Marinas in the United States and the Gulf of Mexico Region

Abstract

In this issue, Dr. Posadas compiled and summarized the trends in the number, wages, salaries, and earnings of workers and owners of marinas from 2014 to 2020. The socioeconomic characteristics of workers and owners in 2016 and 2020 were compared. These long-term data on seafood and full-service restaurants illustrate the significance of the industry in the national and Gulf economies. The direct impacts of the global pandemic on marinas are presented in annual percent changes.

Keywords

Marinas; gross regional product; jobs; wages, salaries, and earnings; socioeconomic characteristics; workers and owners

Acknowledgment

This newsletter is a contribution of the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station and the Mississippi State University Extension Service. This material is based upon work that is supported in part by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Hatch project under accession number 081730 and National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (Office of Sea Grant, U.S. Dept. of Commerce, under Grant NA10OAR4170078, Mississippi Alabama Sea Grant Consortium).

Gross Regional Product

The NAICS (2021) sector 713930 comprises establishments, commonly known as marinas, engaged in operating docking and/or storage facilities for pleasure craft owners, with or without one or more related activities, such as retailing fuel and marine supplies; and repairing, maintaining, or renting pleasure boats.

The gross regional product (GRP), also called regional gross domestic product (GDP), is the market value of all goods and services produced within a given area over a specific period and is a good measure of the size, income, and productivity of a regional economy (EMSI, 2021).

The GRP of marinas in the U.S. continued to rise since 2015 reaching $2.9 B in 2020. In the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) region, the GRP of marinas rose consistently since 2015 reaching more than $700 M in 2020.

Figure 1. Gross regional product of U.S. marinas. Source of raw data: EMSI.

Figure 2. Gross regional product of GoM region marinas. Source of raw data: EMSI.

Figure 3. Gross regional product of Alabama marinas. Source of raw data: EMSI.

Since 2015, the GRP of marinas in Alabama continued to rise reaching its peak at $40 M in 2020. The GRP of marinas in Mississippi rose to $7.8 M in 2020. The GRP of marinas in Louisiana started to decline since 2018 until 2020. In 2020, the GRP of the marinas in Louisiana significantly fell by -5.3%.

Figure 4. Gross regional product of Mississippi marinas. Source of raw data: EMSI.

Figure 5. Gross regional product of Louisiana marinas. Source of raw data: EMSI.

Employment And Wages, Salaries, And Earnings

Marinas directly provided over 53,000 jobs per year in the U.S. during the past seven years.
About -4.4 percent of marina jobs in the U.S. were lost during the global pandemic in 2020.
The five GoM states (AL, FL, LA, MS, and TX) added about 12,000 marina jobs during the period.
Approximately -1.7 percent of the marina jobs in the GoM were lost in 2020 during the global pandemic.

Figure 6. U.S. and Gulf of Mexico states marina employees, self-employed, and extended proprietors. Source of raw data: EMSI.

Marinas provided 761 jobs per year in the Alabama (Fig. 6). Alabama lost -3.4% of marina jobs in 2020.
Marinas created 207 jobs per year in the Mississippi. Mississippi did not lose any marina jobs in 2020.
Marinas generated 538 jobs per year in the Louisiana. Louisiana lost -4.1% of marina jobs in 2020.

Figure 7. Northern Gulf of Mexico states marina employees, self-employed, and extended proprietors. Source of raw data: EMSI.

Figure 8. U.S. and GoM marina wages, salaries, and earnings. Source of raw data: EMSI.

The combined wages, salaries, and proprietor earnings of workers and owners of marinas averaged $35,000 per job during the past seven years (Fig. 7).
The annual pay of workers and owners of marinas in the five Gulf of Mexico States averaged $37,000 per person or 5% more than the national average.

Industry Breakdown Of Employees And Owners By Gender

The 2020 industrial overview released by EMSI (April 2021) showed that approximately 52.9% of the marina workers and owners in the U.S. are males.
In the Gulf States, 56.5% of the marina workers and owners are males (Table 1).

Table 1. Distribution of U.S. and Gulf of Mexico States marina employees, self-employed, and extended proprietors by gender. Source of raw data: EMSI.

Industry Breakdown Of Employees And Owners By Race Or Ethnicity

The 2020 industrial overview disseminated by EMSI (April 2021) also categorized the workers and owners by race or ethnicity (Table 2).

Most of the workers in the U.S. are White (79.6%), followed by Hispanic (9.9%), African American (6.5%), & Asian (2.2%).
The rest are with two or more races (1.4%), Native Hawaiian (0.1%), & American Indian (0.3%).
In the Gulf States, relatively more Hispanic (17.3%) and African American (9.8%) workers and owners are involved in the marina industry.
Fewer White (69.3%) and Asian (2.3%) workers and owners are engaged in marinas in the Gulf States.

Table 2. Distribution of marina employees, self-employed, and extended proprietors by race or ethnicity. Source of raw data: EMSI.

Relatively higher percentages of workers and owners of marinas in the U.S. were observed among Hispanic and African American workers and owners in 2020 as compared in 2016.
Lower proportion was detected among White and Asian workers and owners of marinas in the U.S. in 2020 as compared in 2016.

Industry Breakdown Of Employees And Owners By Age

The 2020 industrial overview published by EMSI (April 2021) also classified the workers and owners by age (Table 3).

v 7.8% of the U.S. marina workers and owners are 65 + years old.
v 13.9% of the workers and owners were 55-64 years old.
v The 45-54 years old group added 15.2.
v The 35-44 years old consisted of 19.5%.
v The 25-34 years old added 23.0%.
v 19-24 years old workers and owners consisted of 13.2%.
v The youngest employees and owners comprised 7.4%.
Workers and owners of marinas in the Gulf States are relatively older than the national average.
U.S. and Gulf marina workers and owners averaged 39.5 and 40.7 y.o., respectively.

Table 3. Distribution of marina employees, self-employed, and extended proprietors by age group. Source of raw data: EMSI.

Relatively more 65 & above, 25-34, 19-24, and 14-18 years-old marina workers and owners in the U.S. were reported in 2020.
However, there was a decline among 55-64, 45-54, and 35-44 years-old marina workers and owners in the U.S. in 2020.
On average, U.S. workers and owners in marinas are relatively older in 2020 (33.8 y.o.) compared in 2016 (33.7 y.o.).

Summary

Marinas in the U.S. provided over 50,000 jobs during the past two years, but the global pandemic eliminated -4.4% in 2020.
The Covid-19 global pandemic also caused significant reductions in marina jobs of workers and owners in 2020 in the Gulf region and individual states.
The annual gross regional product of marinas in the U.S. recently reached over $2.8 B and not affected by the global pandemic in 2020.