Marina Revenue Benchmark

Average Marina Revenue per Year 2022 Economic Census

The 2022 Economic Census counts every marina with paid employees and publishes their combined annual receipts, including slip rental, storage, fuel and service sales. Dividing that total by the number of marinas gives the average annual revenue per employer establishment shown below.

≈$1,609,000 /year

Average annual gross revenue per employer establishment

How this is calculated: about $6.1 billion in combined annual receipts divided by 3,765 employer establishments works out to an average annual revenue of $1,609,000 per employer establishment.

Scope: Marinas, NAICS 713930. The category covers marinas that dock, store and service pleasure boats and may sell fuel and supplies. Boat dealers and boat repair shops are counted in separate categories. Classified separately in group 7139: 713910 Golf Courses and Country Clubs; 713920 Skiing Facilities; 713940 Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers, and 2 further codes. Nothing outside that code is counted on this page.

Source US Census Bureau, 2022 Economic Census, Summary Statistics (ECNBASIC): ESTAB, RCPTOT and PAYANN by NAICS · Vintage 2022 Economic Census · Calculation BusinessNES · Accessed September 2026

Employer Establishments at Year Five Industry group

Other Amusement and Recreation Industries, NAICS 7139, the 2018 starting count compared with the count of five-year-old establishments in 2023.

Across the 2014 to 2018 cohorts, five-year results ranged from 51.7 to 56.0 percent. This benchmark covers Other Amusement and Recreation Industries, NAICS 7139, as a whole, and this category accounts for 3,765 of the 78,761 employer establishments in it. A count by age is not a survival rate, because the figures compare two headcounts rather than follow one set of businesses.

Payroll as a Share of Revenue Official data

Payroll divided by receipts, both as published for the same year.

Payroll share of receipts, Marinas, United States, 2022 Economic Census.

Approximately 23.0 percent of every revenue dollar goes to annual payroll, a modest share covering dockhands, service technicians, ship store staff and office staff, while slip rental revenue arrives with relatively little labor attached.

Payroll here excludes benefits, employer taxes and owner compensation, and it excludes fuel purchases, dock and lift maintenance, dredging and the property costs of a waterfront site, which shape the cost base of a marina.

Business Scale and Ownership Structure Official data

How large the average establishment is, and whether the population is independent operators or multi-site companies.

Scale and ownership, Marinas, United States, 2022 Economic Census.

The average establishment employed about 8.5 people, and the industry counted 1.1 employer establishments per firm. A marina of that size runs a dock crew, a service shop and a store with many seasonal roles, and the establishments per firm figure shows that most marinas are single-site businesses, with some operators running a few properties.

These are arithmetic industry averages. They state the size of the average establishment and show that multi-establishment ownership exists. They do not show the distribution of business sizes and they do not measure market concentration.

Explore More on BusinessNES

Neighbouring benchmark pages built from the same verified data, plus BusinessNES guides on the same subject.

• Most Profitable Lake Business Ideas
• Best Water Business Ideas
• Boat Dealer Benchmark
• RV Park and Campground Benchmark
• Recreational Goods Rental Benchmark
• All Business Benchmarks

Data Source Notice

This product uses the Census Bureau Data API but is not endorsed or certified by the Census Bureau.

Figures above are from the 2022 Economic Census reference year, released by the Census Bureau in 2024 and 2025; markets have moved since.

Questions Worth Asking BusinessNES analysis

Marina: what a waterfront property business looks like behind an average revenue figure.

Before you rely on this benchmark

• How much of the revenue is slips and storage? Slip rental, dry storage and winter storage bring recurring revenue that behaves like rent, while fuel, service and the ship store move with boating traffic and weather. The balance decides how stable a marina's year is, and the census reports one figure.
• Who owns the waterfront? Marinas on leased public land, on long-term concessions and on privately-owned shoreline face very different fixed costs and renewal risks. The tenure behind a marina can matter more than its slip count.
• How long is the season? A northern lake marina earns in a few summer months and spends the winter hauling and storing boats, while a coastal marina in a warm climate operates year-round. Annual receipts blend both, and the operating calendar behind them varies widely.
• What does the infrastructure cost to keep? Docks, pilings, lifts, seawalls, fuel systems and dredging are expensive to maintain and vulnerable to storms and ice. Capital upkeep at a marina is a defining cost that appears nowhere in a revenue total.
• Is there a service yard? Repairs, winterization, bottom painting and rigging bring skilled labor revenue and keep boat owners tied to the marina, but they need lifts, technicians and environmental compliance. A pure slip rental operation and a full-service yard share this category.
• Which regulations apply to the water? Fuel storage, waste pump-out, stormwater rules and permits for dredging or dock construction involve local, state and federal agencies. Compliance is a permanent cost and a constraint on expansion that the benchmark cannot show.