Where the middle 50% lands.
Half earn between $37k and $128k. That band is the interquartile range. The 90th percentile sits at $227k, roughly 3.1 times the median. That upper tail is where the largest organizations cluster.
| Percentile | Total comp | Means |
|---|---|---|
| 90th | $227,086 | Top 10% of earners |
| 75th | $127,767 | 25% earn more than this |
| 50th · median | $73,540 | The typical executive |
| 25th | $36,795 | 25% earn less than this |
| 10th | $13,552 | 10% of executives earn less than this |
How the package is built.
The typical pay structure across 1,978 organizations with full Schedule J reporting (20% of the 9,781 orgs in this slice). Each share is the average across orgs of the fraction of total comp that goes to this component, so the bar fills 100%.
The number in context.
Every row links to its own dedicated benchmark page.
All figures are median total reported compensation · IRS Form 990, Schedule J
Pay varies by state.
District of Columbia pays $59,886 more than the median Executive Director compensation in arts, culture & humanities nationally.
The ten highest-paid arts, culture & humanities Executive Directors by filing.
| # | Organization | Location | Total compensation | Filing year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Contracommon | Bee Cave, TX | $5,199,996 | 2023 |
| 02 | Metropolitan Museum Of Art | New York, NY | $3,280,613 | 2023 |
| 03 | The Carnegie Hall Corporation | New York, NY | $2,699,180 | 2023 |
| 04 | New Jersey Performing Arts Center Corporation | Newark, NJ | $1,909,404 | 2023 |
| 05 | Lincoln Center For The Performing Arts Inc | New York, NY | $1,903,839 | 2023 |
| 06 | Museum Associates | Los Angeles, CA | $1,865,018 | 2023 |
| 07 | John F Kennedy Center For The Performing Arts | Washington, DC | $1,460,095 | 2023 |
| 08 | Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation | Brighton, MA | $1,447,857 | 2023 |
| 09 | Fox Theatre Inc F/K/A Atlanta Landmarks Inc | Atlanta, GA | $1,357,579 | 2024 |
| 10 | Public Broadcasting Service | Arlington, VA | $1,283,131 | 2023 |
Total includes base, bonus, other reportable, and deferred/retirement compensation per Schedule J.
What does a $X org pay?
Adjust the slider to your organization's revenue. The median Executive Director compensation for arts, culture & humanities nonprofits in that revenue band updates live.
{sector} {role} pay, answered
- How much does a Arts, Culture & Humanities nonprofit Executive Director make?
- The median total compensation for a Executive Director at a arts, culture & humanities nonprofit is $73,540, based on 9,781 organizations in IRS Form 990 filings. The middle 50% fall between $36,795 and $127,767.
- What is the salary range for a Executive Director in Arts, Culture & Humanities nonprofits?
- Pay ranges from $36,795 at the 25th percentile to $127,767 at the 75th and $227,086 at the 90th. The spread reflects differences in organization size, budget, and region within the sector.
- Is this Arts, Culture & Humanities compensation data reliable?
- Yes. It comes from IRS Form 990 filings, legal documents filed under penalty of perjury, not self-reported surveys. Figures cover 9,781 arts, culture & humanities nonprofits reporting a Executive Director.
- Why does Arts, Culture & Humanities nonprofit Executive Director pay differ from other sectors?
- Compensation reflects the typical organization size, revenue, and operating complexity of each sector. Larger, better-funded arts, culture & humanities organizations pull the upper percentiles higher, while smaller ones anchor the lower end.