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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 136 of 861

Name
City
State
Revenue
Executives
NEW YORK CITY AIDS MEMORIAL INCNew YorkNY$895k1
VIRGINIA BALLET COMPANY & SCHOOLFairfaxVA$895k0
HISTORIC HOMES FOUNDATIONLouisvilleKY$895k4
VISUAL COMMENTARY ON SCRIPTUREIrvineCA$895k0
THE FRIENDS OF THE JAPANESE HOUSE APhiladelphiaPA$895k1
PORTRAIT SOCIETY OF AMERICA INCTallahasseeFL$895k1
CENTER FOR RAILROAD PHOTOGRAPHY AND ART INCMadisonWI$895k1
JANESVILLE PERFORMING ARTS CENTER INCJanesvilleWI$894k1
Tucson Girls Chorus Association IncTucsonAZ$894k1
THE CHOIR SCHOOL OF DELAWARE INCWilmingtonDE$894k1
MARIN PERFORMING STARSMarin CityCA$894k1
MIAMI THEATER CENTER INCMiami ShoresFL$894k2
NIWOT HALL INCNiwotCO$892k0
PLATTEFORUMDenverCO$892k1
THE AWOOD CENTERSt PaulMN$892k2
FRIENDS OF HAWAII VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARKVolcanoHI$892k1
Cabrillo National Monument FoundationSan DiegoCA$892k1
Teatro Vista Theater With a View IncChicagoIL$891k1
CASA 0101 INCLos AngelesCA$891k2
CENTRE FOR THE ARTS AT MIZNER PARK INCBoca RatonFL$891k0
MOUNTAINS RESTORATION TRUSTCalabasasCA$891k2
JOY OF GIVING SOMETHING INCSyracuseNY$890k0
CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICIALSChicoCA$890k0
Kansas State Historical Society IncTopekaKS$890k1
THE PARK THEATRE INCJaffreyNH$890k1
GOVERNOR FRANK G CLEMENT RAILROAD HOTEL AND HISTORICAL MUSEUMDicksonTN$890k1
FRIENDS OF THE TYBEE THEATERTybee IslandGA$890k0
NISAA AFRICAN FAMILY SERVICESDes MoinesIA$890k1
WINTERGREEN PERFORMING ARTS INCNellysfordVA$890k2
LIMELIGHT THEATRESaint AugustineFL$890k1
ASSOCIATION FOR SURGICAL EDUCATIONSpringfieldIL$890k0
HICKORY MUSEUM OF ART INCHickoryNC$889k1
THE PERLMAN MUSIC PROGRAMSUNCOAST INCSarasotaFL$889k1
NEWPORT FILM INCNewportRI$889k1
PBY MEMORIAL FOUNDATIONOak HarborWA$889k0
EN GARDE ARTS INCBrooklynNY$889k1
ARTSMARTPhiladelphiaPA$889k2
HUDSON VALLEY INTERARTS INCPattersonNY$889k0
Valhalla TahoeSouth Lake TahoeCA$889k2
DON GARLITS MUSEUM OF DRAG RACINGOcalaFL$888k1
Sebastiani Theatre Foundation IncSonomaCA$888k0
PRESERVATION WORCESTER INCWorcesterMA$888k1
WESTERN ND HONOR FLIGHTBismarckND$887k0
BALLETCOLLECTIVE INCNew YorkNY$886k1
CHARLOTTESVILLE SYMPHONY SOCIETYCharlottesvilleVA$886k1
Bay Area Music ProjectAlamedaCA$886k1
CORPUS CHRISTI PATCH INCCorpus ChristiTX$886k1
KOINONIA FAMILY LIFE INC DBA CAMDEN DREAM CENTER TECHNOLOGY TRAINING SCHOOLCamdenNJ$885k2
LULU & LEO FUNDNew YorkNY$885k2
NICHI BEI FOUNDATIONSan FranciscoCA$885k2