Times have been tough for performing-arts organizations in Seattle and around the nation, as attendance generally remains below pre-pandemic levels. Our local arts community took a big hit this month when Seattle Rep, the city’s preeminent regional theater company, announced they would be eliminating 17 staff positions . But in the face of this bad news, there may also be cause for optimism.
According to a new survey, Seattle tops the nation’s largest metro areas when it comes to local support for the performing arts. Nearly 30% of Seattle-area adults attended at least one in-person theater, music or dance performance in the past 30 days. That pencils out to about 956,000 people out of the total 3.
2 million population aged 18 and older in our metro area, which includes King, Pierce and Snohomish counties. The data comes from the ongoing Household Pulse Survey, a product of the U.S.
Census Bureau. The question on performing-arts attendance is a new addition to the survey, which was conducted from Apr. 30 to May 7, and had about 72,200 respondents nationwide.
The survey includes data for the nation’s 15 largest metro areas, and Seattle ranked No. 1 among them for performing-arts events attendance. San Francisco and Boston tied for second place, with 28% of adults having attended live theater, music of dance performances in the past 30 days.
Detroit had the lowest level of attendance and performing-arts events, at 17%. The survey data shows in Seattle, men and women attend.
