Parks recreation director vs activities director

The differences between parks recreation directors and activities directors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a parks recreation director and an activities director. Additionally, a parks recreation director has an average salary of $48,942, which is higher than the $44,982 average annual salary of an activities director.

The top three skills for a parks recreation director include aquatics, recreation programs and flag football. The most important skills for an activities director are patients, rehabilitation, and resident care.

Parks recreation director vs activities director overview

	Parks Recreation Director	Activities Director
Yearly salary	$48,942	$44,982
Hourly rate	$23.53	$21.63
Growth rate	10%	10%
Number of jobs	7,782	6,845
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 71%	Bachelor's Degree, 57%
Average age	42	42
Years of experience	4	4

What does a parks recreation director do?

A parks recreation director manages and leads the operations of a park's recreation department. You will be responsible for department oversight, budget management and requisition, coordination with other town council departments, recreation publicity campaigns, and overseeing capital expenditure. Parks recreation directors are the policy and strategy leads for city parks and submit regular reports to the council parks boards. Staff recruitment and supervision, community engagement in recreation activities, and ensuring policy compliance are other core duties.

What does an activities director do?

An activities director is responsible for planning engaging events for the participants, considering individual interests and the safety of procedures and resources. Activities directors guide the activity staff on assisting the participants, ensuring that they are comfortable with joining the activities. Since most activities directors work at a healthcare facility or elderly institution, they must also monitor the health of the participants by conducting therapeutic activities and evaluate the participants' progress for every program. The activities director must be a critical-thinker, as well as have excellent communication skills to coordinate with facilities personnel for successful activity completion.

Parks recreation director vs activities director salary

Parks recreation directors and activities directors have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Parks Recreation Director	Activities Director
Average salary	$48,942	$44,982
Salary range	Between $28,000 And $85,000	Between $27,000 And $74,000
Highest paying City	Cupertino, CA	Huntington, NY
Highest paying state	Mississippi	Mississippi
Best paying company	Icma-rc	Microsoft
Best paying industry	Automotive	Health Care

Differences between parks recreation director and activities director education

There are a few differences between a parks recreation director and an activities director in terms of educational background:

	Parks Recreation Director	Activities Director
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 71%	Bachelor's Degree, 57%
Most common major	Recreation Management	Business
Most common college	California State University - Long Beach	University of Pennsylvania

Parks recreation director vs activities director demographics

Here are the differences between parks recreation directors' and activities directors' demographics:

	Parks Recreation Director	Activities Director
Average age	42	42
Gender ratio	Male, 69.1% Female, 30.9%	Male, 20.4% Female, 79.6%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 12.0% Unknown, 5.8% Hispanic or Latino, 15.3% Asian, 5.1% White, 61.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	Black or African American, 11.9% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 15.5% Asian, 5.1% White, 61.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	8%	8%

Differences between parks recreation director and activities director duties and responsibilities

Parks recreation director example responsibilities.

Manage recreation staff and programming for assist living and rehabilitation and skil nursing facilities.
Perform minor first aid and CPR as needed.
Acquire MDS data for the use of the clinical reimbursement team, as well as assessed patients.
Examine injure persons and administer first aid or cardiopulmonary resuscitation, if necessary, using training and medical supplies and equipment.
Maintain written and personal communication with general public and local community through ongoing PowerPoint presentations, weekly newsletters and monthly newspaper.

Activities director example responsibilities.

Manage updated JCC social media, including Facebook.
Manage pet therapy/pat visitation protocol.
Attend interdisciplinary care plan meetings and document in MDS and resident medical records as appropriate.
Plan, organize, and run the afterschool
Create reports, handouts, and PowerPoint presentations.
Assist teachers with reading and mathematics lessons and activities.

Parks recreation director vs activities director skills

Common parks recreation director skills

Aquatics, 17%
Recreation Programs, 8%
Flag Football, 6%
Recreational Facilities, 5%
CPR, 5%
Program Development, 4%

Common activities director skills

Patients, 15%
Rehabilitation, 10%
Resident Care, 8%
Customer Service, 7%
Home Health, 7%
MDS, 6%

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Parks Recreation Director vs Activities Director

Updated January 8, 2025

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