Recognizing the wants and needs of the residents they serve, park and recreation professionals are keenly aware of the necessary balance between providing vital services and working within the confines of budgetary restrictions. Maintaining accurate knowledge of current assets and planning for future needs are critical for every park and recreation agency. To assist individual agencies in evaluating their programs and making critical decisions that will benefit their communities, NRPA collects annual nationwide data on characteristics of agencies, including types of programs offered, size of population served, budget and staffing.

The typical park and recreation agency offers one park for every 2,437 residents served, with 10 acres of parkland per 1,000 residents. But park and recreation agencies are as diverse as the communities that they serve, and what works well for one agency may not be best for all.

The 2026 NRPA Agency Performance Review is a comprehensive resource of data and insights for park and recreation agencies in the United States. The report highlights 27 of the most critical park and recreation metrics collected from the NRPA Park Metrics database. Through the interactive tool below and within NRPA Park Metrics , agency professionals can filter these national results by population, budget, region and more to create peer-level results.

Read the Report