Recreation / Activities Worker
What Does a Professional in this Career Do?
A Recreation or Activities Worker leads tours and vacation trips in outdoor or wilderness areas. Leads hiking, rafting, canoeing, climbing or diving activities for a group. Provides specialized knowledge about the history, terrain, ecology or wildlife for the tour. Manages transportation, equipment and provisions and assists with cooking.
Job Outlook
There were 1871 Recreation / Activities Worker job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 68719 in the United States.
In combination with other careers in the Recreation / Activities Worker industry, which includes the Recreation / Activities Worker career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2015:
Salary
Many new Recreation / Activities Worker jobs have salaries estimated to be in the following ranges, based on the requirements and responsibilities listed in job postings from the past year.
National
The average estimated salary in the United States for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $36,181.
State
The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $36,793.
Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Recreation / Activities Worker postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $26,999.
Education and Experience
Posted Recreation / Activities Worker jobs typically require the following level of education. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list education requirements.
| Education Level | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Associate's Degree | 0% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 13.81% |
| Master's Degree | 2.45% |
| Doctoral Degree | 0.54% |
| Other | 45.45% |
Posted Recreation / Activities Worker jobs typically require the following number of years of experience. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.
| Years of Experience | Percentage |
|---|---|
| 0 to 2 years | 83.07% |
| 3 to 5 years | 14.72% |
| 6 to 8 years | 1.36% |
| 9+ years | 0.86% |
Skills
Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Recreation / Activities Worker positions expect applicants to have as well as the most common skills that distinguish individuals from their peers. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is also listed.
Baseline Skills
A skill that is required across a broad range of occupations, including this one.
- Communication (35.86%)
- Planning (29.19%)
- Customer Service (24.57%)
- Management (18.49%)
- Leadership (15.98%)
- Professionalism (11.74%)
- Sales (11.37%)
- Operations (11.34%)
- Innovation (10.36%)
- Coordinating (10.03%)
Necessary Skills
A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.
- Working With Children (18.76%)
Distinguishing Skills
A skill that may distinguish a subset of the occupation.
- Recreational Therapy (17.93%)
Alternative Job Titles
Sometimes employers post jobs with Recreation / Activities Worker skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:
- Activities Assistant
- Summer Camp Counselor
- Activities Coordinator
- Activities Aide
- Camp Counselor
- Recreation Assistant
- Memory Care Activities Assistant
- Recreation Aide
- Recreation Coordinator
- Summer Day Camp Counselor
Similar Occupations
If you are interested in exploring occupations with similar skills, you may want to research the following job titles. Note that we only list occupations that have at least one corresponding NC State Online and Distance Education program.
Common Employers
Here are the employers that have posted the most Recreation / Activities Worker jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.
United States
- Bass Pro Shops (4337)
- YMCA (2141)
- Life Time (714)
- Eagle Care (581)
- Sunrise Senior Living (503)
- Urban Outfitters (364)
- ProMedica (339)
- Life Care Centers of America (326)
- The Salvation Army (297)
- American Senior Communities (282)
North Carolina
- YMCA (127)
- Bass Pro Shops (56)
- City Of Greensboro (50)
- Five Star Senior Living (30)
- City of Raleigh (29)
- Life Time (23)
- City of Durham (22)
- Mecklenburg County (22)
- University of North Carolina (21)
- North Carolina State University (21)
NC State Programs Relevant to this Career
If you are interested in preparing for a career in this field, the following NC State Online and Distance Education programs offer a great place to start!
- Parks, Recreation, Tourism and Sport Management Master's Degrees
- Youth Development and Leadership Graduate Certificates
All wages, job posting statistics, employment trend projections, and information about skill desirability on this page represents historical data and does not guarantee future conditions. Data is provided by and downloaded regularly from Lightcast. For more information about how Lightcast gathers data and what it represents, see Lightcast Data: Basic Overview on Lightcast's Knowledge Base website.