Skip to main content
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 50 of 861

Name
City
State
Revenue
Executives
YOUNG AUDIENCES INCNew YorkNY$3.2M3
CHARALAMPOUS FOUNDATIONPurcellOK$3.2M1
CENTER FOR AFRICAN AMERICAN MILITAR HISTORYHoustonTX$3.2M0
MINNETONKA YOUTH HOCKEY ASSOCIATIONMinnetonkaMN$3.2M1
APOLLO'S FIRE THE CLEVELAND BAROQUE ORCHESTRACleveland HeightsOH$3.2M2
WESTERN FOREST INDUSTRIES MUSEUMEatonvilleWA$3.2M1
PORTLAND ROSE FESTIVAL FOUNDATIONPortlandOR$3.2M3
BETH MORRISON PROJECTS INCBrooklynNY$3.2M3
LOS ANGELES CONSERVANCYLos AngelesCA$3.2M5
Freshgrass Public FoundationSan FranciscoCA$3.2M1
JAZZ ST LOUISSt LouisMO$3.2M1
AMERICA-ISRAEL CULTURAL FOUNDATION INCNew YorkNY$3.2M1
PITTSBURGH MUSICAL THEATERPittsburghPA$3.2M1
NOTE-ABLE MUSIC THERAPY SERVICESRenoNV$3.2M0
PENINSULA PLAYERS THEATRE FOUNDATION INCFish CreekWI$3.2M2
ABA PATHWAYS INCMonroeNY$3.2M2
THE GEORGE WASHINGTON MASONIC NATIONAL MEMORIAL ASSOCIATIONAlexandriaVA$3.2M2
DOWNTOWN SAN DIEGO PARTNERSHIP FOUNDATIONSan DiegoCA$3.2M2
SOMArtsSan FranciscoCA$3.2M2
THE MARK TWAIN MEMORIALHartfordCT$3.2M3
ROBERT ALLERTON ENDOWMENT FUND XXXXX7501ChicagoIL$3.2M1
THE GREATER CHATTANOOGA PUBLIC TELEVISION CORPORATIONChattanoogaTN$3.2M2
ENSEMBLE THEATRE COMPANY OF SANTA BARBARA INCSanta BarbaraCA$3.2M2
ACCURACY IN MEDIA INCWashingtonDC$3.2M1
ST LAWRENCE VALLEY EDUCATIONAL TELEVISION COUNCIL INCWatertownNY$3.2M0
FOUNDATION FOR INDEPENDENT ARTISTS INCBrooklynNY$3.2M1
THE 74 MEDIA INCNew YorkNY$3.2M7
ECOEXPLORATORIO INCSan JuanPR$3.2M0
INNER CITY YOUTH ORCHESTRA OF LOS ANGELES INCLos AngelesCA$3.2M2
SU TEATRO INCDenverCO$3.2M1
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA RAILWAY MUSEUM INCPerrisCA$3.2M1
INTERNATIONAL CRITICAL INCIDENT STRESS FOUNDATION INCEllicott CityMD$3.2M7
The Contemporary Arts CenterCincinnatiOH$3.2M2
WEILL CENTER FOUNDATION INCSheboyganWI$3.2M1
AMERICAN FRIENDS OF THE NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY (LONDON) FOUNDATION INCMontclairNJ$3.2M0
GREAT EXPLORATIONS INCSt PetersburgFL$3.2M3
CONTEMPORARY ART MUSEUM ST LOUISSt LouisMO$3.2M2
ASIAN AMERICAN JOURNALISTS ASSOCIATIONWashingtonDC$3.2M1
APPLIED INFORMATION MANAGEMENT INSTITUTEOmahaNE$3.2M4
FRIENDS OF THE LYRIC INCStuartFL$3.2M1
WESTERN INSTITUTE FOR NAT RE ED & PMilwaukeeWI$3.2M2
COMMUNITY MUSIC SCHOOL OF SPRINGFIELD INCSpringfieldMA$3.2M1
CONSERVATION CENTER FOR ART & HISTORIC ARTIFACTSPhiladelphiaPA$3.2M1
WOMEN IN FILMLos AngelesCA$3.2M1
THE INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL OF THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART INCNew YorkNY$3.2M1
CENTRO CULTURAL MEXICANORedmondWA$3.2M1
CARING COMMUNITIES FOR AIDS INCWilkes BarrePA$3.2M4
SILK ROAD PROJECT INCBrightonMA$3.2M8
FORT WAYNE PUBLIC TELEVISION INCFort WayneIN$3.1M2
EBT FOUNDATION INCRockhill FurnacePA$3.1M1