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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 162 of 861

Name
City
State
Revenue
Executives
Burris Park FoundationHanfordCA$699k0
CINCINNATI MEMORIAL HALL SOCIETYCincinnatiOH$699k1
NICELY THEATRE GROUPWest BloomfieldMI$699k1
US NATIONAL SKI HALL OF FAME AND MUSEUM INCIshpemingMI$698k1
FINE ARTS INSTITUTE OF EDMONDEdmondOK$698k1
WAYNE MONTGOMERY OLD PATHS TRACT SOCIETYShoalsIN$698k0
ARGENTA ARTS FOUNDATION INCNorth Little RockAR$698k1
SHEMER ART CENTER & MUSEUM ASSOC INCPhoenixAZ$698k1
BOULDER HISTORICAL SOCIETY INCBoulderCO$698k1
SARATOGA ARTS INCSaratoga SpringsNY$698k0
THE HISTORIC DIXON THEATRE GROUPDixonIL$698k0
ARTSBRIDGE FOUNDATION INCAtlantaGA$697k0
HIGHLANDS CURRENT INCCold SpringNY$697k0
LAURA INGALLS WILDER HOME ASSOCIATION OF MANSFIELD MISSOURIMansfieldMO$697k1
Young Voices of ColoradoEnglewoodCO$697k0
Underscore Media CollaborationPortlandOR$697k0
Notes for Education IncNapaCA$697k1
MUSICALLIANCE INCMentorOH$696k2
ANTHROPOMORPHIC ARTS AND EDUCATIONMountain ViewCA$696k0
Chesterfield Cultural Arts FoundationChesterVA$696k1
I'm Your Neighbor BooksPortlandME$696k1
TOWN HALL THEATRE COMPANY INCLafayetteCA$696k1
Millan Theatre CompanyDetroitMI$695k3
JAMES MADISON EDUCATION FUND INCAlexandriaVA$695k0
TEATRO ALLA SCALA ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA INCNew YorkNY$695k0
THEATER MITU INCBrooklynNY$695k1
FOSTERING DREAMS PROJECTBurbankCA$695k1
CHILDREN'S MUSEUM OF LANCASTERLancasterPA$695k1
SVA ALUMNI SOCIETY INCNew YorkNY$695k0
MIDSUMMER'S MUSIC LTDSister BayWI$695k1
MOORPARK COMMUNITY FOUNDATION FOR THE ARTSMoorparkCA$695k3
OUR COMMUNITY LTDMilwaukeeWI$694k1
DANVILLE HARVEST JUBILEE INCDanvilleVA$694k0
SALINA ART CENTER INCSalinaKS$694k1
Southeastern Railway Museum IncDuluthGA$694k1
Teche Center for the ArtsBreaux BridgeLA$694k0
CITIZENS FOR BACKUS AB IncInternational FallsMN$694k1
TIBETAN AMERICAN FOUNDATION OF MINNESOTASt PaulMN$694k0
PUBLIC FUNCTIONARYMinneapolisMN$694k1
PACIFIC FLYWAY FUNDConcordCA$694k0
SCIENCE MUSEUM OF WESTERN VIRGINIARoanokeVA$694k1
PLUM STREET TEMPLE HISTORIC PRESERVATION FUNDCincinnatiOH$694k0
THE PENINSULA CHORAL ASSOCIATION DBA PENINSULA GIRLS CHORUSBurlingameCA$694k1
MERRIMACK ACADEMY FOR THE PERFORMIN ARTS INCHuntsvilleAL$694k0
LOWER CAPE COMMUNICATIONS INCProvincetownMA$694k0
BOONE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETYColumbiaMO$694k0
PRO ARTE MUSICAL INCSan JuanPR$694k0
ROHINGYA CULTURE CENTERChicagoIL$693k1
ART INSTITUTE OF ST LOUIS IXMandevilleLA$693k2
TYLER COUNTY HERITAGE SOCIETY INCWoodvilleTX$693k0