STURGIS, S.D. – A study completed by Texas A&M University shows that the City of Sturgis Motorcycle Rally generates an estimated $784.1 million to the economy of South Dakota.
“That’s about 1.3% of the total South Dakota GDP (Gross Domestic Product),” Sturgis City Manager Daniel Ainslie said at the 2022 Post Rally Summit in Sturgis Tuesday.
The $784.1 million figure represents the impact generated when direct and indirect multipliers are considered. The study showed that nearly $45 million in state and local sales tax collected is related to Rally business.
The Texas A&M figures are calculated using the estimated attendance at the 82nd Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. This year that attendance was estimated at 505,000. The metrics used to arrive at those numbers include comparing amount of garbage hauled from Sturgis, temporary vendor sales, traffic at Mount Rushmore National Memorial, South Dakota Department of Transportation traffic counts and counts of photos taken on Sturgis Main Street.
The numbers also were broken down into spending per person. That showed that rallygoers spent $798.14 in the Sturgis area during their stay and $557.94 outside the Sturgis area for the duration of their stay.
The spending is broken down even further showing that rallygoers spent $174.94 per day in the Sturgis area and $122.29 outside the Sturgis area. So, within the Sturgis area total spending was about $396 million. And, within South Dakota, excluding the Sturgis area, an estimated $247.2 million was spent.
Total spending within South Dakota was estimated at $643.2 million.
