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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 7 of 861

Name
City
State
Revenue
Executives
SEALASKA HERITAGE INSTITUTEJuneauAK$28.6M8
GREATER COLUMBUS ARTS COUNCILColumbusOH$28.6M5
PAPER MILL PLAYHOUSEMillburnNJ$28.6M7
THE JOFFREY BALLETChicagoIL$28.5M9
COUNT BASIE THEATRE INCRed BankNJ$28.2M7
THE TECH INTERACTIVESan JoseCA$28.2M10
THE NEW 42ND STREET INCNew YorkNY$28M9
PETERSEN AUTOMOTIVE MUSEUM FOUNDATIONLos AngelesCA$28M8
Newman Kahlon Foundation CorpOntarioCA$27.9M0
Conner Prairie Foundation IncFishersIN$27.6M0
SHEA'S O'CONNELL PRESERVATION GUILD LTD D/B/A SHEA'S PERFORMING ARTS CENTERBuffaloNY$27.6M1
STATES NEWSROOMChapel HillNC$27.5M6
THE VENETOULIS INSTITUTE FOR LOCAL JOURNALISMBaltimoreMD$27.3M14
STERLING AND FRANCINE CLARK ART INSTITUTEWilliamstownMA$27.1M9
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF MATHEMATICSNew YorkNY$27M7
Remember the Alamo FoundationSan AntonioTX$27M2
PUBLIC BROADCASTING OF COLORADO INCCentennialCO$27M11
SOUTH STREET THEATER COMPANY INCMorristownNJ$26.9M5
CENTER FOR THE COLLABORATIVE CLASSROOMAlamedaCA$26.9M13
THE TOLEDO MUSEUM OF ARTToledoOH$26.8M8
THEATER & ARTS FOUNDATION OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY DBA LA JOLLA PLAYHOUSELa JollaCA$26.7M8
OREGON MUSEUM OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRYPortlandOR$26.7M8
THE BARNES FOUNDATIONPhiladelphiaPA$26.7M9
University Communications Network IncNew YorkNY$26.6M1
BUFFALO FINE ARTS ACADEMYBuffaloNY$26.6M8
BALTIMORE MUSEUM OF ARTBaltimoreMD$26.5M7
Pacific SymphonyIrvineCA$26.4M12
FORD'S THEATRE SOCIETYWashingtonDC$26.4M8
MANHATTAN THEATRE CLUB INCNew YorkNY$26.3M11
OREGON SYMPHONY ASSOCIATIONPortlandOR$26.3M11
ALLEY THEATREHoustonTX$26.3M8
DETROIT PUBLIC MEDIAWixomMI$26.2M9
HUDSON VALLEY SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL INCGarrisonNY$26.2M2
THE PENNSYLVANIA BALLET ASSOCIATION DBA PHILADELPHIA BALLETPhiladelphiaPA$26.2M7
UTAH SYMPHONY & OPERASalt Lake CityUT$26.2M11
WORLD MONUMENTS FUND INCNew YorkNY$26.1M5
THE FRED ROGERS COMPANYPittsburghPA$26.1M8
MONA REAL ESTATE HOLDINGSKearneyNE$25.9M0
DEMOCRACY PREP PUBLIC SCHOOLSNew YorkNY$25.9M17
AMERICAN REPERTORY THEATRE CO INCCambridgeMA$25.9M13
PERFORMING ARTS FORT WORTH INCFort WorthTX$25.9M9
NATIONAL COMEDY CENTER OPERATOR INCJamestownNY$25.8M1
Princeton University PressPrincetonNJ$25.8M19
THE DIMITRIS BERTSIMAS - GEORGIA PERAKIS FOUNDATIONBelmontMA$25.7M0
STEPPENWOLF THEATRE COMPANYChicagoIL$25.6M12
Houston Arts AllianceHoustonTX$25.5M7
FRANKLIN COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY DBA COSI COLUMBUSColumbusOH$25.4M8
MYSTIC SEAPORT MUSEUM INCMysticCT$25.3M9
Center for Cultural InnovationLos AngelesCA$25.3M4
TUACAHN CENTER FOR THE ARTSIvinsUT$25.2M4