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Updated through 2024NTEE A · Arts, Culture & Humanities

Arts, Culture & Humanities nonprofitexecutive pay

Median top-executive pay across 16,157 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
$59,800
The typical arts, culture & humanities nonprofit's highest-paid executive earns $59,800 in total reported compensation.
25th pct
$24k
75th pct
$107k
90th pct
$194k
16,157 organizations · 2019 – 2024
Percentile distribution

Where the middle 50% lands.

Half earn between $24k and $107k. That band is the interquartile range. The 90th percentile sits at $194k, roughly 3.2 times the median. That upper tail is where the largest organizations cluster.

PercentileTotal compMeans
90th$193,685Top 10% of earners
75th$107,34225% earn more than this
50th · median$59,800The typical executive
25th$23,76025% earn less than this
10th$7,50010% 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$15k$38,108$67k11,178
$1M – $10M$87k$125,336$180k4,194
$10M – $100M$242k$341,128$522k736
$100M – $500M$562k$771,220$1.3M45
Revenue bands with fewer than 5 organizations are not shown.
By role

Benchmark a specific Arts, Culture & Humanities role

Drill into median pay for individual leadership roles within arts, culture & humanities nonprofits.

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 40,937 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

40,937 organizations · Page 2 of 819

Name
City
State
Revenue
Executives
THE SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA ASSOCIATIONSan DiegoCA$96.5M8
KIMMEL CENTER INCPhiladelphiaPA$95.7M13
NATIONAL SEPTEMBER 11 MEMORIAL AND MUSEUM AT THE WORLD TRADE CENTERNew YorkNY$93.3M13
MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETYSaint PaulMN$91.5M9
THE CARNEGIE HALL CORPORATIONNew YorkNY$90.5M15
THE PITTSBURGH TRUST FOR CULTURAL RESOURCESPittsburghPA$89.9M11
OPAS FOUNDATIONOmahaNE$88.7M3
SOLOMON R GUGGENHEIM FOUNDATIONNew YorkNY$88.2M12
SEATTLE THEATRE GROUPSeattleWA$86.5M15
PHILADELPHIA ORCHESTRA ASSOCIATIONPhiladelphiaPA$84.4M10
NATIONAL TRUST FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION IN THE UNITED STATESWashingtonDC$83.6M13
Playhouse Square FoundationClevelandOH$83.1M8
Superior Credit Union IncLimaOH$83.1M13
Houston Museum of Natural ScienceHoustonTX$82.1M13
THE EDISON INSTITUTE INCDearbornMI$81.9M8
THE NATIONAL WORLD WAR II MUSEUM INCNew OrleansLA$81.8M15
LOS ANGELES COUNTY MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY FOUNDATIONLos AngelesCA$81.6M15
Chicago Symphony OrchestraChicagoIL$80.8M10
NEW JERSEY PERFORMING ARTS CENTER CORPORATIONNewarkNJ$80.4M27
FAYETTEVILLE PERFORMING ARTS CENTER AT TRILITHFayettevilleGA$80.2M0
ACADEMY MUSEUM FOUNDATIONBeverly HillsCA$79.2M11
ACADEMY FOUNDATIONBeverly HillsCA$78.7M11
NEW YORK CITY BALLET INCNew YorkNY$77.4M10
The Musical Arts AssociationClevelandOH$76.8M8
MUSIC AND EVENT MANAGEMENT INCCincinnatiOH$76.7M10
MUSEUM OF FLIGHT FOUNDATIONSeattleWA$75.7M12
MANHATTAN SCHOOL OF MUSICNew YorkNY$75.5M15
RADIO FREE ASIAWashingtonDC$75.4M10
MILWAUKEE WORLD FESTIVAL INCMilwaukeeWI$75.4M13
THE COLBURN SCHOOLLos AngelesCA$74.2M10
ACADEMY OF MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE SOUTH INCTempeAZ$73.8M6
NEW ORLEANS JAZZ & HERITAGE FESTIVAL AND FOUNDATION INCNew OrleansLA$73.7M32
NEW YORK PUBLIC RADIO D/B/A WNYC RADIO WQXR NJ PUBLIC RADIONew YorkNY$73.7M14
CARNEGIE INSTITUTEPittsburghPA$73.2M14
WHITE HOUSE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATIONWashingtonDC$72.9M13
WOLF TRAP FOUNDATION FOR THE PERFORMING ARTSViennaVA$72.6M7
MUSEUM OF SCIENCEBostonMA$72.5M14
THE DETROIT INSTITUTE OF ARTSDetroitMI$71.2M12
ROUNDABOUT THEATRE COMPANY INCNew YorkNY$69.9M11
Alamo Trust Inc (Formerly Alamo Complex Management)San AntonioTX$69.6M6
COUNTRY MUSIC ASSOCIATION INCNashvilleTN$68.4M14
SAN FRANCISCO SYMPHONYSan FranciscoCA$67.8M7
Dr Phillips Center for the Performing Arts IncOrlandoFL$67.6M8
NAVY PIER INCChicagoIL$66.9M10
DENVER CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTSDenverCO$66.8M11
PERFORMING ARTS CENTER OF LOS ANGELES COUNTYLos AngelesCA$66.6M11
FLORIDA WEST COAST SYMPHONY INC D/B/A SARASOTA ORCHESTRASarasotaFL$66.5M3
Kenneth C Griffin Museum of Science and IndustryChicagoIL$66.4M11
RAVINIA FESTIVAL ASSOCIATIONHighland ParkIL$66.2M7
THE MOUNT VERNON LADIES' ASSOCIATION OF THE UNIONMount VernonVA$66.1M11