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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 368 of 861

Name
City
State
Revenue
Executives
EVERY BLACK LIFE MATTERS INCSangerTX$190k2
Musical Theater Village IncIrvineCA$190k0
THE HERITAGE MUSEUM AND CULTURAL CENTERSt JosephMI$190k0
CASA GRANDE VALLEY HISTORICAL SOCIETY INCCasa GrandeAZ$190k1
DENVER ART SOCIETYDenverCO$190k0
RED CEDAR CHAMBER MUSIC C/O EXECUTIVE DIRECTORMarionIA$190k2
PULL-TIGHT PLAYERS INCFranklinTN$190k0
ORLANDO COMMUNITY ARTS INCOrlandoFL$190k1
LUNASOL NOLANew OrleansLA$190k0
GORDON HOUSE CONSERVANCY INCSilvertonOR$190k0
SOUND STUDIOS OLYMPIAOlympiaWA$190k1
MORE THAN A SINGLE STORY INCSt PaulMN$190k3
THE DISTRICTCZECH VILLAGE & NEW BOHEMIACedar RapidsIA$190k2
THEATRE 29Twentynine PalmsCA$190k0
Redwood County Historical SocietyRedwood FallsMN$190k0
SOCIAL JUSTICE FILM INSTITUTESeattleWA$190k1
TILTON FUND INCSouth DeerfieldMA$190k0
Sacred Roots FoundationSan DiegoCA$190k0
Stanton Community FoundationStantonIA$190k0
MAMADELE FOUNDATIONPhiladelphiaPA$190k1
FOOTLIGHTERS INCNewportKY$190k0
EYES ON MAINSTREET INCWilsonNC$190k0
JESSE MURRY FOUNDATIONNew YorkNY$190k0
COMFORT STATION NFPChicagoIL$190k2
THE MONTANA PROJECT INCBelgradeMT$190k0
COBB COUNTY YOUTH MUSEUM INCMariettaGA$190k0
Wartists IncAshburnVA$190k2
SAN ANTONIO FIRE MUSEUM SOCIETY INCSan AntonioTX$190k1
BENGALI ASSOCIATION OF GREATER ATLANTAAlpharettaGA$190k0
TL TANGO LOVERS ORGANIZATION INCMiamiFL$190k4
KOREAN SCHOOL OF NEW ENGLAND INCShrewsburyMA$190k1
MOFFETT FIELD HISTORICAL SOCIETYMoffett FieldCA$190k1
WATERS FARM PRESERVATION INCSuttonMA$190k0
RED RIVER VALLEY VETERANS' MEMORIAL MUSEUM INCParisTX$190k0
SAN DIEGO BOOK ARTSPortsmouthNH$190k0
WETUMPKA DEPOT PLAYERS INCWetumpkaAL$190k1
KIDS UNLIMITEDTucsonAZ$190k0
OLD INDEPENDENCE REGIONAL MUSEUMBatesvilleAR$190k2
SOUTHEAST VOLUSIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY INCNew Smyrna BeachFL$190k0
Wellity EducationWorthingtonOH$190k0
CHIMERA ART SPACESebastopolCA$190k0
ENDURE CHARITIES INCChicagoIL$190k0
WICHITA FALLS YOUTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRAWichita FallsTX$190k1
HARVARD UNIVERSITY BAND INCCambridgeMA$190k0
PESCADERO COMMUNITY FOUNDATIONPescaderoCA$190k0
WOODLANDS DANCE THEATRE CORPORATIONSpringTX$190k0
BACKSTORY THEATREBroomfieldCO$189k1
LA POCHA NOSTRA INTERCULTURAL PERF AND COMM ARTSSan FranciscoCA$189k0
RISING STARZ BOOSTER CLUBComstock ParkMI$189k0
Young Peoples Theater of ChicagoChicagoIL$189k1