Recently, the American Horse Council Federation commissioned a study entitled “The Economic Impact of the Horse Industry on the United States” highlighting financial information and trends that are shaping the equestrian industry.
According to the study, the horse industry contributes almost $40 billion to the US’s Gross Domestic Product. That number is amplified north of the $100 billion mark when indirect spending is taken into consideration.
Horse Industry Snapshot
Activities within the horse industry are vast and the cash flow is distributed amongst the different elements quite evenly:
- $32 billion – recreation segment
- $29 billion – showing segment
- $26 billion – racing segment
- $15 billion – other industry segments
Horse Owner Demographics
The delight of horse ownership touches all walks of life. While misconceptions associate horse ownership as an activity predominantly enjoyed by the wealthy, the socioeconomic deck is actually quite shuffled.
Of the nearly 2 million horse owners in the US, only 28% earn annual incomes exceeding $100,000 while 35% have an annual household income below $50,000. Almost half of horse owners are from the middle class, earning incomes between $25,000 - $75,000. Horse owners live in small towns and large cities and the numbers vary state-by-state. The equestrian industry creates many opportunities within itself and is estimated to employ 1.4 million full-time jobs across the US.
The Impact Of Breeding
Over 425,000 horses are involved in the breeding process every year. This segment within the horse industry alone creates and economic impact of $2.2 billion and stimulates the creation of almost 40,000 full-time equivalent jobs.
Breeding is also a vital element in the showing segment. The 700,000+ horses involved produce a direct economic impact of $2.3 billion and create 34,000 full-time equivalent jobs.
Facts – Straight from the Horse’s Mouth
Enjoy some facts about our four-legged friends below:
- There are horses in every US state. California, Texas, and Florida lead the pack in both horse ownership and economic impact
- Texas leads the nation with the most horses of any state with 978,822
- California comes in second with 698,345
- California has significantly more racetracks than the Lone Star state which puts California in the lead when considering horse-related job creation and economic impact
The least amount of horses are found in:
- Rhode Island – 3,509
- Hawaii – 8,037
- Delaware – 11,083
- Of any type of horse, thoroughbreds have the largest economic impact contributing to over $20 billion annually
- 57% of horses are concentrated in communities with less than 20,000 people
- 26% of horses reside in areas with population densities over 50,000
