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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 3 of 861

Name
City
State
Revenue
Executives
PERFORMING ARTS CENTER OF LOS ANGELES COUNTYLos AngelesCA$66.6M11
Kenneth C Griffin Museum of Science and IndustryChicagoIL$66.4M11
RAVINIA FESTIVAL ASSOCIATIONHighland ParkIL$66.2M7
INTERLOCHEN CENTER FOR THE ARTSInterlochenMI$66M9
THE ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME AND MUSEUM INCClevelandOH$65.3M14
SAN FRANCISCO MUSEUM OF MODERN ARTSan FranciscoCA$65.1M8
PRO PUBLICA INCNew YorkNY$64.3M11
WASHINGTON DRAMA SOCIETY INCWashingtonDC$63.9M10
CHAUTAUQUA INSTITUTIONChautauquaNY$63.4M21
THE KALLIR FAMILY FOUNDATIONNew YorkNY$62.7M0
WOLF TRAP FOUNDATION FOR THE PERFORMING ARTSViennaVA$62.5M7
New York Historical SocietyNew YorkNY$62.3M15
THE EAMES INSTITUTEPetalumaCA$61.9M6
DR PHILLIPS CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS INCOrlandoFL$61.5M8
NEW YORK SHAKESPEARE FESTIVALNew YorkNY$61.1M13
THE VIVIAN BEAUMONT THEATERINC D/B/A LINCOLN CENTER THEATERNew YorkNY$60.6M15
SHED NYC INCNew YorkNY$60.6M19
CALIFORNIA SCIENCE CENTER FOUNDATIONLos AngelesCA$59.2M9
HEALTH EDUCATION LEARNING PROJECTFort WorthTX$59M4
CUYAHOGA COUNTY CONVENTION FACILITIES DEVELOPMENT CORPORATIONClevelandOH$58.3M1
POLYNESIAN CULTURAL CENTERLaieHI$57.8M11
SAN FRANCISCO BALLET ENDOWMENT FOUNDATIONSan FranciscoCA$57.6M3
Colorado Museum of Natural HistoryDenverCO$57.2M10
COUNTRY MUSIC FOUNDATION INCNashvilleTN$57.1M9
CORPORATION OF THE FINE ARTS MUSEUMSSan FranciscoCA$57.1M13
Lyric Opera of ChicagoChicagoIL$57.1M11
The Center for the Performing Arts at the WoodlandsThe WoodlandsTX$55.2M6
PITTSBURGH SYMPHONY INCPittsburghPA$55.2M10
TENNESSEE PERFORMING ARTS CENTER (TPAC) MANAGEMENT CORPORATIONNashvilleTN$54.2M11
KAIZEN EDUCATION FOUNDATIONPhoenixAZ$53.9M0
MANN CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTSPhiladelphiaPA$53.8M6
PBS FOUNDATIONArlingtonVA$53.7M11
WALKER ART CENTERMinneapolisMN$53.5M10
NATIONAL INVENTORS HALL OF FAME INCNorth CantonOH$53.4M9
CINCINNATI SYMPHONY ORCHESTRACincinnatiOH$53.3M12
CHILDREN'S MUSEUM OF MANHATTANNew YorkNY$53.2M8
Kimbell Art FoundationFort WorthTX$53.2M2
OREGON PUBLIC BROADCASTINGPortlandOR$53.1M12
NATIONAL TRUST FOR LOCAL NEWSBrightonCO$53M9
Art Bridges IncFort WorthTX$52.3M2
WALTON ARTS CENTER COUNCIL INCFayettevilleAR$52.3M11
BOSTON BALLET INCBostonMA$52M8
CENTER THEATRE GROUP OF LOS ANGELESLos AngelesCA$51.8M9
TWIN CITIES PUBLIC TELEVISION INCSaint PaulMN$51.8M15
Shen Yun Performing ArtsIncCuddebackvilleNY$51.5M2
THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTEPhiladelphiaPA$51.2M14
ADRIENNE ARSHT CENTER TRUST INCMiamiFL$51.1M7
Indianapolis Museum of Art IncIndianapolisIN$50.7M9
OPEN TECHNOLOGY FUNDWashingtonDC$50.6M9
PEACE CENTER FOUNDATIONGreenvilleSC$50.5M6