Visitors Gathering on the Letters in Front of the Museum

Economic Impact

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Historic Economic Impact Summary

A study published in March 2018 reveals the Rock Hall had a total impact of $199 million in business sales in Cuyahoga County. Visitors to the Rock Hall spent an estimated $127.4 million in 2017, averaging a daily spend of $349,000, both on-site and at other businesses in the County. This direct spending generated additional benefits through indirect and induced effects.

Rock Hall visitor spending supported 1,872 jobs and $59.9 million in income earned, including indirect and induced benefits. Most of these employment and income benefits came in the food and beverage, recreation, and lodging sectors.

Visitors to the Rock Hall generated nearly $13.4 million in state and local tax revenues. Local revenues included $2.9 million in local sales tax revenues and another $1.2 million in bed tax revenues.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio
The Rock Hall generated nearly $13.4 million in state and local tax revenues (2018)
-Economic Impact Study

The Rock Hall continues to attract hundreds of thousands of visitors to Cuyahoga County annually and plays a significant role in the regional economy. In 2017, the Rock Hall had a total attendance of nearly 568,000, a 4.6% increase from 2016 and its third record-breaking attendance growth. Of these visitors to the Rock Hall, nearly 81%, came from outside the region and their spending supported employment, income, and local tax revenues in Cuyahoga County.

Additionally, every year, the Rock Hall welcomes thousands of students into the Museum to experience firsthand the power of rock and roll through its award-winning programs. To date, new numbers show that more than 300,000 students have participated in Rock Hall learning programs. The Toddler Rock program powered by PNC has reached 5,000 at-risk youth, who each spent an average of 60 hours learning and saw a 71% increase in letter recognition and comprehension scores. More than $10 million dollars collected from the Rock Hall’s admission taxes have gone directly to the Cleveland Metropolitan School District.

About the study:

Estimates of the economic impact of visitors to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame were based on Rock Hall audited financials, visitor surveys conducted by the Rock Hall and Longwoods International, and local bed tax data available from Destination Cleveland. Total economic impacts were estimated with an IMPLAN input-output model for Cuyahoga County.

About Tourism Economics:

Tourism Economics is an Oxford Economics company with a singular objective: combine an understanding of tourism dynamics with rigorous economics to answer the most important questions facing destinations, developers, and strategic planners. By combining quantitative methods with industry knowledge, Tourism Economics designs custom market strategies, destination recovery plans, tourism forecasting models, tourism policy analysis, and economic impact studies.

The Rock Hall's economic impact by the numbers
The Rock Hall's economic impact by the numbers