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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 197 of 861

Name
City
State
Revenue
Executives
HYDROPLANE AND RACEBOAT MUSEUMKentWA$527k1
THIRD RAIL REPERTORY THEATREPortlandOR$527k1
JAMES R HALSEY FOUNDATION OF THE ARTSTrentonNJ$526k1
CALIFORNIA LINE DANCE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICASan JoseCA$526k1
Chestnut Hill ConservancyPhiladelphiaPA$526k1
ALIANZA DE MUSEOS DE PUERTO RICOSan JuanPR$526k2
GREENVILLE CENTER FOR CREATIVE ARTSGreenvilleSC$526k1
TREE OF LIFE FOUNDATIONPortlandME$526k1
BRIGHTON BALLET THEATER CO INCBrooklynNY$526k1
PENTAGON MEMORIAL FUND INCArlingtonVA$526k2
OWENSBORO MUSEUM OF FINE ART INCOwensboroKY$526k1
THE ROXBURY ARTS GROUP INCRoxburyNY$526k1
Yosemite Climbing AssociationMariposaCA$525k0
CONNECTICUT BALLET SCHOOLFairfieldCT$525k0
ASOMBRO INSTITUTE FOR SCIENCE EDUCATIONLas CrucesNM$525k0
ART AS MENTORSHIP INCKansas CityMO$525k1
Jerome Historical Society IncJeromeAZ$525k1
ST LOUIS ARTS CHAMBER OF COMMERCESt LouisMO$525k1
WORLD MUSEUM OF MININGButteMT$525k1
FOUNDATION FOR MEXICAN ART AND CULTUREBrooklynNY$525k0
ARTS Enrichment for AllFresnoCA$525k3
Wildwood Park for the Performing Arts IncLittle RockAR$525k2
CHRISTIAN YOUTH THEATER SAN ANNew BraunfelsTX$525k0
DANCING DREAMSBaysideNY$525k1
Rivertown Dance AcademyTarrytownNY$525k0
Cazadero Performing Arts Family CampBerkeleyCA$525k1
PASADENA DANCE THEATREPasadenaCA$525k0
ANNALS OF FAMILY MEDICINE INCLeawoodKS$525k4
NAVATMAN INCNew YorkNY$524k1
BARTOW PELL LANDMARK FUNDBronxNY$524k0
TOMORROW YOUTH REPERTORYOaklandCA$524k2
STEAMBOAT ART MUSEUMSteamboat SpringsCO$524k1
AMERICAN OPERA PROJECTS INCBrooklynNY$524k1
A-WOL Dance CollectivePortlandOR$524k1
WASHINGTON COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY FOUNDATION INCWest BendWI$524k0
SUMMERFAIR CINCINNATI INCCincinnatiOH$524k1
New Orleans Theatre Association IncNew OrleansLA$524k0
MICHIGAN ARCHITECTURAL FOUNDATIONLivoniaMI$524k0
Design History Foundation IncSan FranciscoCA$524k1
Hero WorkshopCulver CityCA$524k1
The Great Lakes Childrens MuseumTraverse CityMI$524k1
Broadway Inspirational Voices IncNew YorkNY$523k1
Memphis Artists for ChangeMemphisTN$523k0
AXIS Dance CompanyBerkeleyCA$523k2
BIG SKY FILM INSTITUTEMissoulaMT$523k2
DAYTON PUBLIC ACCESS TELEVISION INCDaytonOH$523k1
Gospel Music Workshop of AmericaBrooklynNY$523k0
HISTORIC DESOTO THEATRE FOUNDATION INCRomeGA$523k1
HIP HOP FOR CHANGE INCOaklandCA$523k1
NORTHEAST OHIO CENTER FOR CHOREOGRAPHYAkronOH$523k1