Recreation Director Salary

Q: How much does a Recreation Director make?

Recreation directors make $48,525 per year on average, or $23.33 per hour, in the United States. Recreation directors on the lower end of that spectrum, the bottom 10% to be exact, make roughly $30,000 a year, while the top 10% makes $77,000. Location impacts how much a recreation director can expect to make. Recreation directors make the most in California, Mississippi, Oregon, Arizona, and New York.

Updated February 6, 2023

Average Recreation Director Salary

$48,525yearly

$23.33 hourly

Entry level Salary

$30,000 yearly

$30,00010%

$48,525Median

$77,00090%

How much does a Recreation Director make?

Recreation directors make $48,525 per year on average, or $23.33 per hour, in the United States. Recreation directors on the lower end of that spectrum, the bottom 10% to be exact, make roughly $30,000 a year, while the top 10% makes $77,000.

Location impacts how much a recreation director can expect to make. Recreation directors make the most in California, Mississippi, Oregon, Arizona, and New York.

Highest Paying States For Recreation Directors

If both location and money are important to you, then you might want to check out moving to California, Mississippi and Oregon, as these three states offer the highest salaries throughout the U.S. for recreation directors. Quite opposite of that list is the lowest paying states, which are Kansas, Kentucky, and Georgia.

State View
County View

Average Salary:

Recreation Director average salary by State

Rank	State	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Count
1	Mississippi	$64,195	$30.86	319
2	California	$68,888	$33.12	659
3	New York	$58,328	$28.04	397
4	District of Columbia	$60,996	$29.32	50
5	Arizona	$58,906	$28.32	101
6	Wyoming	$51,821	$24.91	14
7	Oregon	$59,402	$28.56	56
8	Nevada	$49,486	$23.79	52
9	Alaska	$49,290	$23.70	31
10	North Carolina	$49,020	$23.57	169
11	Alabama	$45,783	$22.01	523
12	Connecticut	$51,266	$24.65	56
13	Washington	$51,724	$24.87	112
14	Massachusetts	$49,182	$23.65	213
15	West Virginia	$55,974	$26.91	6
16	Delaware	$53,789	$25.86	7
17	Rhode Island	$50,532	$24.29	10
18	Idaho	$51,019	$24.53	6
19	New Jersey	$46,257	$22.24	186
20	Hawaii	$48,375	$23.26	19
21	Colorado	$43,931	$21.12	137
22	Nebraska	$41,573	$19.99	45
23	Pennsylvania	$45,105	$21.69	156
24	New Mexico	$45,559	$21.90	26
25	Texas	$42,348	$20.36	361
26	Oklahoma	$39,086	$18.79	477
27	South Carolina	$41,469	$19.94	82
28	Maryland	$47,671	$22.92	83
29	Utah	$40,902	$19.66	71
30	North Dakota	$39,094	$18.80	18
31	Montana	$41,738	$20.07	17
32	South Dakota	$41,927	$20.16	8
33	Maine	$43,546	$20.94	9
34	Florida	$43,166	$20.75	225
35	Illinois	$41,096	$19.76	199
36	New Hampshire	$43,127	$20.73	19
37	Vermont	$41,208	$19.81	12
38	Virginia	$42,944	$20.65	150
39	Michigan	$39,066	$18.78	109
40	Ohio	$38,600	$18.56	120
41	Louisiana	$33,751	$16.23	503
42	Minnesota	$37,998	$18.27	101
43	Wisconsin	$37,175	$17.87	77
44	Arkansas	$35,808	$17.22	40
45	Kentucky	$35,347	$16.99	57
46	Georgia	$34,899	$16.78	209
47	Tennessee	$36,315	$17.46	55
48	Kansas	$35,395	$17.02	42
49	Missouri	$35,536	$17.08	78
50	Iowa	$34,292	$16.49	43
51	Indiana	$33,097	$15.91	62

Highest Paying Cities For Recreation Directors

Rank	City	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Count
1	Milpitas, CA	$72,885	$35.04
2	Corvallis, OR	$60,306	$28.99
3	New York, NY	$59,023	$28.38	1
4	Seattle, WA	$52,500	$25.24
5	Coventry, RI	$51,043	$24.54
6	Holyoke, MA	$50,880	$24.46
7	Las Vegas, NV	$49,167	$23.64
8	High Point, NC	$48,894	$23.51	1
9	Kailua, HI	$48,393	$23.27
10	Cherry Hill, NJ	$46,422	$22.32
11	Albuquerque, NM	$45,590	$21.92
12	Reading, PA	$45,486	$21.87
13	Thornton, CO	$43,532	$20.93
14	Fredericksburg, VA	$43,223	$20.78
15	Kissimmee, FL	$43,211	$20.77

Recreation Directors Salary Details

Average Recreation Director Salary Graph, Trends, and Summary

What is a Recreation Director's Salary?

Percentile	Annual Salary	Monthly Salary	Hourly Rate
90th Percentile	$77,000	$6,417	$37
75th Percentile	$62,000	$5,167	$30
Average	$48,525	$4,044	$23
25th Percentile	$37,000	$3,083	$18
10th Percentile	$30,000	$2,500	$14

Highest Paying Types of Recreation Directors

Job Title	Annual Salary	Monthly Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Openings
Day Camp Counselor	$29,384	$2,449	$14.13	32,895
Camp Counselor	$24,340	$2,028	$11.70	28,182
Program Lead	$100,727	$8,394	$48.43	61,632
Activities Leader	$30,329	$2,527	$14.58	35,544
Summer Camp Counselor	$25,618	$2,135	$12.32	31,954
Group Leader	$100,480	$8,373	$48.31	56,173

Here are the five companies hiring the most now:

Which Companies Pay Recreation Directors The Most?

According to our most recent salary estimates, Downtown United Soccer Club and Oregon State University are the highest paying companies for recreation directors.

Rank	Company	Average Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Openings
1	Downtown United Soccer Club	$48,544	$23.34
2	Oregon State University	$48,045	$23.10
3	Parker University	$47,671	$22.92
4	PruittHealth	$46,243	$22.23	11
5	Lago Mar Country Club	$45,549	$21.90
6	NHC	$43,964	$21.14	7
7	PlayCore	$43,906	$21.11
8	Daemen College	$43,075	$20.71
9	CareOne	$42,732	$20.54	46
10	MJHS Health System	$42,656	$20.51
11	Avalon Health Care Group	$42,474	$20.42	1
12	Associated Recreation Council	$41,902	$20.15
13	The Actors Fund	$40,221	$19.34
14	Jewish Federation of Southern New Jersey	$39,974	$19.22
15	Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts	$39,116	$18.81	2
16	The John Stewart Company	$39,111	$18.80
17	Good Neighbor Society	$38,870	$18.69
18	The Center for Health Care Services	$37,908	$18.23
19	Genesis HealthCare	$36,968	$17.77	62
20	The Good Samaritan Society	$36,510	$17.55	1

How Much Do Recreation Directors Make In Different Industries?

Here are some examples of how much a recreation director salaries can based on different industries:

The education industry pays recreation directors an average salary of $45,167
The government industry pay $43,785
The lowest paying industry for recreation directors is the non profits industry. Recreation directors in this industry earn an average salary of $33,800

Highest Paying Industries For Recreation Directors

Rank	Industry	Average Salary	Hourly Rate
1	Education	$45,167	$21.71
2	Government	$43,785	$21.05
3	Hospitality	$39,809	$19.14
4	Health Care	$38,729	$18.62
5	Non Profits	$33,800	$16.25

High Paying Recreation Director Jobs

Recreation Director Pay Trends

Average Recreation Director Salary Over Time

Compare salaries for individual cities or states with the national average.

Recreation Director Salary By Year

Year	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate	% Change
2023	$48,500	$23.33	+7.3%
2022	$45,000	$21.62	+4.9%
2021	$42,800	$20.56	+2.1%
2020	$41,900	$20.13	+2.7%
2019	$40,700	$19.58	+2.3%

Recently Added Recreation Director Salaries

Company	Job	Location	Date Added	Salary
The W Management Group LLC	Recreation Director	New York, NY	11/23/2022	$37,566
Genesis Healthcare	Recreation Director	Chester, PA	11/06/2022	$48,001
Genesis Healthcare	Recreation Director	Chester, PA	11/06/2022	$48,001
Genesis Healthcare	Recreation Director	Severna Park, MD	10/29/2022	$52,000
Genesis Healthcare	Recreation Director	Thornton, CO	10/26/2022	$37,566
Genesis Healthcare	Recreation Director	Thornton, CO	10/26/2022	$37,566
Genesis Healthcare	Recreation Director	Thornton, CO	08/19/2022	$37,566
Genesis Healthcare	Recreation Director	Thornton, CO	07/01/2022	$37,566
YMCA of Rock River Valley	Healthy Living & Recreation Director	Rockford, IL	06/23/2022	$42,000
City of Kansas City Missouri	Senior Recreation Director	Kansas City, MO	06/01/2022	$45,664

Recreation Director Salaries FAQs

What State Pays Recreation Directors The Most?

California pays Recreation Directors the most in the United States, with an average salary of $68,888 per year, or $33.12 per hour.

How Do I Know If I'm Being Paid Fairly As A Recreation Director?

You know if you are being paid fairly as a Recreation Director if your pay is close to the average pay for the state you live in. For example, if you live in Mississippi you should be paid close to $64,195 per year.

Have more questions? See all answers to common personal care and attendants questions.

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Updated February 6, 2023