Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between curators and museum curators can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a curator and a museum curator. Additionally, a curator has an average salary of $47,923, which is higher than the $44,309 average annual salary of a museum curator.
The top three skills for a curator include facebook, historical research and exhibit design. The most important skills for a museum curator are collections management, art collections, and museum exhibits.
| Curator | Museum Curator | |
| Yearly salary | $47,923 | $44,309 |
| Hourly rate | $23.04 | $21.30 |
| Growth rate | 12% | 12% |
| Number of jobs | 432 | 413 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 70% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
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.
A museum curator looks after and manages exhibitions within a museum. Responsibilities of this position include building collections, developing interpretations for the museum contents, organizing events and exhibitions, designing and arranging installations, and carrying out administrative tasks in the museum. They also need to liaise with administrators, artists, and museum visitors to ensure they have great experience with the museum.
Curators and museum curators have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Curator | Museum Curator | |
| Average salary | $47,923 | $44,309 |
| Salary range | Between $26,000 And $85,000 | Between $25,000 And $77,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | Alaska | Alaska |
| Best paying company | Apple | Smithsonian Institution |
| Best paying industry | - | - |
There are a few differences between a curator and a museum curator in terms of educational background:
| Curator | Museum Curator | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 70% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Most common major | Fine Arts | History |
| Most common college | Harvard University | Harvard University |
Here are the differences between curators' and museum curators' demographics:
| Curator | Museum Curator | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 40.4% Female, 59.6% | Male, 39.9% Female, 60.1% |
| 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, 5.2% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 7.2% Asian, 5.0% White, 76.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 13% | 13% |