California Boat Stats (Statistics)

CALIFORNIA BOATING

1. California has the largest combined ports in the nation -Los Angeles & Long Beach.

2. Long Beach is the Aquatic Capital of the U.S. with the nation's largest municipal marina.

3. California has approx. 25 ship / vessel museums.

4. San Francisco's annual Fleet Week in October is one of the most prestigious nautical events in the U.S. (LA Fleet Week is also noteworthy)

5. Shasta Lake is the Houseboat Capital of the World surpassing every other lake in 50 states in shoreline miles available per houseboat.

If you need a reason to embrace boating, 95% of power boats are manufactured in America (only 2% of clothing purchased in the U.S. is made here.)

There were approx. 670,102 boats registered in the State of California last year, accounting for 6.8% of all nationwide registrations. Florida is #1 in boat ownership, while California typically ranks 2 to 3. We annually rank 2nd in boat thefts under Florida. California doesn't appear to be the boating capital of the nation, but boat ownership fails to tell the whole story.

Boating Accidents

Operator inattention, improper lookout, operator inexperience, machinery failure, and alcohol use rank as the top five primary contributing factors in accidents.
Most common vessel types involved in reported accidents were 46% open motorboats
18% personal watercraft
16% cabin motorboats

Vessel types with the highest percentage of deaths were
47% open motorboats
15% kayaks
7% personal watercraft 

U.S. Recreational Boating Industry Sees Seventh Consecutive Year of Growth in 2018, Expects Additional Increase in 2019
The National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA), representing the nation's recreational boat, engine and marine accessory manufacturers, announced in January 2019 that retail unit sales of new powerboats were up! 3-4% expected annual growth.

4% in 2018
280,000 units
highest total since 2007
fishing is the most popular activity done aboard a boat
Recreational boating contributes approx. $170.3 billion to the U.S. economy
Activity supports an estimated 35,000 marine businesses and 691,000 direct and indirect American jobs.

The top ten states for recreational boating economic activity are:

Florida, $23.3 Billion
California, $13 Billion
New York, $8.4 Billion
Texas, $7.7 Billion
Michigan, $7.4 Billion
Washington, $6.9 Billion
New Jersey, $6.6 Billion
Tennessee, $6 Billion
North Carolina, $5.5 Billion
Missouri, $4.5 Billion

U.S. recreational boating industry key statistics and demographics

 $41 billion in 2018 U.S. sales of boats, marine products and services
280,000 new powerboats sold in 2018
95% recreational boats American made 
998,000 pre-owned boats (powerboats, personal watercraft, and sailboats)  sold in 2018,
12 million registered/documented boats in the U.S.
95% boats on the water (powerboats, personal watercraft, and sailboats that can be trailered by a vehicle to local waterways) are less than 26 feet in length.
62% boat owners have household income less than $100,000