Sightseeing Tour Bus Company Revenue Benchmark

Average Sightseeing Tour Bus Company Revenue per Year 2022 Economic Census

The 2022 Economic Census counts every scenic and sightseeing land transportation business with paid employees, including tour buses, trolleys and scenic railroads, and publishes their combined annual receipts. Dividing that total by the number of businesses gives the average annual revenue per employer establishment shown below.

≈$1,920,000 /year

Average annual gross revenue per employer establishment

How this is calculated: about $1.2 billion in combined annual receipts divided by 639 employer establishments works out to an average annual revenue of $1,920,000 per employer establishment.

Scope: Scenic and Sightseeing Transportation, Land, NAICS 487110. The Census category is Scenic and Sightseeing Transportation, Land, which counts sightseeing buses, trolleys, scenic railroads and similar land tours. Charter buses hired by groups and tour operators without vehicles are counted in separate categories. 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

Payroll as a Share of Revenue Official data

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

Payroll share of receipts, Scenic and Sightseeing Transportation, Land, United States, 2022 Economic Census.

Approximately 29.0 percent of every revenue dollar goes to annual payroll, a modest share covering drivers, guides and ticket staff in a business where vehicles, fuel and insurance take much of the rest.

Payroll here excludes benefits, employer taxes and owner compensation, and it excludes vehicles, fuel, insurance, permits and commissions paid to hotels and booking platforms, which together carry much of what an operator spends.

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, Scenic and Sightseeing Transportation, Land, United States, 2022 Economic Census.

The average establishment employed about 12.9 people, and the industry averaged 1.1 employer establishments per firm, which confirms that multi-establishment ownership exists in the published population without showing how establishments are distributed across firms. As an illustration, that headcount could be drivers, guides and a ticket office for a few vehicles, many of them seasonal.

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.

• The Best Ideas for Business in Big City
• Charter Bus Company Benchmark
• Tour Operator Benchmark
• Boat Tour and Sightseeing Cruise Company 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

Sightseeing Tour Bus Company: what routes, seats and booking channels do to a small operator's average.

Before you rely on this benchmark

• How full are the buses? A scheduled tour departs whether the bus is full or half empty, so revenue per departure depends on seats sold and ticket price. Occupancy per departure is the figure an operator watches, and no revenue total reveals it.
• Which channels sell the seats? Hotel concierges, cruise lines, online booking platforms and walk-up sales each take a commission or set a price, and an operator dependent on one channel carries that risk. The booking mix shapes both revenue and margin.
• What do permits and stops cost? Cities license tour operators and regulate where buses can stop, load and park, and attractions may charge for access. Permits and access fees are a permanent cost the benchmark does not show.
• How seasonal is the market? Tourist cities have peak months and quiet ones, and an operator staffs and schedules for the peak while carrying vehicles through the off-season. An annual average hides that rhythm.
• What does the fleet cost? Tour buses, trolleys and vans must be bought or financed, insured for passengers and maintained to pass inspections, and a distinctive vehicle is part of the product. Fleet cost per seat sits outside a revenue total.
• Guides or audio? Live guides make a tour and cost wages for every departure, while recorded commentary lowers labor and flattens the product. Whether tours are guided live or by recording is a large part of why payroll shares differ across operators.