Federal data show the Natural State’s outdoor sector now accounts for 2.6% of GDP and supports more than 43,800 jobs, with wages topping $2.27 billion in 2024.
LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas’s outdoor recreation economy generated nearly $5 billion in value added last year and grew faster than the national average, according to new data released Thursday by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.
The BEA’s annual Outdoor Recreation Economic Statistics report, covering all 50 states and the District of Columbia, placed Arkansas’s outdoor recreation value added at $4.957 billion in 2024, representing 2.6% of the state’s total gross domestic product. That share exceeds the national figure of 2.4%, which accounted for $696.7 billion of U.S. GDP.
The sector supported 43,834 Arkansas jobs in 2024, or 3.2% of all employment statewide. Wages tied to outdoor recreation totaled $2.277 billion, equal to 2.3% of all wages paid in the state.
Arkansas Outdoor Employment Grows Alongside the Nation
Arkansas outdoor recreation employment rose 1.2% in 2024, keeping pace with a national trend that saw jobs grow in 36 states and the District of Columbia. Nationally, outdoor recreation employment increased 1.1%. The range across all states ran from a 4.3% gain in North Dakota to a 4.0% decline in Hawaii.
Inflation-adjusted GDP for outdoor recreation grew 2.7% nationally in 2024, just below the overall U.S. economy’s 2.8% expansion and representing a deceleration from the outdoor sector’s 5.3% real growth rate in 2023.
“Arkansas’ outdoor recreation economy is a powerful driver of economic growth, generating billions in consumer spending annually while supporting thousands of jobs across rural and urban communities.”
— Jonas Crews, Heartland Forward
Boating and Fishing Anchor Arkansas Outdoor Recreation
Among conventional outdoor recreation activities, boating and fishing remained the single largest category nationally, generating $38.4 billion in value added and ranking first in 34 states. Arkansas, with its extensive network of rivers, lakes, and reservoirs — including the Arkansas River, Lake Ouachita, and Beaver Lake — is among the states where boating and fishing lead all conventional outdoor activities.
Hunting, shooting and trapping ranked third nationally among conventional activities at $16.5 billion in value added. Arkansas has historically ranked among the top states for growth in this category, recording the third-largest increase in hunting-related GDP from 2019 through 2023, according to state data.
Nationally, supporting activities such as travel and tourism, local trips and government expenditures made up 51.5% of total outdoor recreation value added in 2024. Travel and tourism drove much of that growth, led by increased spending on transportation, hotels and restaurants.
Manufacturing Gives Arkansas a Competitive Edge in Outdoor Economy
While most states lean heavily on retail trade and arts, entertainment, recreation, accommodation and food services, Arkansas draws a larger-than-average share of its outdoor value from manufacturing, transportation and warehousing. State economic analyses have found that more than a third of Arkansas’s outdoor recreation value comes from those supply chain sectors, giving the state’s outdoor economy greater resilience during economic downturns.
Nationally, manufacturing was the third-largest industry group contributing to outdoor recreation value added at $91.3 billion, or 13.1% of the total. Indiana and Louisiana were the only two states where manufacturing ranked first among industry groups.
The retail trade sector was the second-largest contributor nationally at $169.1 billion, or 24.3% of value added, and led in 24 states. Arts, entertainment, recreation, accommodation and food services topped all industry groups nationally at $174.4 billion, or 25.0%, and led in 23 states and the District of Columbia.
Outdoor Recreation Now Surpasses Arkansas Agriculture in Economic Output
Arkansas’s outdoor recreation economy has grown roughly 33% since 2019, ahead of the national growth rate of 27% over the same period, according to state economic records. That expansion has pushed outdoor recreation past farming as a share of state GDP, a milestone noted by state officials when presenting combined tourism and outdoor data.
The state’s outdoor amenity construction, a category covering trail building, hunting lodge development and similar investments, grew 52.7% from 2019 to 2023, the fastest rate in the nation over that stretch.
Tourism Spending Multiplies the Impact Across Arkansas
The BEA outdoor recreation figures do not capture total economic impact, which includes indirect and induced spending that ripples through local economies. When those broader effects are factored in, Arkansas’s tourism economy generated $17.4 billion in total economic impact in 2024, supported by 52 million visitors who spent $10.3 billion directly in the state.
Food and beverage spending led all tourism categories with a 6.5% year-over-year gain to $3 billion, followed by retail and recreation spending up 5.8% and lodging up 3.3%, driven largely by growth in short-term rentals.
The BEA plans to release updated 2025 outdoor recreation statistics in fall 2026.
