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Updated through 2024NTEE A · Arts, Culture & Humanities

Arts, Culture & Humanities nonprofitexecutive pay

Median top-executive pay across 17,106 arts, culture & humanities nonprofits, 2019 – 2024. Each organization is counted once at its most recent filing, using the highest-paid leader reported on IRS Form 990, Schedule J.

Organizations that promote the arts, culture, and the humanities, including performing and visual arts, museums, historical societies, and humanities programs.

Median executive pay
$58,760
The typical arts, culture & humanities nonprofit's highest-paid executive earns $58,760 in total reported compensation.
25th pct
$23k
75th pct
$106k
90th pct
$191k
17,106 organizations · 2019 – 2024
Percentile distribution

Where the middle 50% lands.

Half earn between $23k and $106k. That band is the interquartile range. The 90th percentile sits at $191k, roughly 3.2 times the median. That upper tail is where the largest organizations cluster.

PercentileTotal compMeans
90th$190,896Top 10% of earners
75th$105,94425% earn more than this
50th · median$58,760The typical executive
25th$22,69025% earn less than this
10th$7,10010% of executives earn less than this
By organization size

Bigger budgets, bigger paychecks.

Median executive pay rises with organization revenue. Each band shows the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentile of top-executive pay for arts, culture & humanities nonprofits in that revenue range.

Revenue band25thMedian75thOrgs
Under $1M$14k$37,456$67k11,916
$1M – $10M$87k$125,000$180k4,363
$10M – $100M$240k$342,226$522k774
$100M – $500M$569k$823,592$1.4M49
Revenue bands with fewer than 5 organizations are not shown.
Geography

Pay varies by state.

District of Columbia pays $59,352 more than the national median across arts, culture & humanities nonprofits.

By role

Benchmark a specific Arts, Culture & Humanities role

Drill into median pay for individual leadership roles within arts, culture & humanities nonprofits.

Board & trustee pay

Arts, Culture & Humanities board & trustee pay norms

9% of arts, culture & humanities nonprofits pay at least one board member or trustee, with a typical per-person payment of $16,516 across a median board of 4 paid members.

Organizations paying board members
9%
Median board pay
$16,516
Median paid board size
4
By filing type
Form 990: 10%
Form 990-EZ: 7%
Form 990-PF: 9%
Directory

Museums, performing arts organizations, historical societies, media outlets, and other nonprofits focused on arts, culture, and the humanities. Includes visual arts, music, theater, film, and cultural preservation. There are 43,040 arts, culture & humanities organizations in our database with compensation data from IRS Form 990 filings. Use the table below to browse them, or sort by revenue, location, or number of reported executives.

Organizations in Arts, Culture & Humanities

43,040 organizations · Page 10 of 861

Name
City
State
Revenue
Executives
SIGNATURE THEATRE INCArlingtonVA$20M6
PEABODY ESSEX MUSEUM INCSalemMA$20M8
Brothers for LifeSeattleWA$19.9M4
The Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach IncPalm BeachFL$19.8M1
Trustees of the American School of Classical Studies at AthensPrincetonNJ$19.8M9
RADIANT LIFE MINISTRIES INCMarionIL$19.7M5
WISCONSIN HISTORICAL FOUNDATION INCMadisonWI$19.6M1
BLAIR HOUSE FOUNDATIONWashingtonDC$19.5M2
NATIONAL COAST GUARD MUSEUM ASSOCIATION INCNew LondonCT$19.5M7
SAN FRANCISCO JAZZ ORGANIZATIONSan FranciscoCA$19.5M9
NATIONAL CORVETTE MUSEUM FOUNDATION INCBowling GreenKY$19.5M10
THE INTERNATIONAL COALITION OF SITES OF CONSCIENCENew YorkNY$19.4M7
COLORADO SYMPHONY ASSOCIATIONDenverCO$19.4M19
PACIFIC SCIENCE CENTER FOUNDATIONSeattleWA$19.3M9
SALVADOR DALI MUSEUM INCSt PetersburgFL$19.2M4
NEW ENGLAND FOUNDATION FOR THE ARTS INCORPORATEDBostonMA$19.2M9
EXCELLENCE INITIATIVERedmondWA$19.1M0
USS MISSOURI MEMORIAL ASSOCIATION INCAieaHI$19M8
COUNCIL ON AMERICAN-ISLAMIC RELATIONS CALIFORNIAAnaheimCA$18.9M11
FORT WORTH ART ASSOCIATIONFort WorthTX$18.9M11
HISTORIC TENNESSEE THEATRE FOUNDATIONKnoxvilleTN$18.7M2
FINE ARTS MUSEUMS FOUNDATIONSan FranciscoCA$18.7M2
ORANGE COUNTY MUSIC AND DANCE INCIrvineCA$18.6M2
CINCINNATI ARTS ASSOCIATIONCincinnatiOH$18.6M12
FLORIDA STUDIO THEATRE INCSarasotaFL$18.5M5
FRIENDS OF THE HIGH LINE INCNew YorkNY$18.4M13
Nevada Museum of ArtRenoNV$18.4M9
AMERICAN PUBLIC MEDIA GROUPSt PaulMN$18.4M15
FAIR PARK FIRSTDallasTX$18.3M2
DISCOVERY SCIENCE CENTER OF ORANGE COUNTYSanta AnaCA$18.3M8
WESTERN NEW YORK PUBLIC BROADCASTING ASSOCIATIONBuffaloNY$18.2M11
CEDARS YOUTH SERVICES INCLincolnNE$18.2M4
DESTINATION CRENSHAWLos AngelesCA$18.2M2
FRIST ART MUSEUMNashvilleTN$18.2M9
COMPUTER HISTORY MUSEUMMountain ViewCA$18.1M12
ARTS FOR LEARNING MARYLAND INCBaltimoreMD$18.1M6
VERMONT PUBLIC COColchesterVT$18M9
RIVER OF LIFE FOUNDATIONSanta ClaraCA$18M2
SAN DIEGO MUSEUM OF ARTSan DiegoCA$18M7
The Dallas OperaDallasTX$18M8
SANTA BARBARA CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS INCSanta BarbaraCA$17.9M7
LOW ROAD SHARON INCSharonCT$17.8M5
HUNTINGTON THEATRE CO INCBostonMA$17.8M7
ROCHESTER BROADWAY THEATRE LEAGUE INCRochesterNY$17.7M4
James Museum IncSt PetersburgFL$17.7M0
COBB COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INCAtlantaGA$17.7M1
Atlanta Educational Telecommunications CollabAtlantaGA$17.6M13
HALE CENTER FOUNDATION FOR THE ARTS AND EDUCATIONPleasant GroveUT$17.6M9
INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETYIndianapolisIN$17.5M5
CHARLOTTE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA SOCIETY INCCharlotteNC$17.4M7