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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 107 of 861

Name
City
State
Revenue
Executives
THE DOROTHY AND CHARLES MOSESIAN CENTER FOR THE ARTS INCWatertownMA$1.3M0
AMARILLO LITTLE THEATER INCAmarilloTX$1.3M1
OMAHA BY DESIGNOmahaNE$1.3M1
OCALA CIVIC THEATRE INCOcalaFL$1.3M0
HAMBIDGE CENTER FOR CREATIVE ARTS AND SCIENCES INCRabun GapGA$1.2M0
AMERICAN TURKISH FRIENDSHIP ASChantillyVA$1.2M0
VALLEY CULTURAL CENTER dba VALLEY CULTURAL FOUNDATIONWoodland HillsCA$1.2M1
GREEN BOX ARTS PROJECTGreen Mountain FallsCO$1.2M0
ART IN ACTIONRedwood CityCA$1.2M1
Linguistic Society of AmericaLexingtonKY$1.2M2
PABST MANSION INCMilwaukeeWI$1.2M1
BANGOR SYMPHONY ORCHESTRABangorME$1.2M1
MESA ARTS CENTER FOUNDATIONMesaAZ$1.2M0
CHARTER OAK TEMPLE RESTORATION ASSOC D/B/A CHARTER OAK CULTURAL CENTERHartfordCT$1.2M2
INTERNATIONAL RADIO AND TELEVISION SOCIETY FOUNDATION INCNew YorkNY$1.2M3
ARTS CONNECTIONSan BernardinoCA$1.2M1
MUSEUM HUE INCBrooklynNY$1.2M1
SPARK PROJECT INCTucsonAZ$1.2M0
SACRAMENTO HISTORY ALLIANCE INCSacramentoCA$1.2M1
AMERICAN SWEDISH HISTORICAL FOUNDATIONPhiladelphiaPA$1.2M1
WASHINGTON MUSIC EDUCATORS ASSOCIATIONRentonWA$1.2M1
Spokane Symphony and Fox Theater Endowment FundSpokaneWA$1.2M2
California Youth Symphony AssociationPalo AltoCA$1.2M2
AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSEUMDallasTX$1.2M1
CITY BALLET INCSan DiegoCA$1.2M0
ST JOHNSBURY ATHENAEUM INCSt JohnsburyVT$1.2M1
BATTLE OF FLOWERS ASSOCIATIONSan AntonioTX$1.2M0
MICHIGAN MARITIME MUSEUM INCSouth HavenMI$1.2M1
TOUCHSTONE CENTER FOR CRAFTSFarmingtonPA$1.2M0
Brain Injury Center of Ventura CountyCamarilloCA$1.2M0
BIRCH CREEK MUSIC PERFORMANCE CENTER INCEgg HarborWI$1.2M1
WISCONSINEYE PUBLIC AFFAIRS NETWORK INCMadisonWI$1.2M1
CAMERATA PACIFICASanta BarbaraCA$1.2M2
THE LEON SMITH POLK FOUNDATION INCNew YorkNY$1.2M1
CENTER FOR THE ARTS AT ITHACA INCIthacaNY$1.2M2
The MusicianShip DCWashingtonDC$1.2M1
KINGS MAJESTIC CORPBrooklynNY$1.2M1
TEMPLE THEATRE CO INCSanfordNC$1.2M1
MAURO INCSan Juan$1.2M0
THE LAFAYETTE SOCIETY FOR PERFORMING ARTS INCLaGrangeGA$1.2M1
Kids Empowered by Your Support IncNew CanaanCT$1.2M1
FAIRFIELD HISTORICAL SOCIETY DBA FAIRFIELD MUSEUMFairfieldCT$1.2M2
Destination Cleveland CountyShelbyNC$1.2M1
Fiji Theater Company Inc dba Ping Chong and CompanyNew YorkNY$1.2M4
CHABAD OF SE MORRIS COUNTY INC C/O RABBI SHALOM LUBINMadisonNJ$1.2M2
DOWNTOWN ARTS DISTRICT INCOrlandoFL$1.2M1
JEWEL THEATRE COMPANYSanta CruzCA$1.2M1
MUSIC MOUNTAIN THEATRE PRODUCTIONS INCLambertvilleNJ$1.2M0
MOBIUS SPOKANESpokaneWA$1.2M1
Sooner Theatre of Norman IncNormanOK$1.2M0