Ski Area and Skiing Facility Revenue Benchmark

Average Ski Area Revenue per Year 2022 Economic Census

The 2022 Economic Census counts every skiing facility with paid employees and publishes their combined annual receipts, including lift tickets, rentals, lessons and food sold at the area. Dividing that total by the number of facilities gives the average annual revenue per employer establishment shown below.

≈$9,254,000 /year

Average annual gross revenue per employer establishment

How this is calculated: about $3.4 billion in combined annual receipts divided by 364 employer establishments works out to an average annual revenue of $9,254,000 per employer establishment.

Scope: Skiing Facilities, NAICS 713920. The category covers skiing facilities operating lifts, tows and slopes for downhill or cross-country skiing, including equipment rental and food service at the area. Resorts that provide accommodations are counted in traveler accommodation, so a ski resort with a hotel sits outside this code. Classified separately in group 7139: 713910 Golf Courses and Country Clubs; 713930 Marinas; 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 364 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, Skiing Facilities, United States, 2022 Economic Census.

Approximately 33.0 percent of every revenue dollar goes to annual payroll, a substantial share because lift operators, patrol, instructors, rental staff and food service crews are the product, even though most of them work only for the season.

Payroll here excludes benefits, employer taxes and owner compensation, and it excludes lifts, snowmaking, grooming equipment, energy and land leases, which together carry much of what a ski area 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, Skiing Facilities, United States, 2022 Economic Census.

The average establishment employed about 226.4 people, and the industry averaged 1.2 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 averages a workforce that swells in winter and shrinks to a maintenance crew in summer.

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

Ski Area and Skiing Facility: what snow, lifts and a short season do to an average that counts only a few hundred areas.

Before you rely on this benchmark

• How many areas are behind the figure? The published population is a few hundred skiing facilities, from a local hill with one lift to a destination mountain, so the average blends very different operations and works as a portrait of the category rather than a target for any one area.
• Where are the resorts with hotels? Ski resorts that provide accommodation are counted in traveler accommodation, not here, so a destination resort with lodging sits outside this figure. This page describes skiing facilities as such, which is why the popular term ski resort only partly fits.
• How much snow fell that year? Natural snowfall and the cost of making snow decide how many days an area can open, and a poor winter can cut revenue sharply. The census year reflects one season's weather.
• Lift tickets or passes? Season passes bring cash before the snow and loyal skiers, while day tickets earn more per visit and depend on weekend weather. The mix shapes cash flow and the value of each skier day.
• What does the mountain cost to run? Lifts, snowmaking, grooming machines, energy and insurance are heavy fixed costs that run whether the slopes are crowded or empty, and land leases add more where the area sits on public land. Those costs sit outside a revenue total.
• Is there a summer season? Mountain biking, scenic lift rides, weddings and events extend the calendar for some areas and leave others idle for months. The share of revenue earned outside winter varies widely and is not published.