GRAND TETON NATIONAL PARK – Our national parks are powerful economic drivers. New data was released by the National Park Service, ironically just days before the government shutdown, which has directly affected the NPS. Here are the ten parks with the biggest economic impact in 2024.
$2.0 billion, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina/Tennessee
$905 million, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona
$808 million Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
$774 million, Zion National Park, Utah
$710 million, Yellowstone National Park, Idaho/Montana/Wyoming
$629 million, Yosemite National Park, California
$612 million, Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska
$588 million, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado
$539 million, Acadia National Park, Maine
$458 million, Glacier National Park, Montana
Visitor spending increased by almost 10% in 2024, compared to 2023, according to the NPS.
“In 2024, 332 million park visitors spent an estimated $29.0 billion in local gateway regions while visiting National Park Service lands across the country,” said the NPS. “These expenditures supported a total of 340 thousand jobs, $18.8 billion in labor income, $33.7 billion in value added, and $56.3 billion in economic output in the national economy.”
It’s hard to say how big of an economic hit the government shutdown will have on national parks and gateway communities. This also comes on the heels of the Trump administration’s decision to slash about 1,000 jobs at the National Park Service this year, despite increased visitation and spending at our national treasures.
Read the NPS report here and see additional data here.
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