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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 132 of 861

Name
City
State
Revenue
Executives
Moveius Contemporary Ballet Inc dba Dance Loft on 14WashingtonDC$934k2
CUBAN MUSEUM INCMiamiFL$933k0
George Phippen Memorial FoundationPrescottAZ$933k1
KEEN THEATER COMPANY INC C/O MOSES SINGERNew YorkNY$933k2
PORT TOWNSEND AERO MUSEUMPort TownsendWA$932k1
FRIENDS OF CHAMBER MUSICPortlandOR$932k1
GRAND CENTER INCSaint LouisMO$932k2
FOOTLITE MUSICALS INCIndianapolisIN$932k0
THE SARASOTA CUBAN BALLET SCHOOL INCSarasotaFL$932k2
CHEBOYGAN AREA ARTS COUNCIL INCCheboyganMI$932k0
ASIAN AMERICAN ARTS ALLIANCE INCNew YorkNY$932k1
BLACK LUNCH TABLEChicagoIL$932k3
Visionaries and VoicesCincinnatiOH$932k0
THELMA SADOFF CENTER FOR THE ARTS INCFond Du LacWI$932k0
RIVERS INSTITUTENew OrleansLA$931k0
AFRICAN-AMERICAN HERITAGE FOUNDATION INCCedar RapidsIA$931k2
VENTFORT HALL ASSOCIATION INCLenoxMA$931k1
Spectrum Dance TheaterSeattleWA$931k3
NEEDHAM COMMUNITY TELEVISION DEVELOPMENT CORPORATIONNeedhamMA$930k1
DISCOVERY CENTER AT WATER'S EDGE INCBelcampMD$930k0
WARNORS CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTSFresnoCA$930k1
The Association for the Preservation of the PotomacOaklandCA$930k0
AMERICAN GUILD OF ENGLISH HANDBELL RINGERS INCCincinnatiOH$930k2
CENTER FOR MEDIA AND DEMOCRACY INCMadisonWI$930k3
ALLIANCE FOR WOMEN IN MEDIA FOUNDATION INCLexingtonKY$929k0
ALBRECHT-KEMPER MUSEUM OF ARTSaint JosephMO$929k0
Boca Raton Historical Society IncBoca RatonFL$929k1
FIDEICOMISO DE BALLETS DE SAN JUANCarolinaPR$929k3
The Reimagination Lab IncBrooklynNY$928k1
ASTROBOTIC FOUNDATIONPittsburghPA$928k2
Velocity Dance CenterSeattleWA$928k1
ASHEVILLE MUSEUM OF SCIENCEAshevilleNC$928k1
BALTIMORE FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS INCBaltimoreMD$928k1
EUGENE SCIENCE CENTEREugeneOR$928k1
ELLWOOD HOUSE ASSOCIATIONDeKalbIL$927k0
THE LEGACY ARTS PROJECT INCPittsburghPA$927k1
MARBLEHEAD MUSEUM & HISTORICAL SOCIETY INCMarbleheadMA$927k1
COMMUNITY CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTSEugeneOR$927k1
KREWE OF PYROS FOUNDATION IncWashingtonDC$927k1
STERLING HILL MINING MUSEUM INCOgdensburgNJ$926k0
NATIONAL MARINE LIFE CENTER INCBuzzards BayMA$926k1
BROOKLYN ACTING LAB INCBrooklynNY$925k2
HISTORIC GERMANTOWN PRESERVEDPhiladelphiaPA$925k1
1891 FREDONIA OPERA HOUSE INCFredoniaNY$925k0
JAZZ LEGACY FOUNDATION INCPortsmouthVA$925k0
GREENBRIER REPERTORY THEATRE COMPANYLewisburgWV$925k1
RED HEN PRESS INCPasadenaCA$925k2
SHOREFRONT NFPEvanstonIL$925k1
THE JAZZ LOFT INCStony BrookNY$925k5
CLUB PORTUGUESE OF HUDSON INCORPORATEDHudsonMA$925k0