The Association Between Professional Performing Arts and Knowledge Class Growth: Implications for Metropolitan Economic Development

Economic development in the current century may favor those metropolitan areas that attract the “knowledge class.” This study provides a cross-sectional analysis associating the presence of one or more professional symphony, opera, or ballet/dance organizations with knowledge class growth. The authors find that the presence of one type of such organization is associated with a 1.1% change in knowledge class employment over the period from 2000 to 2010, two types are associated with a 1.5% change, and all three are associated with a 2.2% change. Between 2000 and 2010, the presence of at least one professional performing arts organization is associated with about 540,000 knowledge class jobs, generating about $60 billion in annual income among those 118 metropolitan areas with professional performing arts organizations. Metropolitan economic development implications are offered.