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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 150 of 861

Name
City
State
Revenue
Executives
PUBLIC MEDIA INSTITUTEChicagoIL$784k1
BEVERLY CABLE & TELECOMMUNICATIONS CORPORATIONBeverlyMA$784k1
CITADEL THEATRE COMPANYLake ForestIL$784k0
THE KEY TO CHANGESeattleWA$784k0
BLACK THEATRE COALITION INCBrooklynNY$783k2
JOHNSTOWN AREA HERITAGE ASSOCIATIONJohnstownPA$783k0
Latinos In Heritage ConservationTucsonAZ$783k0
MUSEUM OF NORTH IDAHO INCCoeur D AleneID$783k0
SUMMER THEATRE OF NEW CANAAN INCNew CanaanCT$782k1
WONDERFUL NEWS RADIO INC WNFA-WNFR RADIOPort HuronMI$782k0
Plays of Wilton IncFort LauderdaleFL$782k1
OHIO FALUN DAFA ASSOCIATIONPickeringtonOH$782k0
Riddle House MuseumLowellMI$782k0
Arrow Creative IncMemphisTN$782k1
THE WOW PROJECT INCNew YorkNY$781k1
NOW FOUNDATIONBlacklickOH$781k0
AMERICAN THEATRE ORGAN SOCIETYDetroitMI$781k0
OFF SQUARE THEATRE COMPANYJacksonWY$781k0
Cumberland Valley School of MusicChambersburgPA$781k1
Nitartha InternationalSeattleWA$780k8
MYTHICAL LOTUS FOUNDATIONSan JoseCA$780k0
SIGMA ALPHA IOTA PHILANTHROPIES INCAshevilleNC$780k2
CHEYENNE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRACheyenneWY$780k1
HONOLULU BIENNIAL FOUNDATIONHonoluluHI$780k1
PENNYROYAL ARTS COUNCIL INCHopkinsvilleKY$780k0
MUSIC THEATRE PHILLY INCPhiladelphiaPA$780k1
ADAMS COUNTY ARTS COUNCILGettysburgPA$779k1
JULIAN DE CORDOVA UW-EQUITYDallasTX$779k1
GEORGE C MARSHALL INTERNATIONAL CENTER INCLeesburgVA$779k1
BOSQUE ARTS CENTERCliftonTX$779k0
THE YOUTH SYMPHONY ASSOCIATION OF KANSAS CITY INCKansas CityMO$779k1
CLASSICAL BALLET OF MOBILEMobileAL$778k0
DANCE SAINT LOUISSt LouisMO$778k1
ARTS HORIZONS INCEnglewoodNJ$778k1
Palaver Strings IncPortlandME$778k2
Scottish Fiddlers of CaliforniaPasadenaCA$778k2
CIRCUS FLORA INCSaint LouisMO$777k1
DAISY WILSON ARTIST COMMUNITY INC DBA AUGUST WILSON HOUSEBethel ParkPA$777k1
THE WOMAN'S CLUB OF FORT WORTH INCFort WorthTX$777k1
Poison Apple ProductionsPittsburgCA$777k1
WARMLINE FAMILY RESOURCE CENTERSacramentoCA$776k1
SQUAXIN ISLAND MUSEUM LIBRARY AND RESEARCH CENTERSheltonWA$776k3
Global Taiwan InstituteWashingtonDC$776k1
San Jose Theater Preservation Inc co Symphony Silicon ValleySan JoseCA$776k0
Brookline Arts CenterBrooklineMA$776k0
Citadelle Art FoundationCanadianTX$776k0
THE ARTS FOUNDATION OF CAPE CODHyannisMA$776k0
PASO ROBLES YOUTH ARTS CENTERPaso RoblesCA$776k1
Sailing Ships PortlandPortlandME$776k0
CEDAR VALLEY IRISH CULTURAL ASSOCIATIONWaterlooIA$776k1