If there’s one thing music and culture fans will remember about 2023, it’s likely to be the Eras Tour. Taylor Swift consumed the country this summer, playing shows across the United States and grossing more in ticket sales than any artist has before. Swift has incredible power both as an artist and a business woman. We are dazzled by her influence and skill, while also remaining starkly aware that she has lots of work left to do.
Because of the staggering ticket prices this summer, Swift was inaccessible to much of her Gen Z fanbase. With a heavy Millennial following, Swift is making it financially difficult for younger audiences to hop aboard the train. We owe it to the icons of our age to take an unbiased look at their impacts, both positive and negative. There are costs to the empire Swift has built; with that much power comes lots of waste. While Swift works hard to give back to the communities that lift her up, there have undoubtedly been great costs to her success. What follows is a closer look at Taylor Swift, by the numbers.
67
The number of weeks Swift’s albums have spent in the No. 1 spot of the Billboard. This is equivalent to one year, three months, and two weeks. (The Tennessean)
$70,779
The estimated value of the 12,622 gallons of jet fuel Swift has used in the past three months to see her boyfriend, Travis Kelce. (carbonherald.com)
$16,000
Profit from one woman’s Etsy sales on Eras Tour friendship bracelets (Business Insider)
55%
The percent of Taylor Swift fans who identify as Democrats. (Forbes)
$200 million
The amount Swift has made from the sale of t-shirts and other merchandise with her name on it this year (Forbes)
74%
The percent of Taylor Swift fans that are white. (Forbes)
$320 million
Boost to the LA County economy after her six shows in the city. (Washington Post)
$4.1 billion
The estimated personal earnings from the Eras Tour (Washington Post) This makes Swift’s earnings the highest from any single tour for a musical act to date. It is also more money than the annual economic output of 42 countries across the world. (Washington Post)
$456
The average ticket price for an Eras Tour show this year.
$1,611
The ticket resale price on SeatGeek, one of the resale websites which bought tickets from Ticketmaster before the class-action lawsuit that followed.
$5.7 billion
The Eras Tour’s boost to the U.S. economy. This is enough to give every American citizen $17.10. (Washington Post)
20
The number of U.S. cities in which Swift performed this summer (Washington Post)
$3 million
The Etsy revenue from friendship bracelets sold between April and August of 2023. (Washington Post)
$1,279
The average amount an Eras Tour concert-goer spent. This includes food costs from the concert, travel and lodging, merch purchased, attire, and the ticket itself. (Washington Post)
53%
The percent of adults in America who say they are fans of Taylor Swift. (Forbes)
$100,000
This is the amount Swift gave each truck driver in bonuses over the course of the summer (People Magazine)
20,000
The number of Taylor themed donut orders in Kansas City which she was in town. These donuts led to the creation of “Tayl-gating,” a staple at Eras shows. (Washington Post)
$1 million
The amount Swift donated to the Tennessee Emergency Fund in November after deadly tornadoes swept through the greater Nashville area. (Fox Business)
45%
The percent of Swifties that are millennials. Just 11% are Generation Z (26 and younger.) (Forbes)
