Movie Theater Revenue Benchmark

Average Movie Theater Revenue per Year 2022 Economic Census

The 2022 Economic Census counts every indoor motion picture theater with paid employees, from single-screen independents to large multiplexes, and publishes their combined annual receipts. Dividing that total by the number of theaters gives the average annual revenue per employer establishment shown below.

≈$3,037,000 /year

Average annual gross revenue per employer establishment

How this is calculated: about $13 billion in combined annual receipts divided by 4,273 employer establishments works out to an average annual revenue of $3,037,000 per employer establishment.

Scope: Motion picture theaters (except drive-ins), NAICS 512131. The category covers indoor motion picture theaters, from single-screen independents to multiplexes. Drive-in theaters are counted in a separate category. Classified separately in group 5121: 512110 Motion Picture and Video Production; 512120 Motion Picture and Video Distribution; 512132 Drive-in motion picture theaters, 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

Motion picture and video industries, NAICS 5121, 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 47.0 to 51.9 percent. This benchmark covers Motion picture and video industries, NAICS 5121, as a whole, and this category accounts for 4,273 of the 26,483 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, Motion picture theaters (except drive-ins), United States, 2022 Economic Census.

Approximately 15.0 percent of every revenue dollar goes to annual payroll, a small share because ticket revenue passes largely to film distributors and because a theater can run many screens with a lean, mostly part-time crew.

Payroll here excludes benefits, employer taxes and owner compensation, and it excludes film rental paid to distributors, which is the main cost of the trade and is not published in this table.

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, Motion picture theaters (except drive-ins), United States, 2022 Economic Census.

The average establishment employed about 26.3 people, and the industry counted 2.2 employer establishments per firm. That staff count reflects a multiplex operation with concession, ticketing and projection staff, many of them part-time, and the establishments per firm figure shows how common multi-theater operators are in this category.

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.

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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

Movie Theater: why the ticket line and the concession line tell different stories.

Before you rely on this benchmark

• How much of the ticket goes to the studio? Film rental terms give distributors a large share of box office receipts, often steepest in the opening weeks of a release, so ticket revenue overstates what a theater keeps. Concessions, by contrast, are mostly retained by the theater.
• What did the release calendar look like that year? Theater revenue rises and falls with the films available to show, and the census year captures one slate of releases. A weak year for blockbusters lowers every theater's figure regardless of how well it is run.
• How many screens and seats? The average blends a single-screen town theater with a multiplex of a dozen screens, and revenue per screen is a more useful measure than revenue per establishment. The census does not publish screen counts in this table.
• Chain or independent? Large chains negotiate film terms, buy concessions and finance renovations at a scale an independent cannot match, and the establishments per firm figure shows how common multi-theater firms are. An independent theater should expect a very different result from the average.
• What does the building cost? Large auditoriums, projection equipment, seating upgrades and parking are capital-heavy, and rent or debt on that space continues through quiet months. Occupancy cost per seat is a defining number outside this benchmark.
• Are there other revenue streams? Private rentals, event cinema, gaming, dining and premium formats have become part of many theaters, and the census counts those receipts alongside tickets. The mix behind the revenue varies from a classic cinema to an entertainment venue.