US movie theater attendance and average ticket price by year
How many tickets US cinemas sold each year since 2000, and what the average ticket cost. Two sources are shown side by side: The Numbers, which publishes both series, and Cinema United (formerly NATO), whose average-price survey is the figure the trade quotes.
The headline
- US cinemas sold about 769 million tickets in 2025, slightly up on 2024's 761 million but 37% below 2019's 1.23 billion [1].
- Attendance peaked at 1.57 billion in 2002 and drifted down for the next 17 years, before the pandemic cut 2020 to 232 million [1].
- The average ticket was $11.31 in 2025, against $9.16 in 2019 and $5.39 in 2000 [1]. Cinema United's survey matches The Numbers almost exactly up to 2022, its last published year [2].
Box office held up better than attendance because prices kept rising. Per head, each ticket sold in 2025 brought in more than twice what one did in 2000. Some of that is inflation, and some is the shift towards premium formats and recliner seating.
Tickets sold per year
Show the data as a table
| Year | Tickets sold (millions) |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 1,402m |
| 2001 | 1,437m |
| 2002 | 1,570m |
| 2003 | 1,529m |
| 2004 | 1,512m |
| 2005 | 1,377m |
| 2006 | 1,406m |
| 2007 | 1,406m |
| 2008 | 1,360m |
| 2009 | 1,418m |
| 2010 | 1,327m |
| 2011 | 1,285m |
| 2012 | 1,354m |
| 2013 | 1,345m |
| 2014 | 1,279m |
| 2015 | 1,333m |
| 2016 | 1,317m |
| 2017 | 1,231m |
| 2018 | 1,300m |
| 2019 | 1,230m |
| 2020 | 232m |
| 2021 | 444m |
| 2022 | 702m |
| 2023 | 819m |
| 2024 | 761m |
| 2025 | 769m |
Average movie ticket price by year
Show the data as a table
| Year | Average ticket price |
|---|---|
| 2000 | $5.39 |
| 2001 | $5.66 |
| 2002 | $5.81 |
| 2003 | $6.03 |
| 2004 | $6.21 |
| 2005 | $6.41 |
| 2006 | $6.55 |
| 2007 | $6.88 |
| 2008 | $7.18 |
| 2009 | $7.50 |
| 2010 | $7.89 |
| 2011 | $7.93 |
| 2012 | $7.96 |
| 2013 | $8.13 |
| 2014 | $8.17 |
| 2015 | $8.43 |
| 2016 | $8.65 |
| 2017 | $8.97 |
| 2018 | $9.11 |
| 2019 | $9.16 |
| 2020 | $9.18 |
| 2021 | $10.17 |
| 2022 | $10.53 |
| 2023 | $10.94 |
| 2024 | $11.31 |
| 2025 | $11.31 |
Year by year
| Year | Tickets sold | Average price (The Numbers) | Average price (Cinema United) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 769,291,881 | $11.31 | – |
| 2024 | 760,830,308 | $11.31 | – |
| 2023 | 819,032,718 | $10.94 | – |
| 2022 | 702,129,599 | $10.53 | $10.53 |
| 2021 | 444,031,934 | $10.17 | $10.17 |
| 2020 | 231,577,194 | $9.18 | $9.18 |
| 2019 | 1,229,721,892 | $9.16 | $9.16 |
| 2018 | 1,300,110,438 | $9.11 | $9.16 |
| 2017 | 1,230,826,450 | $8.97 | $8.97 |
| 2016 | 1,316,638,202 | $8.65 | $8.65 |
| 2015 | 1,332,772,937 | $8.43 | $8.43 |
| 2014 | 1,279,377,790 | $8.17 | $8.17 |
| 2013 | 1,345,458,705 | $8.13 | $8.13 |
| 2012 | 1,353,708,235 | $7.96 | $7.96 |
| 2011 | 1,284,597,417 | $7.93 | $7.93 |
| 2010 | 1,326,671,872 | $7.89 | $7.89 |
| 2009 | 1,418,477,842 | $7.50 | $7.50 |
| 2008 | 1,360,466,657 | $7.18 | $7.18 |
| 2007 | 1,406,380,234 | $6.88 | $6.88 |
| 2006 | 1,406,162,470 | $6.55 | $6.55 |
| 2005 | 1,377,063,148 | $6.41 | $6.41 |
| 2004 | 1,512,171,872 | $6.21 | $6.21 |
| 2003 | 1,528,593,882 | $6.03 | $6.03 |
| 2002 | 1,569,961,063 | $5.81 | $5.80 |
| 2001 | 1,437,343,101 | $5.66 | $5.65 |
| 2000 | 1,401,780,369 | $5.39 | $5.39 |
The Numbers revises earlier years between updates: the 2023 total read 827.9 million in December 2025 and 819.0 million a month later. The Numbers has also said that its Q2 2026 average of $12.27 was about 5% above 2025, which suggests its revised 2025 average is higher than the $11.31 shown here. Cinema United's admissions series covers the US and Canada together: 1.244 billion in 2019 and 1.383 billion in 2000.
What to do with these numbers
A national average ticket price is a poor guide to your own pricing. It mixes Manhattan premium seats with rural matinees. Use it to see the direction of the market, then price from your own room, your own competition and your own sales by showtime. For the money side see how movie theaters make money, dynamic pricing and the screening break-even calculator. For screen and site counts see how many movie theaters there are, and for the money see cinema industry statistics.
Sources
Every figure on this page comes from one of these. Where two sources disagree, the disagreement is stated rather than averaged away.
- The Numbers (Nash Information Services), Movie Market Summary 1995 to 2026. web.archive.org/web/20260124035736/https://www.the-numbers.com/market.
- Cinema United (then NATO), Annual Average U.S. Ticket Price. web.archive.org/web/20240217075334/http://www.natoonline.org/data/ticket-price.
- Cinema United (then NATO), U.S./Canada admissions. web.archive.org/web/20231130150649/http://www.natoonline.org/data/admissions.
Frequently asked questions
What is the average movie ticket price in the US?
$11.31 in 2025, according to The Numbers. It was $9.16 in 2019 and $5.39 in 2000. Cinema United's survey, which stopped in 2022, put the 2022 average at $10.53.
How many movie tickets are sold in the US each year?
About 769 million in 2025 and 761 million in 2024, according to The Numbers. Before the pandemic it was 1.2 to 1.4 billion a year, with a peak of 1.57 billion in 2002.
Is movie theater attendance going down?
It fell slowly from 2002 to 2019, collapsed in 2020, recovered to 819 million in 2023, and has stayed around 760 to 770 million since. Revenue has fallen less, because the average ticket price has kept rising.
What was the average movie ticket price in 2019?
$9.16, according to both The Numbers and Cinema United (then NATO).
Using these figures
Quote them, chart them, put them in a deck or a board paper. No permission needed and no attribution required, though a link back to this page is appreciated and lets a reader check the working.
If a figure here looks wrong to you, it might be: sources in this industry revise, and some of them disagree with each other by more than you would expect. Tell us what you are seeing and we will correct the page and say that we did.
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