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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 4 of 861

Name
City
State
Revenue
Executives
Hope Media GroupHumbleTX$50M8
The Children's Museum of Indianapolis IncIndianapolisIN$49.8M8
MINNEAPOLIS SOCIETY OF FINE ARTS DBA MINNEAPOLIS INSTITUTE OF ARTSMinneapolisMN$49.8M13
NORTH CAROLINA PERFORMING ARTS CENTER AT CHARLOTTE FOUNDATIONCharlotteNC$49M8
WHYY INCPhiladelphiaPA$48.5M14
ALVIN AILEY DANCE FOUNDATION INCNew YorkNY$48.1M11
THE BROAD ART FOUNDATIONLos AngelesCA$47.3M1
LOS ANGELES OPERA COMPANYLos AngelesCA$46.6M13
Houston Ballet FoundationHoustonTX$46.4M10
NATIONAL CABLE SATELLITE CORPORATIONWashingtonDC$46.3M9
Historic Haymarket Milwaukee IncMilwaukeeWI$46.1M0
AMERICAN COUNCIL OF LEARNED SOCIETIESNew YorkNY$46M8
Dallas Museum of ArtDallasTX$45.9M12
MINNESOTA MASTERPIECE HALLWinonaMN$45.9M1
RAYMOND F KRAVIS CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS INCWest Palm BeachFL$45.4M11
SAINT LOUIS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRASt LouisMO$45.2M9
Kadist Collection Manager IncWilmingtonDE$44.7M1
THE WENDE MUSEUM OF THE COLD WAR INCCulver CityCA$44.5M3
The Society of the Four Arts IncPalm BeachFL$44.3M9
JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER INCNew YorkNY$44M15
OMAHA PERFORMING ARTS SOCIETYOmahaNE$44M8
Cox Science Center and Aquarium IncWest Palm BeachFL$43.9M2
SJC CULTURAL EVENTS INCSt AugustineFL$43.6M2
TATE AMERICAS FOUNDATIONNew YorkNY$43.5M3
THE STUDIO MUSEUM IN HARLEMNew YorkNY$43.4M10
MUSEUM OF CHINESE IN AMERICANew YorkNY$43.3M4
ATLANTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY INCAtlantaGA$43.2M9
BERKELEY REPERTORY THEATREBerkeleyCA$42.9M7
DIA CENTER FOR THE ARTS INCNew YorkNY$42.8M10
BOREALIS PHILANTHROPYMinneapolisMN$42.5M8
Sundance InstitutePark CityUT$42.1M18
FRACTURED ATLAS INCNew YorkNY$42M1
DENVER ART MUSEUMDenverCO$42M8
Florida West Coast Symphony Inc dba Sarasota OrchestraSarasotaFL$42M3
BALTIMORE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INCBaltimoreMD$41.7M11
CASCADE PUBLIC MEDIASeattleWA$41.7M9
HALE CENTRE THEATRESandyUT$41.6M10
DALLAS SYMPHONY ASSOCIATIONDallasTX$41.6M14
JUNIPERO SERRA CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOLSan Juan CapistranoCA$41.4M5
JORGE M PEREZ ART MUSEUM OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY INCMiamiFL$41.3M6
MUSICAL INSTRUMENT MUSEUMPhoenixAZ$41.1M5
NORTH TEXAS PUBLIC BROADCASTING INCDallasTX$41M10
DETROIT SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INCDetroitMI$40.7M12
OHIO HISTORICAL SOCIETYColumbusOH$40.4M6
ROBERT RAUSCHENBERG FOUNDATIONNew YorkNY$40.3M1
KAUFFMAN CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTSKansas CityMO$40.2M6
BALLET THEATRE FOUNDATION INCNew YorkNY$40.2M9
WINDOW TO THE WORLD COMMUNICATIONS INCChicagoIL$40.1M9
WORCESTER ART MUSEUMWorcesterMA$39.9M3
CLOSE UP FOUNDATIONArlingtonVA$39.9M12