 12.1% at $10,001–$20,000. It rose to 17.0% at $20,001–$30,000, 20.9% at $30,001–$40,000, and 23.4% at $40,001–$50,000.
At higher income levels, the musical-play rate was 32.0% for $50,001–$75,000, 41.2% for $75,001–$100,000, and 51.3% for more than $100,000. The difference between the lowest and highest reported groups was 39.7 percentage points, the largest endpoint gap among the four live-performance activities.
Art-museum visits
Art-museum visiting was more common than any of the four live-performance measures at both endpoints of the 1997 income range. The National Endowment for the Arts report recorded a visit during the prior 12 months for 16.1% of adults in households earning $10,000 or less.
The corresponding figures were 20.3% for $10,001–$20,000, 26.1% for $20,001–$30,000, 32.2% for $30,001–$40,000, and 36.8% for $40,001–$50,000. The rate reached 45.6% for $50,001–$75,000 and 55.0% for $75,001–$100,000.
Among adults in households earning more than $100,000, 59.6% visited an art museum during the prior 12 months. That was 43.5 percentage points above the $10,000-or-less group. The figures measure whether a visit occurred during the stated 12-month period; they do not report the number of visits or the cost of access.
Entertainment spending in 2022
The spending measures are different from the 1997 participation measures. The Consumer expenditures in 2022 report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics gives average entertainment spending for consumer units by before-tax income. The amounts below are dollars per consumer unit in 2022.
| Before-tax income | Average entertainment spending |
|---|---|
| Under $15,000 | $1,164 |
| $15,000–$29,999 | $1,401 |
| $30,000–$39,999 | $2,145 |
| $40,000–$49,999 | $1,871 |
| $50,000–$69,999 | $2,768 |
| $70,000–$99,999 | $3,402 |
| $100,000–$149,999 | $3,946 |
| $150,000–$199,999 | $6,349 |
Average entertainment spending was $1,164 for consumer units with before-tax income under $15,000 and $1,401 for the $15,000–$29,999 group. It was $2,145 for $30,000–$39,999, followed by $1,871 for $40,000–$49,999. The reported series therefore does not rise in every adjacent band.
Spending was $2,768 for $50,000–$69,999, $3,402 for $70,000–$99,999, and $3,946 for $100,000–$149,999. The highest listed group, $150,000–$199,999, averaged $6,349 in entertainment spending. These figures cover the BLS entertainment category and should not be read as spending on arts admissions alone.
Arts and culture spending in 2022
The National Endowment for the Arts report Measuring the Arts: Indicator B.5, What Does Consumer Spending in the Arts Look Like? provides several 2022 household-spending measures by before-tax income. The categories include audio/visual equipment and services, reading materials, and arts and cultural fees and admissions.
For audio/visual equipment and services, households with before-tax income under $30,000 spent $607 in 2022. Households earning $30,000–$49,999 spent $823, while households earning $200,000 or more spent $1,690. The reported figures show different spending levels across the cited income groups, but they do not provide every income band in this excerpt.
Cable and satellite television and radio-service spending was $766 for households with income over $200,000 in 2022. This is a specific service category within the broader arts-and-culture spending discussion and is not the same measure as total entertainment spending.
Reading-material spending was $71 for households with income under $30,000. It was $117 for households earning $70,000–$99,999, $217 for households earning $150,000–$199,999, and $233 for households earning $200,000 or more. The cited values describe average household spending in the named income groups during 2022.
Arts and cultural fees and admissions spending was $46 for households with income under $30,000. It reached $462 for households earning $150,000–$199,999 and $647 for households earning over $200,000. The NEA report also states that the 18% of American households with pre-tax income of at least $150,000 accounted for about half of spending on arts and cultural fees and admissions in 2022.
Taken together, the participation and spending measures point to an income-linked pattern in the available data: higher-income groups reported more access to several in-person arts activities in 1997 and higher average spending in multiple arts, culture, and entertainment categories in 2022. The years, definitions, and units differ, so the 1997 participation percentages and 2022 dollar amounts should be read as separate measures rather than as a single time series.