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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 13 of 861

Name
City
State
Revenue
Executives
CHILDREN'S MUSEUM INCHoustonTX$14.3M9
THE AMERICAN RADIO RELAY LEAGUE INCNewingtonCT$14.3M7
GEORGE EASTMAN MUSEUMRochesterNY$14.3M4
ABILENE HERITAGE SQUARE INCAbileneTX$14.3M0
GUILD HALL OF EAST HAMPTON INCEast HamptonNY$14.3M4
STORYCORPS INCBrooklynNY$14.3M9
LYRIC FOUNDATION INCBaltimoreMD$14.2M1
THE WASHINGTON BALLETWashingtonDC$14.2M6
SER-Jobs for Progress Inc San Joaquin ValleyFresnoCA$14.1M8
GOODSPEED OPERA HOUSE FOUNDATION INCEast HaddamCT$14.1M7
CONNECTICUT HUMANITIES COUNCIL INCMiddletownCT$14.1M1
COLORADO BALLETDenverCO$14.1M7
PLAYWRIGHTS HORIZONS INCNew YorkNY$14.1M9
FORT WORTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA ASSOCIATIONFort WorthTX$14.1M7
DISCOVERY PLACE INCCharlotteNC$14.1M11
NATIONAL THEATRE IN AMERICA INCNew YorkNY$14.1M4
MUSICARES FOUNDATION INCSanta MonicaCA$14M6
GEORGIA MUSEUMS INCCartersvilleGA$14M3
CONNECTICUT SCIENCE CENTER INCHartfordCT$14M5
THE ART STUDENTS LEAGUE OF NEW YORK INCNew YorkNY$14M5
AMERICAN COUNCIL ON THE TEACHING OF FOREIGN LANGUAGESAlexandriaVA$14M8
MALTZ JUPITER THEATRE INCJupiterFL$14M2
ETV Endowment of South Carolina IncSpartanburgSC$14M2
PHILADELPHIA MURAL ARTS ADVOCATES INCPhiladelphiaPA$14M4
OLD TOWN SCHOOL OF FOLK MUSICChicagoIL$14M6
OLNEY THEATRE CORPORATION INCOlneyMD$13.9M2
MCCARTER THEATRE COMPANYPrincetonNJ$13.9M8
LEVINE MUSIC INCWashingtonDC$13.8M7
LOWER EAST SIDE TENEMENT MUSEUMNew YorkNY$13.8M8
BUFFALO PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA SOCIETY INCBuffaloNY$13.8M5
Eleutherian Mills-Hagley Foundation IncWilmingtonDE$13.8M8
THE HAVEN GALLERY (THE SCHOOL OF ARTS AND ENTERPRISE)PomonaCA$13.8M5
GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE INCLos AngelesCA$13.8M9
The Minnesota OperaMinneapolisMN$13.7M4
THE PHILLIPS COLLECTIONWashingtonDC$13.7M9
ROCHESTER PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA INCRochesterNY$13.6M6
CRAZY HORSE MEMORIAL FOUNDATIONCrazy HorseSD$13.6M8
NATIONAL ENERGY EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT PROJECT INCManassasVA$13.6M5
WALNUT STREET THEATRE CORPORATIONPhiladelphiaPA$13.6M7
Reka Darida FoundationNew YorkNY$13.6M1
THE STRATHMORE HALL FOUNDATION INCNorth BethesdaMD$13.6M8
LINCOLN PARK PERFORMING ARTS CENTERMidlandPA$13.6M4
STEINBECK HOUSE INCORPORATEDSag HarborNY$13.6M0
HARTFORD STAGE COMPANY INCHartfordCT$13.6M5
UNITED ARTS OF CENTRAL FLORIDA INCOrlandoFL$13.6M2
THE GILCREASE MUSEUM MANAGEMENT TRUSTTulsaOK$13.6M2
EAA AVIATION FOUNDATION INCOshkoshWI$13.5M4
SETTLEMENT MUSIC SCHOOL OF PHILADELPHIAPhiladelphiaPA$13.5M4
Arvada Center for the Arts and HumanitiesArvadaCO$13.5M5
PUBLIC TELEVISION 19 INCKansas CityMO$13.5M6