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 $35.36 an hour? That's $73,554 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, computer skills and customer-service skills.

Learn more about what a Museum Director does

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 68.2% of museum directors have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 17.3% 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.

Museum Director Career Paths

Average Salary for a Museum Director

Museum Directors in America make an average salary of $73,554 per year or $35 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $134,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $40,000 per year.
Average Museum Director Salary
$73,554 Yearly
$35.36 hourly

What Am I Worth?

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Roles and Types of Museum Director

There are several types of museum director, including:

Membership Director

Role:

A membership director oversees the membership processes and activities of an organization, group, or team. This includes the registration of new members as well as the development of strategies and policies that are aimed at increasing membership or converting patrons to long-term members.

In addition to managing the process of recruiting prospective members, the membership director also manages activities regarding existing members. This may include membership data updates, management of the member's database, and collection of membership payments. Plus, he/she manages the circulation of information and regular updates regarding their membership and activities of the organization.

A bachelor's degree in a management field is a common requirement for this role. Some key skills needed for this position include excellent leadership and coordination skills. Strategic decision-making skills and basic knowledge of database system management may also be necessary for this role. The average income of a membership director is typically around $103,740 per year.

  • Average Salary: $52,493
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

States With The Most Museum Director Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active museum director jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where museum directors earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Museum Director Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1South Carolina678$60,934
2Alabama508$66,034
3Louisiana497$63,814
4Oklahoma408$76,115
5California278$120,023
6West Virginia257$83,513
7South Dakota172$65,038
8New York138$81,147
9Massachusetts100$80,251
10Florida96$63,003
11Illinois88$68,544
12Georgia76$73,427
13Texas73$80,283
14New Jersey73$73,427
15Pennsylvania72$77,417
16Washington51$84,194
17North Carolina45$61,497
18Virginia42$89,789
19Maryland39$75,796
20Wisconsin37$80,581
21Minnesota31$82,474
22Indiana31$77,089
23Missouri31$64,857
24Tennessee26$75,415
25Arizona23$87,134
26Ohio23$81,120
27Colorado23$75,674
28Connecticut22$97,696
29Michigan21$65,346
30Kentucky20$77,000
31Oregon19$95,068
32Delaware18$95,481
33Idaho17$78,222
34Kansas17$72,103
35Nebraska15$75,540
36Utah14$79,257
37Montana10$66,536
38Arkansas10$64,233
39Nevada9$92,815
40Wyoming8$57,740
41Vermont7$82,052
42Iowa7$65,650
43Alaska6$103,635
44Rhode Island6$98,500
45Maine5$89,489
46North Dakota5$83,803
47New Hampshire4$96,995
48Mississippi4$73,198
49New Mexico4$74,301
50Hawaii3$61,113

Museum Director Education

Museum Director Majors

16.8 %
12.9 %

Museum Director Degrees

Bachelors

68.2 %

Masters

17.3 %

Associate

9.1 %

Top Colleges for Museum Directors

1. Harvard University

Cambridge, MA • Private

In-State Tuition

$50,420

Enrollment

7,582

2. Georgetown University

Washington, DC • Private

In-State Tuition

$54,104

Enrollment

7,089

3. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Ann Arbor, MI • Private

In-State Tuition

$15,262

Enrollment

30,079

4. Brown University

Providence, RI • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,466

Enrollment

6,752

5. Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, MD • Private

In-State Tuition

$53,740

Enrollment

5,567

6. Tufts University

Medford, MA • Private

In-State Tuition

$56,382

Enrollment

5,597

7. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,354

Enrollment

7,083

8. University of Florida

Gainesville, FL • Private

In-State Tuition

$6,381

Enrollment

34,564

9. Duke University

Durham, NC • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,695

Enrollment

6,596

10. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

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, 22.4% of museum directors listed museum operations on their resume, but soft skills such as analytical skills and computer skills are important as well.

  • Museum Operations, 22.4%
  • Museum Exhibits, 17.8%
  • Community Outreach, 11.4%
  • Local Community, 11.0%
  • Collections Management, 9.5%
  • Other Skills, 27.9%

Museum Director diversity

Museum Director Gender Distribution

Female
Female
59%
Male
Male
41%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among museum directors, 59.2% of them are women, while 40.8% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among museum directors is White, which makes up 77.0% of all museum directors.

  • The most common foreign language among museum directors is Spanish at 57.1%.

Online Courses For Museum Director That You May Like

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2. Art & Inquiry: Museum Teaching Strategies For Your Classroom

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Explore how to integrate works of art into your classroom with inquiry-based teaching methods originally developed for in-gallery museum education...

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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 California, Alaska, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. Museum directors make the most in California with an average salary of $120,023. Whereas in Alaska and Rhode Island, they would average $103,635 and $98,500, respectively. While museum directors would only make an average of $97,696 in Connecticut, 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. California

Total Museum Director Jobs: 278
Highest 10% Earn:
$189,000
Location Quotient:
0.65

2. Delaware

Total Museum Director Jobs: 18
Highest 10% Earn:
$152,000
Location Quotient:
0.98

3. Alaska

Total Museum Director Jobs: 6
Highest 10% Earn:
$145,000
Location Quotient:
0.49
Full List Of Best States For Museum Directors

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Top Museum Director Employers

Most Common Employers For Museum Director

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1United States Holocaust Memorial Museum$165,493$79.561
2Smithsonian Institution$86,087$41.391
3Lincoln Memorial University$84,959$40.851
4University of Southern California$84,584$40.672
5Michigan State University$81,766$39.313
6New York State Technology Enterprise$76,833$36.941
7Fremont County$72,236$34.731
8City of Hamlet$72,175$34.701
9Asia Society$71,472$34.361
10Collier County Library$64,204$30.871