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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 3 of 819

Name
City
State
Revenue
Executives
INTERLOCHEN CENTER FOR THE ARTSInterlochenMI$66M9
THE ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME AND MUSEUM INCClevelandOH$65.3M14
MINNEAPOLIS SOCIETY OF FINE ARTS DBA MINNEAPOLIS INSTITUTE OF ARTSMinneapolisMN$63.9M13
CHAUTAUQUA INSTITUTIONChautauquaNY$63.4M21
Indianapolis Museum of Art IncIndianapolisIN$62M10
THE EAMES INSTITUTEPetalumaCA$61.9M6
SAN FRANCISCO MUSEUM OF MODERN ARTSan FranciscoCA$61.2M9
NEW YORK SHAKESPEARE FESTIVALNew YorkNY$61.1M13
THE EXPLORATORIUMSan FranciscoCA$61M11
WALKER ART CENTERMinneapolisMN$60.7M10
THE VIVIAN BEAUMONT THEATERINC D/B/A LINCOLN CENTER THEATERNew YorkNY$60.6M15
SHED NYC INCNew YorkNY$60.6M19
SAN FRANCISCO BALLET ASSOCIATIONSan FranciscoCA$59.8M13
Lyric Opera of ChicagoChicagoIL$59.7M13
CALIFORNIA SCIENCE CENTER FOUNDATIONLos AngelesCA$59.2M9
HEALTH EDUCATION LEARNING PROJECTFort WorthTX$59M4
CUYAHOGA COUNTY CONVENTION FACILITIES DEVELOPMENT CORPORATIONClevelandOH$58.3M1
POLYNESIAN CULTURAL CENTERLaieHI$58.2M12
PRO PUBLICA INCNew YorkNY$58M11
Colorado Museum of Natural HistoryDenverCO$57.2M10
COUNTRY MUSIC FOUNDATION INCNashvilleTN$57.1M9
The Center for the Performing Arts at the WoodlandsThe WoodlandsTX$55.2M6
PITTSBURGH SYMPHONY INCPittsburghPA$55.2M10
CORPORATION OF THE FINE ARTS MUSEUMSSan FranciscoCA$54.3M14
NEW YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETYNew YorkNY$54M13
KAIZEN EDUCATION FOUNDATIONPhoenixAZ$53.9M0
CINCINNATI SYMPHONY ORCHESTRACincinnatiOH$53.3M12
Kimbell Art FoundationFort WorthTX$53.2M2
OREGON PUBLIC BROADCASTINGPortlandOR$53.1M12
Art Bridges IncFort WorthTX$52.3M2
WALTON ARTS CENTER COUNCIL INCFayettevilleAR$52.3M11
AMERICAN CONSERVATORY THEATRE FOUNDATIONSan FranciscoCA$51.9M12
TWIN CITIES PUBLIC TELEVISION INCSaint PaulMN$51.8M15
Shen Yun Performing ArtsIncCuddebackvilleNY$51.5M2
ADRIENNE ARSHT CENTER TRUST INCMiamiFL$51.1M7
THE BROOKLYN INSTITUTE OF ARTS AND SCIENCESBrooklynNY$50.9M14
OPEN TECHNOLOGY FUNDWashingtonDC$50.6M9
PEACE CENTER FOUNDATIONGreenvilleSC$50.5M6
OUR RESCUEMurrayUT$50.4M8
GOLDEN GLOBE FOUNDATIONWest HollywoodCA$50.1M0
The Children's Museum of Indianapolis IncIndianapolisIN$49.8M8
NATIONAL INVENTORS HALL OF FAME INCNorth CantonOH$49.3M10
NORTH CAROLINA PERFORMING ARTS CENTER AT CHARLOTTE FOUNDATIONCharlotteNC$49M8
WHYY INCPhiladelphiaPA$48.1M14
THE BROAD ART FOUNDATIONLos AngelesCA$47.3M1
THE STUDIO MUSEUM IN HARLEMNew YorkNY$47.2M8
MANN CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTSPhiladelphiaPA$46.9M6
LOS ANGELES OPERA COMPANYLos AngelesCA$46.6M13
NATIONAL CABLE SATELLITE CORPORATIONWashingtonDC$46.3M9
NATIONAL TRUST FOR LOCAL NEWSEnglewoodCO$46.1M6