Line up shifts with activities
If two activities need the same worker, switch who covers which before participants arrive.
Career profile
Recreation Manager
Recreation managers choose which leisure activities run, schedule the staff, and keep spending within budget.
Someone proposes a new sports league, and you take it on: find a venue, coordinate everyone involved and judge what spending it can support.
A day in the life
Build the spending plan
Total up staff pay and supply costs, weigh them against income, and adjust the budget before spending anything.
Rethink a class few attend
Pull attendance records, talk with local residents, then judge whether a new time or activity fits better.
Catch worn gear early
Walk the site, examine rooms and gear for damage or wear, and flag repairs before they interrupt activities.
Settle a participant's complaint
Hear out a participant's problem, explain the site's policies, and resolve the dispute over service or scheduling.
Quick facts
Degree + related experience
United States
$79,520/year
United States · May 2025
6% projected growth
United States · 2025–2035
Quick orientation
Preparation, pay & outlook
Preparation
Degree + related experienceA bachelor's degree is a common route. Employers also look for recreation and supervisory experience; some accept experience-based alternatives.
Pay
$79,520/yearMedian for entertainment and recreation managers, except gambling—a broader group than recreation managers.
Outlook
6% projected growthFor entertainment and recreation managers, except gambling, over 2025–2035; not a recreation-only forecast.
Fit, tradeoffs & changing tools
You might like this if…
- You enjoy organizing activities and figuring out who needs to be where.
- You are willing to check costs as carefully as you plan the activity.
- You can listen to an upset person and still make a clear decision.
Things to weigh
- Evening and weekend programs can put your working hours outside a regular weekday schedule.
- Complaints can become heated. You need to stay composed while explaining decisions people may dislike.
- Budgets and reports take substantial attention, even when the programs themselves are active and social.
Where AI may help
Registration software keeps enrollment records together; attendance reports help you see which programs people use.
What people still lead
You still weigh community requests, coach employees, and explain why a program should change.
What we can’t predict yet
How much scheduling and program planning can be automated will depend on whether tools can handle changing staff availability and competing community needs.
Pay in context
Earnings
These national figures cover entertainment and recreation managers, except gambling, including jobs beyond recreation management.
National midpoint
The median was $79,520 a year, equivalent to $38.23 an hour. This is not a starting-pay estimate.
The spread
The lowest-paid 10% earned below $46,270; the highest-paid 10% earned above $139,110. These are wage percentiles, not career stages.
Workplace pay context
Annual medians were $97,410 in local government excluding schools and hospitals, $79,570 in accommodation and food services, and $72,150 in fitness and recreational sports centers.
Openings include replacement hiring
The broader occupation has about 5,100 projected openings annually during 2025–2035, alongside 6% employment growth. Openings include replacing workers who leave the occupation.
Getting started
Combine college with supervisory experience
- What the route involves
- Study recreation administration or a related field, then build responsibility supervising recreation programs and staff.
- What it can lead to
- This can meet degree-based manager requirements. Auburn, Washington, requires a related bachelor's degree and four years of increasingly responsible supervisory experience.
- What to check
- Auburn also requires a valid state driver's license. Other employers set their own qualifications.
Build toward facility leadership through experience
- What the route involves
- After high school, accumulate relevant experience in community programming, recreation management, or sports management.
- What it can lead to
- Kansas City, Missouri, accepts high school graduation plus five years of qualifying experience for Senior Recreation Director, a role directing activities at a recreation facility.
- What to check
- This is an employer-specific alternative, not a rule for all manager jobs. The city requires a background check.
Build experience running programs and supervising people. Education requirements depend on the employer and the size of the job.
After entry
Career paths
This starts where the entry routes leave off: early work, growing capability, and advancement or specialization.
Get established
Learn the facility calendar, budget, and staff responsibilities. Make sure you can keep existing programs running before proposing major changes.
Improve a program
Use attendance records and community feedback to revise an activity, then check whether participation improves.
Move toward department leadership
A possible next target is parks and recreation director. Build experience with larger budgets, long-range plans, and presenting recommendations to public boards.
Where you can work
Municipal recreation departments
You balance community requests, facility rentals, and public budgets. Work can move between an office, community meetings, and outdoor site visits.
- Office
- Indoors
- Outdoors
Resorts and cruise ships
Programs serve vacationing guests of different ages. Resorts may need extra hours during peak seasons; ships combine activities such as children's crafts and adult exercise.
- Indoors
- Outdoors
- Shift work
Try it
See whether the job clicks before you commit to the path.
On paper, plan a two-hour recreation session with one room, two staff members, and a pretend $100 supply budget. Then remove one staff member and revise the plan. Notice whether you enjoy making choices about time, money, and coverage.
Sources
- O*NET OnLine. Entertainment and Recreation Managers, Except Gambling — 11-9072.00. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational projections and worker characteristics. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Entertainment and Recreation Managers. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- City of Auburn. Recreation Manager — Class Specification. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- City of Kansas City, Missouri. Senior Recreation Director — Job Class Specification. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- City of Reno. Recreation Manager — Class Specification. Accessed 2026-10-03.