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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 205 of 861

Name
City
State
Revenue
Executives
Youth Outreach And Learning InstituteLos BanosCA$497k1
COMMON WEALTH MURAL COLLABORATIVEGranbyMA$497k1
COMMUNITY MEDIA ACCESS PARTNERSHIPGilroyCA$497k2
BONITA BAY VETERANS COUNCILBonita SpringsFL$497k0
PAN AMERICAN DANCE FOUNDATION INCHurleyNY$497k2
THE LILJESTRAND FOUNDATIONHonoluluHI$497k1
NEW ENERGY FOUNDATION INCConcordNH$497k0
North Atlantic Arts AllianceHiramME$497k2
BOURNE COMMUNITY TV INCBourneMA$497k0
BRIDGE VIEW CENTER INCOttumwaIA$497k0
BE THE HEALING INCPortlandOR$497k3
Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society IncEl GranadaCA$496k1
THE RICHARD T SHARP FOUNDATIONChathamNY$496k0
CIVIC THEATRE OF GREATER LAFAYETTELafayetteIN$496k1
FARRINGTON HISTORICAL FOUNDATION C/O PATTY HOLADAYSan JoseCA$496k0
Student Statesmanship InstituteLansingMI$496k1
GOLDEN PERFORMING ARTS CENTERCanoga ParkCA$496k0
AMERICAN ARMOURED FOUNDATION INCDry ForkVA$496k3
FELLOWSHIP SCHOOL OF CREATIVE ARTS INCBrentwoodTN$496k1
JAPANESE CULTURAL CENTER TEA HOUSE & GARDENS OF SAGINAW INCSaginawMI$496k1
BLUEBIRD CULTURAL INITIATIVEOmahaNE$496k2
SECOND CHANCE DV SA SHELTERWynneAR$496k1
El Paso Holocaust Museum & Study CenterEl PasoTX$496k1
BROOKLINEDOTNEWS CORPORATIONBrooklineMA$496k0
ARTS ACTION ALLIANCE FOUNDATION DBA CLACKAMAS COUNTY ARTS ALLIANCEOregon CityOR$496k1
NOE VALLEY CHAMBER MUSICSan FranciscoCA$496k2
AMISH & MENNONITE HERITAGE CENTER INCBerlinOH$496k0
VALLEY RELICSNorth HollywoodCA$496k0
TIVOLI HALL FOUNDATIONTivoliNY$495k0
DULUTH CHILDREN'S MUSEUM INCDuluthMN$495k2
CYT BATON ROUGEBaton RougeLA$495k0
Swift Museum Foundation IncAthensTN$495k1
TENNESSEE THEATER COMPANYHendersonvilleTN$495k2
SAN FRANCISCO ITALIAN ATHLETIC CLUB FOUNDATIONSan FranciscoCA$495k0
VERO BEACH THEATRE GUILD INCVero BeachFL$495k0
LITTLE THEATRE OF NEW SMYRNA BEACH INCNew Smyrna BeachFL$495k0
THEATRE 831Santa CruzCA$495k1
M&M CHILDRENS MUSEUM INCMenomineeMI$495k0
RODRIGUEZ MUSIC BOOSTERS INCFairfieldCA$495k0
EUGENE OPERAEugeneOR$495k0
EDUCATIONAL THEATRE COMPANYArlingtonVA$495k2
Artsrevive Community Development CoSelmaAL$495k0
FOUNDATION FOR KOREAN LANGUAGE & CULTURE IN THE USALos AngelesCA$495k1
San Francisco Classical VoiceBerkeleyCA$495k1
FUNDACION BIBLIOTECA RAFAEL HERNANDEZ COLON INC FUNDACION BIBLIOTECA RAFAEL HERNANDEZ COLON INCPoncePR$495k1
WRITE ON DOOR COUNTY INCFish CreekWI$495k1
STAGE DOOR THEATRE INCDunwoodyGA$494k0
FORT HILL PERFORMING ARTS CENTER INCCanandaiguaNY$494k1
UKRAINIAN MUSEUM & LIBRARY OF STAMFORDStamfordCT$494k0
KEYS 4 4 KIDS INCNew BrightonMN$494k1