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 63 of 861

Name
City
State
Revenue
Executives
THE DAIRY CENTER FOR THE ARTSBoulderCO$2.4M1
BOSTON 4 CELEBRATIONS FOUNDATION INCBostonMA$2.4M5
HISTORY SAN JOSESan JoseCA$2.4M1
Deetjens IncBig SurCA$2.4M1
THE NATIONAL SOCIETY OF THE COLONIAL DAMES OF AMERICAWashingtonDC$2.4M1
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN ARCHIVES AND CENTER FOR AMERICAN MUSIC CORPORATIONWest Long BranchNJ$2.4M4
PORTLAND INSTITUTE FOR CONTEMPORARY ARTPortlandOR$2.4M1
PEORIA RIVERFRONT MUSEUM FOUNDATIONPeoriaIL$2.4M0
THE HIP HOP MUSEUMBronxNY$2.4M1
River Oaks Chamber OrchestraHoustonTX$2.4M2
THE SANDS POINT PRESERVE CONSERVANCY INCSands PointNY$2.4M1
THUNDERBIRD LODGE PRESERVATION SOCIETYIncline VillageNV$2.4M0
PRESERVATION OF EGYPTIAN THEATRE INCDeKalbIL$2.4M0
BOSTON BAROQUE INCBostonMA$2.4M3
HILTON HEAD SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INCHilton Head IslandSC$2.4M1
THE INSTITUTE OF MUSIC FOR CHILDREN INCElizabethNJ$2.4M1
AMERICAN MUSEUM OF CERAMIC ARTPomonaCA$2.4M1
Bellas Artes de Caguas CorpCaguasPR$2.4M1
FAMILY VIOLENCE & SEXUAL ASSAULT INST DBA IVATSan DiegoCA$2.4M2
INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR CRYPTOLOGIC RESEARCHBellevueWA$2.4M0
WONDERBOUNDDenverCO$2.4M3
KINHAVEN MUSIC SCHOOL INCMaplewoodNJ$2.4M1
POWERS MUSIC SCHOOL INCBelmontMA$2.4M2
BROOKLINE MUSIC SCHOOL INCBrooklineMA$2.4M2
AUBIN PICTURES INCNew YorkNY$2.4M1
EUCHEE YUCHI LANGUAGE PROJECT INCSapulpaOK$2.4M1
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATIONFayettevilleNC$2.4M0
REAL ART WAYS INCHartfordCT$2.4M1
Texas Conservative Coalition Research InstituteAustinTX$2.4M3
AMERICAN SIGN MUSEUMCincinnatiOH$2.4M3
BAINBRIDGE ISLAND JAPANESE AMERICAN MEMORIALBainbridge IsWA$2.4M0
BUFFALO NAVAL PARK COMMITTEE INCBuffaloNY$2.4M1
THE RECORD COMPANY INCBostonMA$2.4M2
North Carolina Azalea Festival at WilminWilmingtonNC$2.4M1
BEDFORD PLAYHOUSE INCBedfordNY$2.4M1
FOUNDATION FOR ANIME AND NICHE SUBCULTURSan JoseCA$2.4M0
Crown Hill Heritage Foundation IncIndianapolisIN$2.4M2
Lightner Museum of Hobbies IncSaint AugustineFL$2.4M1
OJAI FESTIVALS LTDOjaiCA$2.4M2
GUADALUPE CULTURAL ARTS CENTERSan AntonioTX$2.4M1
NEW LONDON BARN PLAYHOUSE INCNew LondonNH$2.4M0
SOUTH DAKOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY FOUNDATIONPierreSD$2.4M1
MARYLAND YOUTH BALLET INCSilver SpringMD$2.4M1
FLORIDA ASSOCIATION OF THE AIA INSTITUTE OF ARCHITECTS INCTallahasseeFL$2.4M1
HARMONY FOUNDATION INTERNATIONAL INCNashvilleTN$2.4M2
SEACOAST REPERTORY THEATREPortsmouthNH$2.4M0
B B KING MUSEUM AND DELTA INTERPRETIVE CENTERIndianolaMS$2.4M1
MULTICULTURAL COMMUNITY FAMILY SERVICES INCUpper DarbyPA$2.4M5
AMERICAN MEDICAL WRITERS ASSOCIATIONGaithersburgMD$2.4M2
HOLLAND TULIP TIME FESTIVAL INCHollandMI$2.4M1