Also called: Fair CEO, Fairgrounds General Manager
Runs a state or county fair and its fairgrounds all year: rides, livestock shows, concerts, food vendors, budgets and the board.
In February you are booking the grandstand concerts and signing the carnival company. In August you sleep little, walking the barns at 6 a.m., checking the midway, settling a vendor fight and doing a TV interview. The rest of the year you rent the grounds for gun shows, weddings and RV rallies.
County fairs pay modestly; the biggest state fairs pay chief executives far more.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 4 years after high school. Bachelor's in agriculture, business or event management helps; many start as fair staff or 4-H volunteers.
Ways in: 4-year college, On-the-job training, Certification. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Agricultural Business, Hospitality & Event Management, Business Administration.
Growing about average. About 3,000 fairs run each year in the US.
Low risk for 10 years. AI helps with ticketing and scheduling; running a live, crowded fair with animals and rides stays human.
Classes: Agriculture CTE class, Business class, Speech and Debate.
Official data: O*NET occupation 11-1021.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.