The July issue of RV News magazine provides a state-by-state review into the RV industry’s direct and indirect impact on state economies.
The RV industry has a large impact on the outdoor recreation industry, as well. According to 2023 Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) data, the RV-related companies segment was second only to the boating/fishing-related companies among outdoor recreation segments.
Examining the RV-related companies segment’s impact relative to the outdoor recreation industry, one state stands out from the rest. Indiana’s RV-related companies accounted for nearly 30% of the outdoor recreation gross domestic product (GDP) in the state, according to the BEA.
BEA measures GDP as value-added calculations, which are the difference between gross output and intermediate inputs. The total is the sum of an industry’s compensation to employees, taxes on production and imports, less subsidies and gross operating surplus. By this measurement, BEA calculated RV-related companies’ impact as $56.78 billion.
Indiana was the only state where RV-related companies provided more than 10% of the total outdoor recreation GDP. Oregon was second at 8.5%—more than 21% behind. Maine (7.72%), Idaho (7.71%) and Iowa (7.3%) rounded out the top five.
Among the next five states where RV-related companies provided the largest share of total outdoor recreation GDP, Oklahoma ranked sixth at 6.71%, followed by South Dakota in seventh (6.66%), Montana eighth (6.55%), New Hampshire ninth (6.49%) and Michigan 10th (5.96%).
Among the smallest shares were Rhode Island (1.53%), Massachusetts (1.57%), Illinois (1.94%), New Jersey (2.18%) and New York (2.32%).
Numerous top 10 states by RV-related companies’ share of overall outdoor recreation GDP had a smaller overall direct economic impact.
Idaho ranked 26th among all states in direct economic impact at $305.49 million. By comparison, Indiana ranked first at $4.698 billion.
Maine (27th, $265 million), New Hampshire (28th, $250.7 million), Montana (30th, $221.8 million) and South Dakota (40th, $128.3 million) had smaller overall impact but larger shares of the total outdoor recreation GDP.
Indiana is the home to Forest River, Thor Industries, Winnebago towables, Grand Design RV, Newmar, Rev Recreation Group motorhomes and other independent manufacturers such as Alliance RV, Brinkley RV and Ember RV.
Indiana also hosts a vast OE supplier base, including large companies such as divisions of Airxcel, and other suppliers such as Dometic, Genesis Products, Lippert and Patrick Industries.
