State parks directly employ roughly 4,100 Californians and support over 56,000 jobs.The operation and management of the state park system directly employs roughly 2,700 full-time employees and 1,400 part-time employees.

• A 1995 study showed that for every $1 million dollars in direct expenditures, state parks created 38.6 jobs.

State parks contribute to the creation of approximately 56,000 jobs through increased tourism, commerce, and recreation in communities across California.

• According to a 2006-2008 study, the California state parks helped create approximately 56,000 jobs and $2.3 billion in labor income.
• Almost 90 percent of all these job effects can be attributed to expenditures by day trip visitors to the state park system.
• State parks support outdoor recreation, which provides enormous economic benefits. In 2008, outdoor recreation generated over $20 billion in spending on travel and equipment, an estimated $40 billion in annual statewide sales across all economic sectors, and supported roughly 313,000 jobs — or about 1.5 percent of all jobs in California in 2008.

State parks can also help support job creation in rural or otherwise job-scare regions.

• The same study found that distribution of SPS-related jobs was substantially different than that of California as a whole.

Outdoor recreation in California is an economic engine.

• The Outdoor Industry Association found in California alone that outdoor recreation generates $30.4 billion in wages and salaries, $92 billion in consumer spending and $6.2 billion in state and local tax revenue.
• Outdoor recreation creates jobs in California. The Outdoor Industry Association in the same report found that outdoor recreation employees more than 691,000 Californians, more than the wine and film industry combined (516,000).