Drive into Moab, Utah, on almost any weekend in spring or fall and the traffic tells the story before any study could. Lifted rigs on oversized tires roll down Main Street past rental shops stacked with side-by-sides. Trailers fill the motel lots. Gas stations and diners do brisk business before dawn as convoys head out toward the slickrock. For decades, everyone in town has understood that off-roading keeps the place going. Now there is a number attached to it: $178.7 million a year.
That figure comes from the first economic impact study ever done on off-roading in Moab. It was commissioned by the Off-Road Business Association (ORBA), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA), and carried out by the research firm Oxford Economics. ORBA officials said the work shows the economic value of motorized recreation to the local community, adding to the cultural weight off-roading already carries there.
Breaking Down the $178.7 Million
The study's headline number is the total annual economic impact, but the parts beneath it say more about how off-road money flows through a small desert town. According to ORBA, the key findings are:
Total annual economic impact of $178.7 million. Direct spending impact of $140.9 million. State and local tax revenue of $13.5 million. More than 1,100 jobs supported in 2025. Wage and benefit income of $36.5 million.
The gap between direct spending and total impact is the familiar ripple effect economists measure. Money a visitor spends on a guided tour pays a guide's wages, which get spent at a grocery store, which buys from a supplier, and so on. The direct figure is what visitors and riders put into the local economy themselves. The total adds that secondary activity on top.
For a town of Moab's size, the jobs number stands out. More than 1,100 positions tied to one form of recreation is a significant share of the working population in a place that sits far from any major city, where tourism is the dominant private industry.
Where Off-Roaders Actually Spend Their Money
The study also split direct spending by category, and the breakdown is a good portrait of an off-road trip. Transportation led at $54.5 million. Stores and retail followed at $40 million, then food and beverage at $20.5 million, lodging at $13.7 million and recreation at $12.2 million.
Transportation coming out on top makes sense to anyone who has made the trip. Moab is a destination people drive to, often from hundreds of miles away, and many arrive towing a trail rig or pulling a camper. Fuel for the tow vehicle, fuel for the trail machine, parts, repairs and rentals all add up. Off-road driving is hard on equipment, and the shops that fix broken axles and torn tires on a Sunday afternoon are part of that economy too.
The $40 million in stores and retail points to the gear side of the hobby: recovery equipment, spare parts, camping supplies, clothing and souvenirs. Food and lodging round out the picture of a visitor who stays for several days rather than passing through. Recreation spending, at $12.2 million, captures the guided tours, rentals and outfitters that let people without their own built rig experience the trails.
The Case ORBA Is Making
ORBA is not shy about what it wants the study to do. The organization's regional economic research aims to document, with credible local data, how motorized recreation contributes to jobs, small businesses, tourism and the broader economy. The subtext is land access. Most of the terrain that draws off-roaders to Moab sits on public land, and decisions about which routes stay open are made through federal and state planning processes where economic data carries real weight.
Sean P. Holman, ORBA's executive director, laid it out directly. "This study demonstrates why the off-road industry is worth protecting and a necessary stakeholder in discussion of land use and stewardship across America," he said. "While this inaugural study focused on Moab, its findings underscore the significant economic benefits that motorized off-road recreation brings to communities across the country. These results serve as a powerful reminder of the industry's value to local businesses, workers and economies, and complement existing national studies to provide a more complete picture of off-roading's economic importance to our nation."
ORBA officials said that putting a dollar figure on off-road recreation in Moab reinforces the importance of keeping trails, public lands and recreation opportunities open for the businesses, workers and communities that rely on them. The organization argues that for many communities motorized recreation is not just a pastime but a real economic engine.
Voices From the State and the Trailhead
The study drew support from Utah's own outdoor recreation office. Jason Curry, director of the Utah Division of Outdoor Recreation, tied the findings to planning and stewardship. "OHV recreation is a huge factor in Moab's outdoor economy, contributing to local businesses, jobs and families," Curry said. "This study helps us better understand that economic contribution and how to best plan for the future. By working together with our partners to maintain trails and encourage responsible and safe riding, we can care for these landscapes and keep recreation opportunities available for generations to come."
Local operators spoke to the human side of the numbers. KaLeigh Welch, owner and director of operations at Ride Moab Industries, described the work as personal. "Motorized recreation is more than an economic driver for our family and our business; it's a way of life," she said. "It supports local families while giving people a meaningful way to experience the outdoors, build confidence and find a sense of freedom and connection. We're incredibly grateful to make our living sharing something we love while helping others develop a genuine appreciation and respect for the public lands that we're fortunate to enjoy."
Jennifer Johnson, owner of Epic 4×4 Adventures, traced the money from the trail into town. "Responsible motorized recreation and public land stewardship go hand in hand—and both are woven into Moab's economic fabric," Johnson said. "At Epic 4×4 Adventures, we're proud to create good jobs, invest in our community and contribute to the economic vitality of Moab and the broader state of Utah while introducing visitors from around the world to this extraordinary landscape. Those visitors stay in our hotels, eat in our restaurants, shop in our stores, buy fuel and support countless local businesses. The $178.7 million economic impact and more than 1,100 jobs reinforce what we see every day: responsible recreation helps sustain Moab's economy and the people who call this community home."
Johnson's list, hotels, restaurants, stores and fuel, lines up closely with the study's spending categories. It is the kind of on-the-ground confirmation that makes a consultant's model easier to believe.
Why Moab Became the Proving Ground
It is no accident that ORBA picked Moab for its first local study. The town is to off-roading roughly what Augusta is to golf. Its sandstone fins, ledges and steep slickrock climbs offer terrain found in few other places, and trails such as Hell's Revenge have become rites of passage for four-wheelers. The annual Easter Jeep Safari, which has run for decades, brings thousands of vehicles and their owners to town each spring, and aftermarket companies routinely use the week to show new builds and parts.
Moab also sits at the edge of two national parks, Arches and Canyonlands, which means off-roaders share the region with hikers, mountain bikers, climbers and sightseers. That mix produces constant debate over how public land around the town should be used and which routes should stay open to motorized traffic. Hard economic numbers give the off-road community a stronger seat in those talks.
The brand most closely tied to the town is formalizing its own role. Jeep was recently named the Official 4×4 of Moab under a two-year community partnership with the city. The agreement will fund trail stewardship, community events and responsible off-road recreation, the same priorities the study's supporters keep returning to.
Stewardship as the Price of Access
A theme runs through nearly every quote attached to the study: responsibility. Curry talks about maintaining trails and encouraging safe riding. Welch speaks of building respect for public lands. Johnson argues that stewardship and motorized recreation "go hand in hand." That framing is deliberate. The off-road community knows its access depends partly on its reputation, and that every damaged route, illegal shortcut or trash-strewn campsite becomes an argument for closing more land.
For the individual driver, the message is fairly direct. Stay on designated routes, tread lightly, pack out what you bring, and support the shops and guides in the towns that host you. Each of those choices feeds into the kind of data ORBA is now collecting, and each helps make the case that keeping trails open is good for the local economy as well as the people who drive them.
More Studies to Come
ORBA described this as an inaugural study, and Holman said it complements existing national research on off-roading's economic importance. Expect the approach to spread. If $178.7 million and more than 1,100 jobs can be documented for one desert town, other off-road hubs across the West and beyond have every reason to want their own numbers on paper when land-use decisions come around. For Moab, the figures confirm what the traffic on Main Street already showed: the trails are not just a place to play, they are the town's livelihood.
