More than 1 million attended the 2018 Washington State Fair. Report shows increasing revenues

After drawing more than 1.1 million attendees, the Washington State Fair officially came to a close Sunday.

This year’s attendance is on par with last year’s, said fair spokeswoman Stacy Van Horne.

The most recent annual report on fair operations was released in December. It showed the fair growing its revenue while saving on expenses. In 2016, the fair recorded $31 million in revenue and $30 million in expenses. In 2017, it was $32 million in revenue and $29 million in expenses.

Fair officials are currently working on the latest numbers for this year’s fair.

In 2017, the Washington State Fair:

• Paid more than $955,000 admission taxes and fees to the city of Puyallup

• Paid more than $1.2 million in property taxes

• Collected 168,000 pounds of food for the Puyallup Food Bank

• Hosted events 162 days out of the year

• Hired 7,500 fair-time employees