What is our Cultural Economy?

We believe Duncanville should test before it builds, measure before it scales, and invest when the evidence warrants it. Public and private resources are too valuable to commit to permanent projects based on assumptions about what people might use, attend, or support. By activating existing spaces, observing real participation and spending, and measuring what creates lasting value for artists, businesses, property owners, and residents, we can make better decisions about our cultural economy.

Understanding our Cultural Market

Duncanville is home to nearly 39,000 people and more than 13,000 households. Median household income is approximately $76,000, only about 5% below the national median. Federal consumer-spending data suggests that American households at this income level spend meaningful amounts each year on concerts, theater, museums, movies, books, classes, and other cultural experiences.

What we do not know is how Duncanville residents spend those dollars.

Do residents buy tickets to concerts and performances? Do they purchase original art, prints, and books? What price points work? How often do residents participate in paid cultural activity? Do they spend those dollars in Duncanville, elsewhere in North Texas, or online?

The Cultural Investment Strategy is designed to find out.

Over a 12-month period, the Duncanville Arts Foundation will use exhibitions, performances, publications, and other arts experiences as opportunities to observe actual consumer behavior. Rather than measuring success primarily through attendance, the CIS will examine transactions: what people choose to buy, how much they spend, what kinds of experiences generate repeat purchases, and where opportunities exist to keep more cultural spending within Duncanville.

Bureau of Labor Statistics data suggests that households within Duncanville’s median income range collectively represent millions of dollars in potential annual spending across arts-related categories. The CIS will test what that market actually looks like here.

The result will be a clearer picture of Duncanville’s cultural economy: what residents value, what they will pay for, which forms of arts activity demonstrate sustainable demand, and where future cultural investment has the greatest opportunity to succeed.

Our goal is to replace assumptions about the arts with evidence about how Duncanville actually spends.

Sources

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. “Consumer Expenditure Surveys LABSTAT Database.” Consumer Expenditure Surveys, U.S. Department of Labor, 7 Jan. 2026, https://www.bls.gov/cex/data.htm. Accessed 18 Aug. 2026.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. “Consumer Expenditure Surveys LABSTAT Database Getting Started Guide.” Consumer Expenditure Surveys, U.S. Department of Labor, 19 Dec. 2025, https://www.bls.gov/cex/labstat/ce-labstat-getting-started-guide.htm. Accessed 18 Aug. 2026.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. “Consumer Expenditure Surveys Tables: Getting Started Guide.” Consumer Expenditure Surveys, U.S. Department of Labor, 8 Apr. 2026, https://www.bls.gov/cex/tables-getting-started-guide.htm. Accessed 18 Aug. 2026.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. “Glossary.” Consumer Expenditure Surveys, U.S. Department of Labor, 12 Dec. 2025, https://www.bls.gov/cex/csxgloss.htm. Accessed 18 Aug. 2026.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. “Table 1203. Income before Taxes: Annual Expenditure Means, Shares, Standard Errors, and Relative Standard Errors, Consumer Expenditure Surveys, 2024.” Consumer Expenditure Surveys, U.S. Department of Labor, https://www.bls.gov/cex/tables/calendar-year/mean-item-share-average-standard-error/cu-income-before-taxes-2024.xlsx. Accessed 18 Aug. 2026. 

U.S. Census Bureau. “QuickFacts: Duncanville City, Texas.” QuickFacts, U.S. Department of Commerce, https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/duncanvillecitytexas/PST045225. Accessed 18 Aug. 2026. 

U.S. Census Bureau. “QuickFacts: United States.” QuickFacts, U.S. Department of Commerce, https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/PST045225. Accessed 18 Aug. 2026.