Recreation Director salary

Q: 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.

Q: 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.

Average recreation director salary

$48,525

$23.33 hourly rate

Entry-level recreation director salary

$30,000 yearly salary

Updated January 8, 2025

How much does a recreation director make?

The average recreation director salary in the United States is $48,525. Recreation director salaries typically range between $30,000 and $77,000 yearly. The average hourly rate for recreation directors is $23.33 per hour.

Recreation director salary is impacted by location, education, and experience. Recreation directors earn the highest average salary in California.

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Where can a Recreation Director earn more?

Compare salary by location

86k

66k

46k

26k

Columbus, OH$72,885

Chattanooga, TN$36,398

Compare salary by company

67k

47k

27k

Downtown United Soccer Club$48,544

The Good Samaritan Society$36,510

Recreation Director salary estimates from across the web

Based on the latest salary information compiled by Zippia, Salary.com, Glassdoor, Ziprecruiter, Comparably and Payscale, the average salary for a recreation director typically falls between $48,525 and $71,372.

zippia

$48,525yearly

glassdoor[1]

$70,976yearly

comparably[2]

$51,786yearly

Salary.com[3]

$64,996yearly

ZipRecruiter[4]

$71,372yearly

payscale[5]

$52,263yearly

Average recreation director salary by state

Highest paying states for recreation directors

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

Top recreation director jobs near you

Highest paying cities for recreation directors

The highest-paying cities for recreation directors are Milpitas, CA, Corvallis, OR, and New York, NY.

Rank	City	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate
1	Milpitas, CA	$72,885	$35.04
2	Corvallis, OR	$60,306	$28.99
3	New York, NY	$59,023	$28.38
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
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
16	Concord, NH	$42,170	$20.27
17	Dallas, TX	$42,039	$20.21
18	Columbia, SC	$41,525	$19.96
19	Rockford, IL	$40,657	$19.55
20	Chattanooga, TN	$36,398	$17.50

Recreation Director salary details

A recreation director's salary ranges from $30,000 a year at the 10th percentile to $77,000 at the 90th percentile.

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 recreation director jobs

The highest paying types of recreation directors are senior counselor, director, and program lead.

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

Top companies hiring recreation directors now:

Which companies pay recreation directors the most?

Recreation director salaries at Downtown United Soccer Club and Oregon State University are the highest-paying according to our most recent salary estimates. In addition, the average recreation director salary at companies like Parker University and PruittHealth are highly competitive.

Rank	Company	Average Salary	Hourly Rate
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
5	Lago Mar Country Club	$45,549	$21.90
6	NHC	$43,964	$21.14
7	PlayCore	$43,906	$21.11
8	Daemen College	$43,075	$20.71
9	CareOne	$42,732	$20.54
10	MJHS Health System	$42,656	$20.51
11	Avalon Health Care Group	$42,474	$20.42
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
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
20	The Good Samaritan Society	$36,510	$17.55

Wage gap by gender, race and education

$52,000$51,400$50,800$50,200$49,600$49,000

MaleFemale

Recreation Director salary by industry

The average recreation director salary varies across industries:

The average recreation director salary in the education industry is $45,167, the highest of any industry.
The average recreation director salary in the finance industry is $43,785.
Recreation directors in the non profits industry earn an average salary of $33,800, the lowest of any industry.

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 salary trends

The average recreation director salary has risen by $10,766 over the last ten years. In 2014, the average recreation director earned $37,759 annually, but today, they earn $48,525 a year. That works out to a 19% change in pay for recreation directors over the last decade.

Compare recreation director salaries for cities or states with the national average over time.

Average recreation director salary over time

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

National Average
Columbus, OH

Recreation Director salary by year

Year	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate	% Change
2025	$48,500	$23.33	+7.3%
2024	$45,000	$21.62	+4.9%
2023	$42,800	$20.56	+2.1%
2022	$41,900	$20.13	+2.7%
2021	$40,700	$19.58	+2.3%

Recently added recreation director salaries

Company	Job	Location	Date Added	Salary
Firstservice Corporation	Lifestyle/Recreation Director	Naples, FL	12/17/2024	$75,000
Thewesterncoloradouniversity	Director of Campus Recreation	Gunnison, CO	12/16/2024	$58,000
Devonshire Care Center	Recreation Director NE	Hemet, CA	12/16/2024	$52,175
The W Management Group LLC	Recreation Director	New York, NY	12/12/2024	$39,653
Genesis Healthcare LLC	Recreation Director	Albuquerque, NM	12/11/2024	$52,175
Western	Director of Campus Recreation	Gunnison, CO	12/09/2024	$58,000
Genesis Healthcare LLC	Recreation Director	Warren, RI	12/08/2024	$58,436
Genesis Healthcare LLC	Recreation Director	Bowie, MD	12/08/2024	$48,001
Thewesterncoloradouniversity	Director of Campus Recreation	Gunnison, CO	12/06/2024	$58,000
Genesis Healthcare LLC	Recreation Director	Philadelphia, PA	12/05/2024	$70,000

Recreation Director salary FAQs

What state pays Recreation Directors the most?

How do I know if I'm being paid fairly as a Recreation Director?

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Updated January 8, 2025

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