Results in from nonprofit survey

Americans for the Arts, a national service group for municipal arts agencies, released the latest study Wednesday of the economic effect of the arts in the U.S. Billed as “the most comprehensive ever,” it looked at 2005 spending by nonprofit arts and culture groups in 116 cities and counties, 35 regions and five states.

The report estimates that arts nonprofits spent $63.1 billion in 2005 and that their direct economic effect totaled $166.2 billion when what patrons said they paid for transportation, meals, baby-sitters and other incidentals was factored in.

In terms of spending per capita, Pasadena’s arts organizations, at $962, came in second only to Washington, D.C.’s, at $1,140. Wyoming’s Teton County (which includes Jackson Hole) and Laguna Beach spent $957 and $951, respectively. Other big spenders were Miami, St. Paul, Minneapolis, San Francisco, Miami Beach, Fullerton (home of a new performance center on its Cal State campus), Philadelphia and New Brunswick, N.J.

L.A. and New York were excluded as cultural behemoths that would skew the results, and two-thirds of the organizations in eligible communities excluded themselves by failing to return survey forms.