Creative Economy Study
The 2008 study “Colorado: State-of-the-Art, Key Findings from The State of Colorado’s Creative Economy” found the following:
- 186,251 jobs in the state are associated with creative enterprises and creative occupations
- Colorado’s creative enterprises employed over 122,000 individuals in about 8,000 establishments
- Another 64,000 individuals worked in creative occupations in non-creative enterprises
- Employee earnings in creative industry jobs, including employee benefits, were $5 billion
A study commissioned by the National Endowment for the Arts found that Colorado ranks 5th among all states for concentration of artists. The study categorizes creative industries into six sub-groups: design, film and media, heritage, literary and publishing, performing arts, and visual arts and crafts. Colorado’s strengths are design, literary and publishing, and film and media, which represent 73% of all creative industry jobs.
