September 2019 - Parks & Recreation - 94

NRPA UPDATE
The 2019 NRPA Park and
Recreation Salary Survey
A good starting place for park and rec salary examinations
By Melissa May

O

ne word often comes up when describing park and recreation employees - passion. Passion for the natural environment, for the
mission of parks and recreation and, especially, for the residents of
their local community. The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that there
were more than 157,000 full-time employees of local park and recreation
agencies throughout the United States in 2017, with several hundred thousand more part-time and seasonal workers.

It is these skilled teams that program events, maintain facilities
and otherwise ensure that all U.S.
residents can access and enjoy all
that their local park and recreation
agencies have to offer. While an
innate passion and enthusiasm
drive these dedicated individuals
to work daily, fair compensation is
necessary in retaining and further
recruiting the best employees.
The 2019 NRPA Park and Recreation Salary Survey report features
detailed base salary and bonus
data, including sample job descriptions, for 10 typical park and recreation agency positions:
* Park and Recreation Agency Director (or Executive Director or
Superintendent)

* Planning Director (or Superintendent)
* Director of Finance (or Administrative Director or Business Manager)
* Recreation Director (or Recreation Superintendent or Assistant Director - Recreation)
* Park Operations Director (or
Maintenance Director or Maintenance Superintendent)
* Park Operations (or Maintenance Foreman)
* Facilities Manager
* Athletics Supervisor (or Athletics Manager)
* Aquatics Supervisor (or Aquatics Manager)
* Recreation Programs Coordinator (or Recreations Programs
Manager)

SALARIES TYPICALLY ARE HIGHER
FOR THOSE WITH:

Greater professional
experience

92

Parks & Recreation

Greater education
attainment

| S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 9 | W W W. PA R K S A N D R E C R E AT I O N . O R G

A professional
certification

Many factors, such as region, education, certification, agency size,
years of professional experience and
more, go into an agency's base salary
and bonus structure. These factors
are acutely important in the field of
parks and recreation because of the
uniqueness of each agency and make
the 2019 NRPA Park and Recreation
Salary Survey report a good starting
place for salary examinations.
Aside from detailed base salary
and bonus data for the 10 positions
previously mentioned, the salary
survey report touches on another
area of importance to employees -
benefits. An agency's benefits package can either " make it or break it "
for recruiting and retaining the best
candidates. The 2019 NRPA Park
and Recreation Salary Survey report
gives an overview of the typical
leave time, health insurance premiums, retirement plans and salary
or bonus adjustment determinants
found at park agencies throughout
the United States. It also dives into
various minimum-wage policies
and the factors used to determine
seasonal workers' starting wages.
The passionate individuals of
parks and recreation strive to enhance the community experience of
each resident who visits their facilities or attends their programs. While
they are not looking for praise, they
are well within their rights to make
a decent living doing what they love,
which, in turn, makes their community healthy and vibrant.
Visit
www.nrpa.org/publica
tions-research/research-papers/
salary-survey-results for more
information about the salary survey or to download a summary
of, or access, the full report.
- Melissa May, NRPA's Senior
Research Manager
September 2019 - Parks & Recreation

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of September 2019 - Parks & Recreation
