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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 80 of 861

Name
City
State
Revenue
Executives
THE NATIONAL MINING HALL OF FAME AND MUSEUMLeadvilleCO$1.8M1
EL PASO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA ASSOC INCEl PasoTX$1.8M1
MASTERVOICES INCNew YorkNY$1.8M2
PHILHARMONIA BAROQUE ORCHESTRA & CHORALESan FranciscoCA$1.8M2
FRESH MEAT PRODUCTIONSSan FranciscoCA$1.8M4
TINWORKS ARTBozemanMT$1.8M1
THE SEDONA CONFERENCEPhoenixAZ$1.8M2
Spokane Public RadioSpokaneWA$1.8M1
INSTITUTE OF NAUTICAL ARCHAEOLOGYCollege StationTX$1.8M1
CREARTE INCSan JuanPR$1.8M0
The Texas State Historical AssociationAustinTX$1.8M0
THE IOWA CHILDREN'S MUSEUMCoralvilleIA$1.8M1
Argenta Community TheatreNorth Little RockAR$1.8M1
COLORADO BALLET FOUNDATIONDenverCO$1.8M1
Sphinx FoundationHanoverNH$1.8M0
CANTERBURY SHAKER VILLAGE INCCanterburyNH$1.8M1
DETROIT CHAMBER WINDS INCSouthfieldMI$1.8M1
PENOBSCOT THEATRE COMPANYBangorME$1.8M1
DITTO UPSCALE RESALEHollandMI$1.8M2
United States Lighthouse Society IncHansvilleWA$1.8M0
HIPPODROME STATE THEATRE INCGainesvilleFL$1.8M0
LEXINGTON LEADERSHIP FOUNDATION INCLexingtonKY$1.8M1
THOMASVILLE CULTURAL CENTER INCThomasvilleGA$1.8M2
ONE ARTS INCBurlingtonVT$1.8M3
SONGWRITERS' HALL OF FAME INCNew YorkNY$1.8M2
INTERFORMSpringdaleAR$1.8M1
THE MUSICIANS HALL OF FAME AND MUSEUMNashvilleTN$1.8M2
EMBRACING OUR DIFFERENCES INCSarasotaFL$1.8M1
New Jersey Council For The HumanitiesCamdenNJ$1.8M1
Points North InstituteCamdenME$1.8M3
THE MUSEUM OF RUSSIAN ARTMinneapolisMN$1.8M2
Claremont Community School of MusicClaremontCA$1.8M1
Moonbox Productions IncBurlingtonVT$1.8M0
A Reason To SurviveNational CityCA$1.8M1
SEATTLE YOUTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRASSeattleWA$1.8M2
RADIO AMBULANTE STUDIOS INCNew YorkNY$1.8M2
I A T S E LOCAL #11South BostonMA$1.8M7
CLEMENTE COLLECTION AT ENGINE HOUSE 25PittsburghPA$1.8M3
LONG BEACH OPERALong BeachCA$1.8M1
ONLY MAKE BELIEVE INCNew YorkNY$1.8M3
VILLA MUSICASan DiegoCA$1.8M1
South Carolina BalletColumbiaSC$1.8M1
ROOFTOP FILMS INCBrooklynNY$1.8M1
CHINESE CLUB OF SAN MARINOSan MarinoCA$1.8M0
THE GAMBLE HOUSE CONSERVANCYPasadenaCA$1.8M1
HISTORIC DENVER INCDenverCO$1.8M2
VIA ART FUND INCNew YorkNY$1.8M1
PERIPHERAL VISION INTERNATIONAL INCBrooklynNY$1.8M1
GOLISANO CHILDREN'S MUSEUM OF NAPLES INCNaplesFL$1.8M1
THE YANKS AIR MUSEUMBaldwin ParkCA$1.8M1