Average ticket price (ATP)

ATP = box office gross ÷ admissions. A screen that took 4,000 in a week from 500 tickets has an ATP of 8.00. Every box office total is admissions multiplied by ATP, so a change in revenue is always one, the other or both. Nationally, the US average was $11.31 in 2025 according to The Numbers; Cinema United’s survey tracked it from 1989 to 2022.

Decide once whether you calculate it on gross or net of ticket tax and booking fees, and keep to it. Comparing a net ATP this year with a gross one last year produces a price rise that never happened. Free and complimentary tickets also pull the average down, so many operators report ATP on paid admissions only.

Mix moves ATP more than list price. More matinees, discount days, children's tickets or member pricing lower it. More premium-format or recliner seats and more evening shows raise it, without any price change. That is why ATP by screen, format and daypart tells you more than one site-wide figure.

Raising ATP is not the same as keeping the money. Film rental is a percentage of box office, so part of every price rise goes to the distributor; a rise in spend per head does not. Used together with admissions and occupancy, ATP shows whether growth came from more people or from charging the same people more. For pricing tactics see dynamic pricing, for the national series see US movie theater attendance and ticket prices, and for reporting by screen see Filmgrail Insights.