Museum Director Overview
Working as a Museum Director
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a museum director. For example, did you know that they make an average of $39.55 an hour? That's $82,271 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 9% and produce 3,300 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does a Museum Director Do
There are certain skills that many museum directors have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed analytical skills, management skills and technical skills.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a museum director, we found that a lot of resumes listed 45.1% of museum directors included museum exhibits, while 8.0% of resumes included professional staff, and 7.4% of resumes included community outreach. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the museum director job title. But what industry to start with? Most museum directors actually find jobs in the hospitality and education industries.
How To Become a Museum Director
If you're interested in becoming a museum director, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 43.6% of museum directors have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 34.5% of museum directors have master's degrees. Even though most museum directors have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a museum director. When we researched the most common majors for a museum director, we found that they most commonly earn bachelor's degree degrees or master's degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on museum director resumes include doctoral degree degrees or associate degree degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a museum director. In fact, many museum director jobs require experience in a role such as internship. Meanwhile, many museum directors also have previous career experience in roles such as director or museum curator.
What is the right job for my career path?
Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the right jobs to get there.
Museum Director Jobs
Museum Director Career Paths
In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of executive director you might progress to a role such as chief executive officer eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title chief executive officer.
What is the right job for my career path?
Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the rights job to get there.
Average Salary for a Museum Director
Best Paying Cities
Recently Added Salaries
Job TitleCompany  | Company | Start Date | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
Sc Department of Public Safety Director, South Carolina Military Museum Director, South Carolina Military Museum | Sc Department of Public Safety Sc Department of Public Safety | 11/16/2020 11/16/2020 | $49,59411/16/2020 $49,594 |
State of Nevada Museum Director 3 Museum Director 3 | State of Nevada State of Nevada | 11/14/2020 11/14/2020 | $66,62811/14/2020 $66,628 |
University of Minnesota Bell Museum Director of Statewide Engagement Bell Museum Director of Statewide Engagement | University of Minnesota University of Minnesota | 10/25/2020 10/25/2020 | $60,00010/25/2020 $60,000 |
Colorado State Director, Trinidad History Museum Director, Trinidad History Museum | Colorado State Colorado State | 08/29/2020 08/29/2020 | $54,99608/29/2020 $54,996 |
Wisconsin State Government Museum Director Museum Director | Wisconsin State Government Wisconsin State Government | 02/29/2020 02/29/2020 | $95,00002/29/2020 $95,000 |
Calculate your salary
Use Zippia's Salary Calculator to see how your pay matches up.
Top Colleges for Museum Directors
1. Harvard University
Cambridge, MA
2. Georgetown University
Washington, DC
3. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, MI
4. Brown University
Providence, RI
5. Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD
6. Tufts University
Medford, MA
7. Stanford University
Stanford, CA
8. University of Florida
Gainesville, FL
9. Duke University
Durham, NC
10. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA
Entry Level Jobs For Becoming A Museum Director
Top Skills For a Museum Director
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 45.1% of museum directors listed museum exhibits on their resume, but soft skills such as analytical skills and management skills are important as well.
- Professional Staff, 17.5%
- Local Businesses, 17.0%
- Community Outreach, 17.0%
- Collections Management, 12.4%
- Fund Raising, 8.4%
- Other Skills, 27.7% See All Museum Director Skills
Best States For a Museum Director
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a museum director. The best states for people in this position are Alaska, California, Washington, and Rhode Island. Museum directors make the most in Alaska with an average salary of $108,498. Whereas in California and Washington, they would average $97,317 and $96,339, respectively. While museum directors would only make an average of $95,799 in Rhode Island, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. Rhode Island
$95,799
Avg. Salary
2. Alaska
$108,498
Avg. Salary
3. District of Columbia
$102,614
Avg. Salary