MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS, WYO. — A newly released report from the National Park Service shows that 4.5 million visitors to Yellowstone National Park in 2023 spent $623 million in communities near the park. That spending supported 8,560 jobs in the local area and had a cumulative benefit to the local economy of $828 million.
Grand Teton National Park visitors spent even more, even though there were nearly 1 million fewer of them, because food, lodging and activities are so much more expensive in that park. Grand Teton visitors spent $738 million, accordign to the report , generating some 9,369 jobs.
“I’m so proud that our parks and the stories we tell make a lasting impact on more than 300 million visitors a year,” said National Park Service Director Chuck Sams in a news release distributed by his agency. “And I’m just as proud to see those visitors making positive impacts of their own, by supporting local economies and jobs in every state in the country.”
The National Park Service report, 2023 National Park Visitor Spending Effects, found that national park visitation contributed a total of $1.1 billion to Wyoming’s economy. It also showed that 325.5 million visitors spent $26.4 billion in communities near national parks.
This spending supported 415,400 jobs, provided $19.4 billion in labor income and $55.6 billion in economic output to the U.S. economy. The lodging sector had the highest direct contributions with $9.9 billion in economic output and 89,200 jobs. The restaurants received the next greatest direct contributions with $5.2 billion in economic output and 68,600 jobs.
An interactive tool is available to explore visitor spending, jobs, labor income, and total economic contribution by sector for national, state and local economies. Users can also view year-by-year trend data.