Visitor statistics
How many people visit Gateway Arch?
Last verified NPS Visitor Use Statistics1979–2025
2,209,028 recreation visits in 2025, #15 of 63 national parks. The record is 1996 (3,649,308). Every year since 1979, straight from the National Park Service’s own counts, including the years before it became a national park in 2018.
- 2025 visits
- 2,209,028
- −13.8% vs 2024
- Rank, 2025
- #15
- of 63 national parks
- Record year
- 1996
- 3,649,308 visits
- vs 2015
- +30.0%
- ten-year change
- vs 1979
- +18.8%
- since the first full year
- Busiest month ever
- Jul 1982
- 1,341,013 visits
1979–2025
Every year since the counts began
Recreation visits per calendar year, as reported to the NPS Visitor Use Statistics office. The 2025 bar is highlighted; a missing bar means the park did not report all twelve months that year.
Show the full table (47 years) ↓
| Year | Recreation visits | Change | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2,209,028 | −13.8% | #15 |
| 2024 | 2,563,052 | +5.8% | #14 |
| 2023 | 2,422,836 | +49.7% | #16 |
| 2022 | 1,618,774 | +41.4% | #17 |
| 2021 | 1,145,081 | +135.6% | #24 |
| 2020 | 486,021 | −76.4% | #31 |
| 2019 | 2,055,309 | +1.9% | #15 |
| 2018 | 2,016,180 | +44.2% | #14 |
| 2017 | 1,398,188 | +9.9% | #20 |
| 2016 | 1,271,855 | −25.1% | #21 |
| 2015 | 1,698,656 | −6.5% | #15 |
| 2014 | 1,817,091 | −23.6% | #12 |
| 2013 | 2,377,258 | −4.8% | #9 |
| 2012 | 2,496,726 | +10.5% | #9 |
| 2011 | 2,259,020 | −7.3% | #10 |
| 2010 | 2,436,110 | +3.2% | #11 |
| 2009 | 2,360,109 | +20.7% | #10 |
| 2008 | 1,954,810 | −18.1% | #11 |
| 2007 | 2,385,387 | −7.3% | #10 |
| 2006 | 2,572,072 | −12.7% | #7 |
| 2005 | 2,944,976 | +6.0% | #5 |
| 2004 | 2,779,350 | +3.5% | #8 |
| 2003 | 2,685,219 | −19.4% | #8 |
| 2002 | 3,333,454 | −5.6% | #5 |
| 2001 | 3,532,524 | +2.1% | #3 |
| 2000 | 3,458,956 | −0.6% | #3 |
| 1999 | 3,481,042 | +1.8% | #4 |
| 1998 | 3,420,352 | +0.0% | #6 |
| 1997 | 3,420,076 | −6.3% | #6 |
| 1996 | 3,649,308 | +12.8% | #4 |
| 1995 | 3,234,977 | +26.7% | #5 |
| 1994 | 2,553,696 | +0.5% | #9 |
| 1993 | 2,539,740 | +5.1% | #9 |
| 1992 | 2,415,514 | −7.9% | #7 |
| 1991 | 2,622,425 | +10.1% | #7 |
| 1990 | 2,382,612 | −5.4% | #7 |
| 1989 | 2,518,712 | +1.7% | #7 |
| 1988 | 2,477,458 | +4.8% | #7 |
| 1987 | 2,364,694 | +2.3% | #8 |
| 1986 | 2,311,147 | +8.0% | #8 |
| 1985 | 2,140,316 | +25.2% | #8 |
| 1984 | 1,709,993 | −42.0% | #11 |
| 1983 | 2,948,022 | −0.7% | #3 |
| 1982 | 2,967,323 | +30.0% | #3 |
| 1981 | 2,282,261 | +18.3% | #9 |
| 1980 | 1,928,825 | +3.7% | #9 |
| 1979 | 1,859,431 | — | #9 |
By decade
The long view
- 1970s
- 1.86 million
- avg · 1 yr
- 1980s
- 2.36 million
- avg · 10 yrs
- 1990s
- 2.97 million
- avg · 10 yrs
- 2000s
- 2.8 million
- avg · 10 yrs
- 2010s
- 1.98 million
- avg · 10 yrs
- 2020s
- 1.74 million
- avg · 6 yrs
Seasonality: in 1979–1983 the three busiest months carried 61% of the year’s visits; in 2021–2025 they carried 48% — visits have spread out across the year.
Average visits by month
2021–2025 · NPS IRMAJFMAMJJASOND
Quietest: JanuaryBusiest: July
The weather page puts these crowd levels beside each month’s temperatures.
About these numbers
Figures are the National Park Service’s monthly recreation-visit counts, retrieved from its public statistics service and summed by calendar year. A year is shown only when all twelve months were reported. The NPS revises recent months occasionally, so small differences from a later nps.gov table are normal. Rankings compare the 63 national parks for the same year. See every park ranked for 2025.
Sources · 2
- 1.NPS Visitor Use Statistics — monthly recreation visits by park, 1979–2025 · National Park Service (U.S. Department of the Interior)
- 2.NPS Visitor Use Statistics Definitions · National Park Service
FAQ
Gateway Arch visitor questions
- How many people visit Gateway Arch National Park each year?
- 2,209,028 recreation visits in 2025, ranking #15 of the 63 national parks. The 2010s averaged 1,982,639 a year.
- What was Gateway Arch's busiest year?
- 1996, with 3,649,308 recreation visits — +65.2% more than 2025. The single busiest month on record was July 1982 (1,341,013 visits).
- Is Gateway Arch getting more crowded?
- 2025 visits were +30.0% compared with 2015 and −25.0% compared with 2005. The low point of recent years was 2020 (486,021).
- What counts as a recreation visit?
- The NPS counts a recreation visit as one person entering the park for recreation; someone who leaves and re-enters is counted again, and commuters, through-traffic and staff are excluded. Counts come from gate and traffic counters with park-specific multipliers, so they are estimates.
- Why does the record start before Gateway Arch became a national park?
- The NPS counts visits by park unit, and the unit kept the same statistics code when it was redesignated a national park in 2018. Earlier years are visits to the same place under its previous designation.
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