Unfortunately, the measurement and metrics around EA are quite weak and have not yet been brought together. We do not, for example, have numbers around how many people are EAs (no matter what definitions we use), any understanding of total exposure, etc.
We could improve this by getting as many people as possible to take at least a first page of questions or two on the annual EA census. Among other things that helps establish a lower bound number of people who are EA’s by some definition and their basic characteristics. I remember that around the time the last one was done there were estimates that the total number of EAs was in the low 1000′s. I have no sense of how its grown since then but I have no sense that its exploded so you seem right to that extent.
We could improve this by getting as many people as possible to take at least a first page of questions or two on the annual EA census. Among other things that helps establish a lower bound number of people who are EA’s by some definition and their basic characteristics. I remember that around the time the last one was done there were estimates that the total number of EAs was in the low 1000′s. I have no sense of how its grown since then but I have no sense that its exploded so you seem right to that extent.