The big business of summer camp

The duffel bags and shower caddies are being packed. Whether it’s a two-week day camp in a city park or an exclusive sleepaway tucked away in the Maine wilderness that charges $17,000 a kid, the 20,000+ camps scattered around the US are a huge business.

The state of summer camp: The US youth camp industry was worth an estimated $4.6 billion last year, according to an analysis from IBISWorld. As childcare costs skyrocket, so too have prices at summer camps, which have roared back to life after the industry took a $16 billion pandemic blow in 2020, according to the American Camp Association (ACA).

Inflation and rising labor costs have pushed up camp costs for families around the country:

• Day camps in 2024 cost an average of $87 per day, while overnight camps clock in at about $173 per day, according to the most recent data from the ACA.
• At the start of 2025, 25% of parents said they expected to spend over $2,000 on summer camps, according to a NerdWallet survey.
• And in expensive cities like NYC, that number can easily shoot past $10,000, with popular summer camps filling up 10 months before the start date.

The spending doesn’t stop there. Wealthy parents are inventing a whole new industry of camp amenities by shelling out for specialized laundry services to get the bug-spray smell out of everything, $125/hour packing helpers, and personal shoppers offering “new camper appointments” at children’s boutiques to get kids totally outfitted.—MM