Event planning combines a sizable occupation with a changing experience economy. Government labor data counted 122,130 meeting, convention, and event planner jobs in May 2023, while industry surveys show that organizers are balancing attendance, sponsorship, technology, and more personalized reasons to gather.
Contents
- Employment and pay
- Workplace characteristics
- Where planner jobs are concentrated
- Organizer priorities and challenges
- What attendees value
- Interest-led events and category growth
- Ticket discovery and purchase behavior
Employment and pay
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported 122,130 jobs for meeting, convention, and event planners in May 2023. The occupation’s national mean hourly wage was $29.94, equivalent to a national mean annual wage of $62,280. The employment relative standard error was 1.3%, and the wage relative standard error was 0.7% in the same BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) release. Those error measures describe the precision of the estimates; they are not additional jobs or dollars.
The BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH), published in 2025 with May 2024 wage figures, shows a broad annual pay range. The 10th-percentile wage was $35,990, the median annual wage was $59,440, and the 90th-percentile wage was $101,310. These are different measurement years and measures from the May 2023 OEWS mean, so they should not be treated as a single-year pay series.
| BLS measure | Figure | Measurement period |
|---|---|---|
| Jobs | 122,130 | May 2023 |
| Mean hourly wage | $29.94 | May 2023 |
| Mean annual wage | $62,280 | May 2023 |
| Median annual wage | $59,440 | May 2024 |
| 90th-percentile annual wage | $101,310 | May 2024 |
The BLS OOH projected 5% employment growth from 2024 to 2034. It projected about 15,500 openings per year over that decade, with employment rising from 155,800 in 2024 to 163,300 in 2034. That is a projected numeric gain of 7,500 jobs. The BLS Employment Projections 2024–34 line item represented 0.1% of total employment in both 2024 and 2034. The openings figure is a forecast, not a count of vacancies already available.
Workplace characteristics
The BLS Occupational Requirements Survey (ORS) for 2025 describes how planners work, beyond headcount and pay. Work was controlled by other people for 39.2% of planners, while 60.8% worked self-paced. A large 91.5% could pause for brief unscheduled breaks. Meanwhile, 23.9% worked around crowds and 19.0% supervised others.
The training profile was substantial. Prior work experience was required for 80.7% of planners, on-the-job training was required for 86.6%, and a bachelor’s degree was required for 53.9%. These percentages describe reported occupational requirements in the ORS measurement, not a claim that every employer uses identical hiring criteria.
Physical conditions were generally moderate but varied by task. Loud noise exposure was present for 3.3% of planners, while very loud noise exposure was under 0.5%. Reaching at or below the shoulder was required for 28.5%, and working in low postures was required for 9.3%. The ability to choose between sitting and standing applied to 71.3% of planners.
On average, planners spent 79.1% of the workday sitting and 20.9% standing in 2025, according to BLS ORS. The sitting and standing figures describe average workday time, while the posture-choice figure describes whether workers could choose the position for tasks; they are related but not interchangeable measures.
Where planner jobs are concentrated
State employment varied considerably in the May 2023 BLS OEWS data. California employed 16,600 planners, followed by New York with 10,490, Texas with 10,400, Florida with 7,260, and Illinois with 4,970. These are employment counts, not rankings by wage or concentration.
The highest annual mean wages among the supplied state figures were reported for New York at $83,160, Massachusetts at $77,720, the District of Columbia at $76,100, New Jersey at $73,440, and Connecticut at $71,650. Because these are annual means, they should not be compared directly with the OOH median without accounting for the different statistic and release period.
Location quotient data highlights places where the occupation was especially concentrated relative to the national employment pattern. The District of Columbia had a location quotient of 4.08, Colorado 1.75, Rhode Island 1.67, and Nevada 1.54 in May 2023. A location quotient is a concentration measure, not a wage measure or a statement that one place has the most planners.
The metropolitan counts also show major centers of employment. New York–Newark–Jersey City employed 9,400 planners, Los Angeles–Long Beach–Anaheim 5,880, Washington–Arlington–Alexandria 5,150, and Chicago–Naperville–Elgin 4,240 in May 2023, according to BLS OEWS.
Organizer priorities and challenges
Freeman’s 2024 Organizer Trends Report surveyed organizers about their programs and audiences. Fifty-eight percent felt very or extremely empowered to evolve their event program. Networking was considered the most important attendee element by 83% of organizers, compared with 67% of attendees in the survey. The difference matters: organizers may prioritize a feature more strongly than the audience they serve.
The same pattern appeared in discovery and learning. Discovering new products or solutions was valued by 87% of attendees and 76% of organizers. Hands-on or interactive learning was valued by 86% of attendees and 61% of organizers. These paired figures suggest that attendee experience can include practical exploration, not only scheduled social contact.
Travel costs were the top reason a target attendee would not attend for 61% of organizers. Over the next 12 months, 46% prioritized elevating return on investment or return on objectives for exhibitors and sponsors; 42% prioritized increasing attendees or attendee revenue; 28% prioritized elevating the attendee experience; and 24% prioritized increasing exhibitor revenue or the number of exhibitors. Smaller shares prioritized reducing event friction for attendees at 19% and reducing costs at 9%.
The major business challenges reported by organizers were increasing exhibitor or sponsor participation at 57%, increasing event attendance at 49%, implementing the right technologies to improve operations at 37%, and identifying the right venues or locations at 31%. Increasing profitability or contribution to organizational profit and loss was selected by 18%, while 3% selected “other.”
Freeman’s organizer profile was weighted toward association, society, or not-for-profit exhibition and event organizers at 59%. For-profit exhibition or event organizers accounted for 18%, corporate event organizers for 11%, and third-party event management companies for 9%. The most important event was annual for 80% of respondents and occurred multiple times per year for 19%.
The largest event had fewer than 1,000 attendees for 14% of organizers and 1,000–4,999 attendees for 35%. Thirty-seven percent reported an expo hall of 100,000 or more square feet. By supported sector, 21% worked with medical or healthcare organizations and 10% with technology, communications, or IT organizations.
What attendees value
Eventbrite’s Fourth Spaces study focused on people using interest-based gatherings to build social connection. Ninety-five percent of Fourth Space seekers were interested in exploring online interests through in-person events, and 84% of interest-based event attendees said they developed close friendships through those gatherings. Among 18-to-35-year-olds, 73% planned to attend live events in the next six months.
Belonging and identity were key motivators for joining communities for 45% of respondents, and 45% said these experiences enhanced their sense of self. Seventy-nine percent were drawn to events that mix multiple interests into unique social experiences. These figures support a broad view of event planning: the program can be a way to connect activities, identity, and community rather than simply fill a calendar.
Eventbrite’s 2026 Social Study reported that 79% of 18-to-35-year-olds planned to attend more events in 2026. In that study, 54% of Americans felt close to their local community, 79% of young adults valued spontaneity over a perfect plan, and 44% were more likely to spend to attend when the venue was unique. Fifty-eight percent preferred when socializing was not the main focus. Cause alignment also mattered: 73% were more likely to attend an event tied to a cause they cared about, and 89% wanted events that connected them to their community.
These findings are survey results, not attendance forecasts. They can still help planners frame choices around venue character, low-pressure participation, meaningful themes, and community relevance.
Interest-led events and category growth
Eventbrite’s Fourth Spaces study recorded strong movement in several interest-based categories. Board game events increased eightfold on Eventbrite. Jewelry-making classes rose 34%, crochet events rose 44%, cosplay events saw 50% attendance growth, anime events increased 20%, running events surged 130%, and sober-curious gatherings grew 92%.
Culinary interests also appeared in the study. Thirty-five percent of culinary circle events grew on Eventbrite, while 49% of Fourth Space seekers wanted more culinary gatherings. These figures use different denominators and should not be combined into one growth rate: some describe event growth, some attendance growth, and one describes expressed interest.
Eventbrite’s Food & Drink Trends report found nearly 1.3 million attendees at spirits-focused events in 2022, with attendance up 120% year over year. That historical result illustrates how specialized formats can attract measurable audiences, but it is not a current forecast for every food or drink event.
Ticket discovery and purchase behavior
Eventbrite reported 167,000 daily searches for Halloween and fall events in the fourth quarter of 2024 and 10.4 million total ticket buyers during that quarter. Twenty-two percent of tickets were sold through discovery on Eventbrite’s marketplace. The platform’s Seasonal & Holiday page says its marketplace offers access to more than 50 million potential revelers.
Eventbrite’s 2022 Trends Report recorded 84 million tickets transacted across its top five categories in the first nine months of 2022. Music accounted for 28 million, business and professional events for 18 million, and food and drink for 13 million. Eventbrite also surveyed more than 4,500 event organizers for that report.
The purchase path itself can affect conversion. Eventbrite’s Seasonal & Holiday page reports that one in 10 buyers drops off for every extra step in a purchase flow. This is a platform-specific observation, not a universal law for every ticketing system, but it gives planners a quantified reason to examine registration friction alongside programming and promotion.
Taken together, the figures point to an event planning environment with stable professional demand, varied work conditions, and audiences looking for useful, distinctive, and community-connected experiences. The most actionable measures depend on the event: employment and wage statistics describe the occupation, organizer surveys describe business priorities, and ticketing and attendee studies describe selected platform audiences during specific periods.