Curator vs collector

The differences between curators and collectors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a curator, becoming a collector takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, a curator has an average salary of $47,923, which is higher than the $34,872 average annual salary of a collector.

The top three skills for a curator include facebook, historical research and exhibit design. The most important skills for a collector are patients, customer service, and payment arrangements.

Curator vs collector overview

	Curator	Collector
Yearly salary	$47,923	$34,872
Hourly rate	$23.04	$16.77
Growth rate	12%	-8%
Number of jobs	432	23,948
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 70%	Bachelor's Degree, 31%
Average age	44	46
Years of experience	6	12

What does a curator do?

A curator is primarily in charge of spearheading and overseeing exhibits and collections in art museums and similar establishments. Their responsibilities include handling acquisition procedures, conceptualizing plans, designing exhibits and presentations, liaising with internal and external parties, setting goals and timelines, managing the budgets and fundraisers, and developing strategies to market the museum's events. Furthermore, as a curator, it is essential to lead and encourage staff to reach goals, all while implementing the organization's policies and regulations.

What does a collector do?

Collectors are responsible for monitoring and providing immediate actions for client accounts with overdue payments. Collectors must be able to contact clients through phone or e-mail. A collector's duty also includes negotiating on payment procedures and offering repayment plans and alternative payment solutions to free the debt. Collectors need to document any agreements made to the client, updating and verifying contact information, resolving account discrepancies and client complaints, and report escalated concerns to the management.

Curator vs collector salary

Curators and collectors have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Curator	Collector
Average salary	$47,923	$34,872
Salary range	Between $26,000 And $85,000	Between $27,000 And $44,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	Los Angeles, CA
Highest paying state	Alaska	Alaska
Best paying company	Apple	Uline
Best paying industry	-	Finance

Differences between curator and collector education

There are a few differences between a curator and a collector in terms of educational background:

	Curator	Collector
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 70%	Bachelor's Degree, 31%
Most common major	Fine Arts	Business
Most common college	Harvard University	-

Curator vs collector demographics

Here are the differences between curators' and collectors' demographics:

	Curator	Collector
Average age	44	46
Gender ratio	Male, 40.4% Female, 59.6%	Male, 36.0% Female, 64.0%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 5.3% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 7.3% Asian, 5.1% White, 77.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2%	Black or African American, 12.1% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 20.1% Asian, 3.8% White, 59.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	13%	8%

Differences between curator and collector duties and responsibilities

Curator example responsibilities.

Manage visual resource center, including acquisition, cataloging, budget management and other relevant issues.
Aid instructors in sorting through student works to curate gallery.
Produce written materials including wall labels and artists' biographies.
Participate in SEO research and compile a summary for the rest of the team.
Create and upload content daily, using a web-base administration tool, and HTML.
Assist with inquiries regarding scanning Photoshop, PowerPoint and other vr-relate software and equipment.

Collector example responsibilities.

Manage patient focuse reports, collection modules, provider/facility A/R, collections, patient discharge letters.
Monitor all assign accounts by reviewing the client's aging, manage all potential bad debit, DSO, aging.
Prevent impeding loss and increasing profitability through negotiation and enforcement of schedule collection campaigns, consistently achieving high success standards.
Provide customer service via telephone and correspondence for patients and authorize representatives regarding outstanding patient accounts in accordance with facility protocol.
Verify and run eligibility on the following insurance, Medi-Cal, Medi-Cal HMO, Medicare, Medicare HMO.
Provide excellent customer service while following HIPPA confidentiality laws.

Curator vs collector skills

Common curator skills

Facebook, 10%
Historical Research, 8%
Exhibit Design, 8%
Photography, 7%
Collections Management, 5%
Art History, 5%

Common collector skills

Patients, 14%
Customer Service, 10%
Payment Arrangements, 10%
Excellent Interpersonal, 9%
Delinquent Accounts, 8%
Student Loans, 5%

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Curator vs Collector

Updated January 8, 2025

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