New report details fiscal impact of sportsmen at the national, state and local levels
A new report released by the Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation provides the most detailed and up-to-date data concerning the economic impact and importance of America’s hunters and sport shooters to national and state economies. The report delves into the economic significance of these sportsmen in every state and every legislative district.
“It’s important that people – the general public, and state and federal legislators – understand that America’s hunters and sport shooters are an incredibly important force when it comes to our national, state and local economies, as well as providing an outsized share of conservation funding at both the state and federal levels,” said Evan Heusinkveld, President and CEO of the Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation. “With this information, sportsmen can educate friends, family and their representatives at every level by clearly illustrating in dollars and cents what they bring to the table and mean to the bottom line.”
The new report boasts stunning numbers when it comes to the impact hunters and shooters have on our economies. Together they are responsible for more than $106.2 BILLION in retail sales and contributed $133 billion to economic growth in 2022 by supporting more than 1.3 million jobs that created in excess of $80.5 billion in wages and income. In turn, that economic stimulus generated $251 billion in economic activity through the multiplier effect.
Legislators, state wildlife agencies, sportsmen and the general public can now quantify the impact of hunters and shooters to local, state and national economies – an important consideration as wildlife management increasingly becomes a matter of public opinion.
“Many people may not care about hunting, the Second Amendment or conservation, but everyone is impacted by the economy and these reports clearly illustrate that hunters and shooters provide an important, and consistent, economic engine for national and local economic health,” said Rob Southwick, President of Southwick Associates. “Many look at hunting and target shooting as something people do when the real workday is over, but these numbers show hunting and target shooting are the real workdays for so many people.”
Reports are available for every state, and for every legislative district within each state, and include such details as the number of active hunters or shooters in each district, how much they spend on those activities, and their contributions to local, state and federal taxes through those purchases, among other data.
Each state and legislative district is available as a convenient one-page graphic that can be easily downloaded and shared digitally through email or on social media, as well as printed and handed to someone.
Unbelievable Hunting and Shooting Economic Facts!
Economic Impact: Hunting Facts
• The revenue generated by the hunting industry is higher than the Gross Domestic Product of 121 countries.
• Hunters contributed nearly $38 million a day in state, local, and federal taxes that goes to support wildlife agencies and conservation.
• Hunting generated more revenue ($45.2 billion) than Nationwide ($44 billion), United Airlines ($43 billion), Dow ($43 billion), and Tyson Foods ($42.4 billion).
• The hunting industry supports 540,923 jobs – that’s more than any US company except Walmart and Amazon.
• The retail sales produced by hunting ($45.2 billion) is nearly equal to the combined system-wide sales of both Starbucks ($26.5 billion) and McDonald’s ($21.1 billion combined).
• The revenue generated by hunting is 10 times more than the revenue of the top 10 most valuable NFL teams combined ($4.5 billion).
• Hunting generated well over three times more revenue in 2020 ($45.2 billion) than the NFL ($12 billion).
• Hunting generates more revenue ($45.2 billion) than the worth of the Top 10 most valuable MLB teams combined ($33 billion).
• The revenue generated by migratory bird hunting ($5.9 billion) is more than the revenue of the top 10 most valuable NFL teams combined ($4.5 billion).
Economic Impact: Target Shooting Facts
• The economic activity generated by target shooting ($61.2 billion) is greater than the Gross Domestic Product of 7 states.
• The contribution to the U.S. GDP from the activities of target shooters is greater than the overall GDP of 132 countries.
• The revenue generated by the handgun industry ($20 billion) is higher than the Gross Domestic Product of 97 countries.
• U.S. target shooters outnumber the population of every U.S. state and DC, except California.
• The federal taxes generated by target shooting activities ($19.9 billion) are over three times the budget of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in 2020 ($5.35 billion).
• Target shooting generated more revenue ($61.2 billion) than Sysco ($60.1 billion), Christian Dior ($60.1 billion), Lockheed Martin ($59.8 billion), or HP ($58.8 billion).
• More people went target shooting in 2020 than participated in golf, tennis, basketball, or soccer.
• The revenue generated by target shooting ($61.2 billion) is greater than the combined revenue of all 32 NFL teams ($13 billion).
• The revenue generated by rifle shooting is over 10 times the combined gross revenue of the top 25 box office movies of 2020.
