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Hiring an entertainment and recreation manager in Modesto, CA

Employers in the Modesto, CA area pay entertainment and recreation managers, except gambling a median of $75,590, with the middle half of the market between $60,450 and $90,080. Modesto residents working in management occupations report a median of $88,607, which is 17% above what the metro pays for this role.

What does an entertainment and recreation manager earn here?

Place of work

What employers pay

Annual wages paid by employers in the Modesto, CA area. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
25th percentile$60,450
Median$75,590
75th percentile$90,080

Half of entertainment and recreation managers, except gambling in this area earn between $60,450 and $90,080. A band set below $60,450 competes for the bottom quarter of the market.

Place of residence

What Modesto residents earn

$88,607

Median earnings of Modesto residents working in management occupations, 7,704 people. Census ACS 5-year 2023, tables S2401 and B24011. Where people live, not where they work, so it is not the same measurement as the wages beside it.

The 17% figure is not a pay gap. ACS counts the civilian employed population 16 and over, part-time and part-year work included; OEWS counts wage-and-salary jobs only. The two populations differ, so read this number against other cities rather than as a shortfall: the same definitional difference applies to every city equally, which is what makes a city-to-city reading sound.

Residents here already earn more than this role pays, so your offer is competing with whatever they currently commute to.

What does the role actually involve?

Core tasks

  • Administer first aid in emergency situations.
  • Assign tasks and work hours to staff.
  • Calculate and record department expenses and revenue.
  • Clean equipment and areas of amusement park, cruise ship, or other recreational facility.
  • Explain rules and regulations of facilities and entertainment attractions to customers.

O*NET 29.1, task statements for SOC 11-9072.

Tools and technologies in demand

Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office software, Adobe Acrobat, Apple macOS, Atlassian Confluence, Cisco Webex, Facebook, Google Docs.

O*NET 29.1, flagged in demand or hot for this occupation. Useful as a screen, not as a checklist.

Is the talent actually in Modesto?

This is a job zone four: considerable preparation needed occupation. Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.

That matters here, because 20.3% of Modesto adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher. That is a thin local pool for a degree-requiring role, so expect to recruit across the metro rather than inside the city. Census ACS 5-year 2023, table S1501.

The average Modesto commute runs 29.7 minutes, which is roughly how far your catchment reaches before candidates start saying no. 7.3% already work from home, so a fully onsite requirement here is competing against that.

How often do these jobs turn over?

In Stanislaus County, management of companies and enterprises employs 1,438 and turns over 4.6% a quarter, with 94 hires against 150 separations. Average earnings in that industry run $6,835 a month. Census LEHD Quarterly Workforce Indicators, 2024 Q1, NAICS 55.

That figure covers every occupation in the industry, not this role alone, so read it as the local churn rate rather than as a number about entertainment and recreation managers, except gambling. It still tells you what you are hiring into: a low-churn market, where people do not move often and passive candidates are the whole game.

What does the search cost?

The fee is set by the seniority of the role, never by salary and never by location. Across all six tiers it runs $6,240 to $54,340 per search. A contingency firm hiring at this role's median would bill roughly $15,118 to $22,677 on the first year salary alone.

One owner runs the search from market map to signed offer. Searches typically fill in 23 to 35 days, which is a typical window rather than a promise, and the replacement guarantee runs 45 days at 50% off.

Price this search

Eight questions about the role. Your tier range appears on screen.

Hiring an entertainment and recreation manager somewhere else?

Same role, different market. The wage band moves with the metro.

Other management roles in Modesto

Related

Modesto is the 20th largest of 21 California cities in this dataset.