Skip to main content
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 133 of 861

Name
City
State
Revenue
Executives
THE ARBUTUS FOUNDATION INCNew YorkNY$925k2
WYOMING COUNTY CULTURAL CENTERTunkhannockPA$924k3
Pageantry Arts Concepts IncSanfordFL$924k0
PENDRAGON INCSaranac LakeNY$924k0
CIVIC CENTER PERFORMING ARTS FOUNDATION INCIdaho FallsID$923k0
Creative Arts Guild IncorporatedDaltonGA$923k1
THE CENTER FOR CONTEMPORARY ARTS OF SANTA FE INCSanta FeNM$923k1
RHIZOME COMMUNICATIONS INC co NEW MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ARTNew YorkNY$923k2
PORT ANGELES SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INCPort AngelesWA$923k1
TIANMU EDUCATION FOUNDATIONSan JoseCA$922k0
Overland Park Historical Society IncOverland ParkKS$921k1
THE FLEA THEATER INCNew YorkNY$921k2
QUINCY COMMUNITY THEATREQuincyIL$921k1
PROVINCETOWN FILM SOCIETYINCProvincetownMA$921k1
New Performance TraditionsSan FranciscoCA$920k2
DAKOTA TERRITORY AIR MUSEUMMinotND$920k0
STAGE KIDSWenatcheeWA$920k0
CHILDREN'S MUSEUM OF SKAGIT COUNTYBurlingtonWA$920k1
Downtown Winston-Salem Community CinemaWinston SalemNC$919k2
THE SKYSCRAPER MUSEUMNew YorkNY$919k1
DECORATIVE ARTS CENTER OF OHIOLancasterOH$919k1
BATAVIA AIRSHOW FOUNDATION INCBataviaNY$919k0
COMUNIDAD MAYA PIXAN IXIMOmahaNE$919k1
Binghamton Philharmonic IncBinghamtonNY$919k1
JACK AND SHIRLEY MCINTYRE FOUNDATIONCamano IslandWA$919k6
IRISH FAIR OF MINNESOTASaint PaulMN$919k0
GLORIA'S FOUNDATION INCNew YorkNY$918k0
MINNESOTA DANCE THEATRE & SCHOOLMinneapolisMN$918k3
BIRGER SANDZEN MEMORIAL FOUNDATIONLindsborgKS$918k0
QUEER ART INCNew YorkNY$918k0
CHILDREN'S MUSEUM OF NORTHERN COLORADOLovelandCO$918k1
POLISH ARMY VETERANS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA DISTRICT NO 2 INCNew YorkNY$918k5
PENOBSCOT MARINE MUSEUMSearsportME$917k1
EPOCH MEDIA BAY AREASanta ClaraCA$917k1
RISE CHATTANOOGAChattanoogaTN$916k0
AMAS MUSICAL THEATRE INCNew YorkNY$916k1
Randall Museum FriendsSan FranciscoCA$916k1
ART SHARE LOS ANGELESLos AngelesCA$915k1
ACTF MANAGEMENT LTDWenatcheeWA$915k0
KINGSTON MUSIC INITIATIVE INCKingstonNY$915k0
THE POUGHKEEPSIE-HIGHLAND RAILROADPoughkeepsieNY$915k2
LAKOTA LANGUAGE CONSORTIUM INCBloomingtonIN$915k5
CIVICLEX INCORPORATEDLexingtonKY$915k0
GOOD THEATER INCCape ElizabethME$914k1
WILD UPLos AngelesCA$914k4
Glenn H Curtiss Museum Of Local History IncHammondsportNY$914k1
Spanish River Concerts IncWestfordMA$914k2
Hollister House Garden IncWashingtonCT$913k0
INDIGO CULTURAL CENTERPhoenixAZ$913k2
Elsie Publishing InstituteEast LansingMI$913k0