Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
Job outlook for museum assistants in the United States
Museum assistant job growth summary. After extensive research, interviews, and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
The projected museum assistant job growth rate is 12% from 2018-2028.
About 4,200 new jobs for museum assistants are projected over the next decade.
Museum assistant salaries have increased 14% for museum assistants in the last 5 years.
There are over 3,529 museum assistants currently employed in the United States.
There are 522 active museum assistant job openings in the US.
The average museum assistant salary is $40,072.
Are museum assistant jobs in demand?
Museum assistant job and salary trends over time
Museum assistant jobs over time
Museum assistant job growth rate over time
| Year | # of jobs | % of population |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 3,529 | 0.00% |
| 2020 | 3,842 | 0.00% |
| 2019 | 4,248 | 0.00% |
| 2018 | 4,219 | 0.00% |
| 2017 | 3,958 | 0.00% |
Average museum assistant salary over time
Museum assistant salary by year
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $40,072 | $19.27 | +2.9% |
| 2024 | $38,950 | $18.73 | +3.3% |
| 2023 | $37,714 | $18.13 | +5.8% |
| 2022 | $35,654 | $17.14 | +1.6% |
| 2021 | $35,101 | $16.88 | --0.7% |
Museum assistant jobs by state
Most common states for museum assistants
| Rank | State | Population | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alaska | 739,795 | 6 | 1% |
| 2 | District of Columbia | 693,972 | 5 | 1% |
| 3 | Wyoming | 579,315 | 4 | 1% |
| 4 | New York | 19,849,399 | 12 | 0% |
| 5 | Massachusetts | 6,859,819 | 7 | 0% |
| 6 | Texas | 28,304,596 | 6 | 0% |
| 7 | Illinois | 12,802,023 | 6 | 0% |
| 8 | Michigan | 9,962,311 | 5 | 0% |
| 9 | Ohio | 11,658,609 | 3 | 0% |
| 10 | Connecticut | 3,588,184 | 2 | 0% |
| 11 | Pennsylvania | 12,805,537 | 2 | 0% |
| 12 | Nebraska | 1,920,076 | 2 | 0% |
| 13 | New Jersey | 9,005,644 | 1 | 0% |
| 14 | Rhode Island | 1,059,639 | 0 | 0% |
| 15 | New Hampshire | 1,342,795 | 0 | 0% |
| 16 | Delaware | 961,939 | 0 | 0% |
| 17 | Nevada | 2,998,039 | 0 | 0% |
| 18 | North Dakota | 755,393 | 0 | 0% |
| 19 | Vermont | 623,657 | 0 | 0% |
| 20 | West Virginia | 1,815,857 | 0 | 0% |
Museum Assistant job outlook: Expert opinions
Our panel of museum assistant experts
Southern University at New Orleans
What general advice would you give to a Museum Assistant?
Dr. Haitham Eid Ph.D.: Starting a career in the museum field can be exciting and rewarding. My general advice to museum studies graduates is to always continue expanding their knowledge and skills through professional workshops and conferences. Attending museum events, conferences, and workshops will expand your professional network which can open up opportunities for job placement, collaboration, and career advancement. It is important that you stay up to date with current trends, technologies, and issues in the museum field by reading museum publications, following relevant blogs, and participating in professional development opportunities. I would also encourage new graduates to consider specializing in a particular area of museum work, such as collections management, exhibition design, or education. Developing expertise in a specific area can help you stand out in the field. With this being said, the museum field can be competitive, so be open to different opportunities and be willing to take on new challenges to grow in your career.
What Museum Assistant skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Sally Shelton: If you have the opportunity prior to or just after graduation, take some time to become familiar with a museum beyond just visiting, whether that's through volunteering, doing a museum-based project as part of a class, or leading a program. Learning how museums work, and how much goes on behind the scenes, will help you decide what aspects of museum work you'd like to explore. What you see in exhibits and public programs is just the tip of the iceberg. You may discover that you want to work with collections and research, or that you have a talent for teaching and public outreach, or that you have the vision to design meaningful exhibits. Look at museums in your field of interest, but don't limit yourself to that. People working in museums come from many different backgrounds, fields of expertise, skills, and talents. Knowing something about how museums work and what they do can help you decide what further education and training you may want to pursue as part of getting into this field. One of the most important things to do at the beginning is to proactively build networks in the field. Joining professional associations gives you access to meetings, webinars, workshops, and other positive experiences that can help you keep up with evolving standards and best practices in the field. You also meet people at all ages and stages of life and experience, and there is much to share and learn on both sides. The size of the institution you work in does not matter nearly as much as the professionalism of it.
What will help Museum Assistants increase their earning potential?
Sally Shelton: Find ways to strengthen and broaden your skills and knowledge in ways that benefit both you and the institution. Go outside your comfort zone: if you are a collections person, for example, you should look into what it takes to teach public programs, or create an exhibit. If you plan to work in public-facing aspects of the museum, take some time to learn about your collections and how they are managed. Don't focus only on one institution's needs; look for education and training opportunities that enhance your professional qualifications long-term. Museums today are in a time of change and reinvention. If your institution is using outdated IT approaches, for example, can you be the person who brings it forward? If the public programs being offered by an institution are not attracting many participants, can you be the person who helps create newer and better programs? Sometimes you can't make the changes that need to be made because the institution is not open to change, and this is really unfortunate. But if you have acquired the skills and knowledge to make these kinds of changes, you will make yourself valuable to an institution that does see the way forward. So invest in yourself with ongoing education and training opportunities, and remember that not all institutions are going to be a good fit for everyone. Keep looking forward, and keep a good record of everything you have learned, or done, or contributed.