21

Concentration of Entertainment-related

Employment by Metropolitan Area

Jillian Kerr

Music, sports, art, drama—all Americans enjoy some

form of entertainment. Entertainment workers serve

many functions, from athletes and coaches in the

sports arena to actors and set designers in the theater industry to fine artists and animators in the art world. This article

uses employment data from the Occupational Employment

Statistics (OES) program to locate those metropolitan areas

(MSAs) in which entertainment is created. What are the

entertainment hotspots in the United States? The answer to

this question can be found by examining the concentration

of entertainment workers among metropolitan areas, types

of entertainment, and sources of the entertainment.

The workers discussed in this article produce entertainment. This definition includes artists, actors, musicians, athletes, and models, as well as their agents and business managers. Employees of movie theaters, casinos, and bowling

allies, who contribute to the enjoyment of entertainment but

do not create entertainment, are not among the entertainment workers discussed in this article. OES data, which measure employment by occupation, show that Los Angeles,

CA; New York City, NY; Orlando, FL; and Nashville, TN, are

among the metropolitan areas with the highest concentrations of entertainment-related workers. Text table 1 shows

the employment in entertainment occupations, the total MSA

employment, and the entertainment share of total employment for each of these four metropolitan areas.

Text table 2. Drama-related employment by MSAs with high

concentrations of entertainment employment, 2001

Los Angeles-Long Beach,

 CA ................................... 44,380 1.09 2

New York, NY.................... 37,070 .91 3

Orlando, FL ...................... 2,560 .29 5

Nashville, TN .................... 1,420 .22 9

MSA

Dramarelated

employment

Rank

among

MSAs

Dramarelated

share of

total

Los Angeles-Long Beach,

 CA .................................. 72,030 4,073,150 1.77

New York, NY ................... 56,150 4,056,640 1.38

Orlando, FL ..................... 8,400 871,750 .96

Nashville, TN ................... 4,890 638,970 .77

MSA

employment

Entertainment

employment

Entertainment

share of

total

MSA

Entertainment

With almost 18 out of every 1,000 workers in entertainment

occupations, Los Angeles has the highest concentration of

entertainment workers in the country. This should come as

no surprise, considering the fame of Hollywood and Los

Angeles’s “fashion district.” In New York City, home to the

theater district, Broadway, and art-savvy Soho, 14 out of

every 1,000 people are employed in entertainment services—

second only to Los Angeles. Orlando, the home of many

enormous amusement parks, and Nashville, the home of country music, also are among the MSAs with the largest concentrations of entertainment-related services in the United States.

These four metropolitan areas are the foci of this study.

Entertainment can be divided into four subcategories:

Drama, art, music and sports. The concentration of employment for these four types of entertainment is different in Los

Angeles, New York, Orlando, and Nashville, reflecting each

area’s unique character. Text tables 2 through 5 show the

employment, share of the MSA employment, and rank among

MSAs for each entertainment subcategory in each area. Rank

refers to how the metropolitan area’s concentration of subcategory employment compares with those of the other 336

metropolitan areas in the United States.

Drama

Drama services account for the largest share of entertainment employment in all four metropolitan areas. The drama

subcategory of entertainment includes the following occupations: Set and exhibit designers, actors, producers and Jillian Kerr is an economist in the Division of Occupational and

Administrative Statistics, Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Text table 1. MSAs with large shares of entertainment

service employment, 2001
22

directors, dancers, choreographers, film and video editors,

and theatrical and performance makeup artists. Text table 2

presents the drama-related employment data for Los Angeles, New York, Orlando, and Nashville.

Los Angeles has the second largest share of drama-related workers among the 337 metropolitan areas in the United

States. More than 1 out of every 100 hundred people employed in Los Angeles is employed in a drama-related occupation. Eighty-one percent of the more than 44,000 people

employed in such occupations are employed by the motion

picture industry. The motion picture industry has a huge

presence in Los Angeles, accounting for 3 percent of the

entire workforce.

Almost 1 percent of New York City’s workforce is employed in drama-related occupations. This city of more than

4 million workers ranks third in the Nation for its concentration of drama-related workers. As in Los Angeles, the motion picture industry employs the largest portion of drama

service workers, 77 percent. The producers, orchestras, and

entertainers industry, which includes Broadway theater companies and casting agencies, is the second largest employer

of drama services, with 9 percent of the area’s workers. Radio and television broadcasting stations are third, employing more than 5 percent of New York drama service workers.

Some of the main attractions at Orlando’s many amusement parks are the live performances. Orlando is fifth in the

country for share of drama workers. Fifty-one percent of its

drama-related workers are in the miscellaneous amusement

and recreation service industry, which includes amusement

parks. Other large employers of drama-service occupations

are the motion picture production and service industry and

the business services industry.

Nashville ranks ninth nationally for its concentration of

drama-related services. Most of the drama-related employment is found in the motion picture production and services

industry; the radio, television, and broadcasting industry;

and the producers, orchestras, and entertainers industry.

Art

Art occupations include fine artists, painters, sculptors, illustrators, multimedia artists, animators, and fashion designers. Text table 3 presents art-related employment data for the

four metropolitan areas with high concentrations of entertainment employment.

Los Angeles-Long Beach,

CA ...................................... 5,330 0.13 10

New York, NY..................... 5,630 .14 6

Orlando, FL ....................... 740 .09 26

Nashville, TN ..................... 660 .10 14

MSA Art-related

employment

Art-related

share

of total

Rank

among

MSAs

Text table 4. Music-related employment in MSAs with high

concentrations of entertainment employment, 2001

Los Angeles-Long Beach,

 CA .................................... 5,610 .14 12

New York, NY ..................... 8,780 .22 5

Orlando, FL ....................... 580 .07 64

Nashville, TN ..................... 840 .13 14

MSA

Musicrelated

employment

Musicrelated

share

of total

Rank

among

MSAs

Los Angeles has the tenth largest share of art-related

workers in the United States. The motion picture industry

not only employs drama-related workers but also many artistic workers. Thirty-one percent of the MSA’s artists, such as

fine artists and animators, are found in this industry. The

wholesale trade of nondurable goods industry, which includes men’s, women’s, and children’s fashions, footwear,

and accessories, employs art workers such as designers and

illustrators. Seventeen percent of workers employed in artrelated occupations in Los Angeles are employed in this

fashion industry, the second largest employer of art-related

workers in the area.

Advertising is the dominant industry employing art-related service workers in New York City. More than 22 percent of New York City’s art-related employees are found in

this industry. With 5,630 people employed in art-related jobs,

New York City is sixth in the country for its share of artrelated workers. Other industries that employ more than 5

percent of art-service workers in this metropolitan area are

apparel, piece goods, and notions; printing and publishing;

motion picture production and services; and radio and television broadcasting.

Orlando’s art employment is not dominated by any industry. However, art employment in Orlando is concentrated in

several industries. The amusement and recreation services

industry; the engineering and architectural services industry; and the motion picture production and services industry

are all significant employers of the area’s art-related workers.

Nashville ranks 14thin the country in art-related employment. Art-related employment in Nashville is found in the

business services industry and the motion picture industries.

Music

The music subcategory consists of music directors, composers, musicians, singers, musical instrument repairers and

tuners. Text table 4 displays employment data for the music

subcategory in Los Angeles, New York, Orlando, and Nashville.

Los Angeles has the 12th largest share of music employees in the country. The industry comprising theatrical producers, bands, orchestras, and entertainers employs 52 percent of these workers in Los Angeles. Religious organizations

employ another 10 percent of music service-related workers.

Text table 3. Art-related employment in MSAs with high

concentrations of entertainment employment, 2001
23

Text table 6. MSAs with the highest shares of sports service

employment, 2001

Great Falls, MT ................. 120 0.39 1

Grand Forks, ND-MN ....... 170 .37 2

Kenosha, WI ...................... 180 .36 3

St. Joseph, MO ................. 160 .37 4

Bellingham, WA .................. 230 .36 5

MSA

Sportsrelated

employment

Sportsrelated

share of

total

Rank

among

MSAs

Text table 5. Sports-related employment by MSA with high

concentrations of entertainment employment, 2001

Los Angeles-Long Beach,

 CA .................................... 2,233 0.06 221

New York, NY ..................... 1,771 .4 256

Orlando, FL ....................... 813 .9 118

Nashville, TN ..................... 732 .16 86

MSA

Sportsrelated

employment

Sportsrelated

share of

total

Rank

among

MSAs

New York has a larger music community than Los Angeles: 8,800 versus 5,600. More than 2 out of every 1,000 workers in New York City and almost 16 percent of entertainment

service workers in New York City are involved with music

services. These figures make New York City the area with

the fifth highest concentration of music service workers in

the Nation. Eighty-nine percent of area workers with musicrelated occupations are employed in the producers, orchestras, and entertainers industry.

In Orlando, many music-related workers are employed by

membership organizations and repair services. Membership organizations include religious services as well as other

civil and social organizations. These workers would include

the musicians, who perform at church services, and the musical instrument repairers and tuners, who work behind the

scenes.

Nashville, famous for country music, is ranked 14th nationally in terms of employment in music-related services.

The producers, orchestras, and entertainers industry employs the most music-related services in this area.

Sports

The sports subcategory is unique among the entertainment

subcategories. The sports category contains athletes and

sports competitors, coaches, scouts, umpires, referees, and

athletic trainers. None of the four metropolitan areas already

discussed in this article has a high concentration of sportsrelated workers. In fact, Nashville, which has the highest

share of sports-related workers among the four areas discussed, ranks 86th among all MSAs in terms of employment

of such workers. Text table 5 shows that, in the sports

subcategory, Los Angeles is ranked 221st; New York City,

226th; Orlando, 118th; and Nashville, 86th.

Because this article focuses on subcategories of entertainment employment as a share of overall employment,

smaller cities stand out in sports-related employment due to

affiliations with schools, semiprofessional sports teams, and

other sports organizations. Text table 6 shows that the areas

with the highest concentrations of sports-related occupations are Great Falls, MT; Grand Forks, ND; Kenosha, WI;

Saint Joseph, MO; and Bellingham, WA. These five metropolitan areas all are among the 100 areas in the United States

with the smallest employment.

LOS ANGELES, NEW YORK CITY, ORLANDO, AND NASHVILLE are

clearly hotspots of American entertainment. Each metropolitan area employs entertainers in different industries, which

gives each area a unique character. Los Angeles and New

York City have a flare for fashion and the dramatic arts. Entertainment in Orlando thrives through its amusement parks.

Country music influences Nashville culture. The sports entertainment field has a unique niche in American life, very

different from that of the other forms of entertainment. The

products of the American entertainment industry are enjoyed

worldwide but their production is concentrated in a small

number of population centers.