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 your agency. Therefore, park and recreation professionals need data to identify the best practices to optimally serve their community.

NRPA Park Metrics is the most comprehensive source of benchmarks and insights for park and recreation agencies. Launched in 2009, these agency performance resources assist park and recreation professionals in the effective management and planning of their operating resources and capital facilities. This suite of tools allows park and recreation agencies to build customized reports that allow for comparisons with peer agencies, gain more funding support, improve operations and better serve their communities.

 

Park Metrics Survey and Custom Reports

NRPA Park Metrics Survey

Complete the Agency Performance Survey in NRPA Park Metrics and create custom reports that compare your agency to that of its peers. By entering your data, you ensure that your agency will be a part of the annual NRPA Agency Performance Review.

 

Access NRPA Park Metrics

 

 

 

NRPA Agency Performance Review

2026 NRPA Agency Performance Review

The 2026 NRPA Agency Performance Review presents the data and key insights from more than 900 park and recreation agencies collected by the Agency Performance Survey within Park Metrics. This annual report provides critical park and recreation metrics on budgets, staffing, facilities and more.

 

NRPA Agency Performance Review

 

 

 

Free Park Metrics Learning Opportunity

Park Metrics Skill Summit book preview

Whether you have never used Park Metrics and need the basics or are a seasoned user and want to learn how to maximize its benefits for your community, take this free course with flexible learning experiences. This self-paced Skill Summit will walk learners through:

  • The history of Park Metrics and what it is
  • Setting up and accessing your agency’s account
  • Contributing your agency’s data to the Park Metrics database
  • Retrieving national and custom data from the Park Metrics system
  • Success stories, tips and inspiration from peer professionals

Learners can choose to engage with the modules in any order, depending on interest and needs.

 

Park Metrics Skill Summit

 

Interactive Tools

2026 NRPA Agency Performance Review

Dig deeper into the 2026 NRPA Agency Performance Review with interactive figures presenting detailed crosstabs for every table and chart presented.

 

Explore the Data

 


Contact Us

Send your general NRPA Park Metrics inquiries to: Melissa May, Senior Research Manager

Send your technical/IT NRPA Park Metrics inquiries to: Greg Manns, Industry Insights

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