Museum registrar vs curatorial specialist

The differences between museum registrars and curatorial specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a museum registrar and a curatorial specialist. Additionally, a curatorial specialist has an average salary of $43,840, which is higher than the $43,424 average annual salary of a museum registrar.

The top three skills for a museum registrar include condition reports, fine arts and computer database. The most important skills for a curatorial specialist are cataloging, , and .

Museum registrar vs curatorial specialist overview

	Museum Registrar	Curatorial Specialist
Yearly salary	$43,424	$43,840
Hourly rate	$20.88	$21.08
Growth rate	12%	12%
Number of jobs	2,842	23,992
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 67%	Bachelor's Degree, 75%
Average age	44	44
Years of experience	4	4

Museum registrar vs curatorial specialist salary

Museum registrars and curatorial specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Museum Registrar	Curatorial Specialist
Average salary	$43,424	$43,840
Salary range	Between $23,000 And $80,000	Between $28,000 And $68,000
Highest paying City	-	-
Highest paying state	-	-
Best paying company	-	-
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between museum registrar and curatorial specialist education

There are a few differences between a museum registrar and a curatorial specialist in terms of educational background:

	Museum Registrar	Curatorial Specialist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 67%	Bachelor's Degree, 75%
Most common major	Fine Arts	Anthropology
Most common college	Harvard University	University of Maryland - College Park

Museum registrar vs curatorial specialist demographics

Here are the differences between museum registrars' and curatorial specialists' demographics:

	Museum Registrar	Curatorial Specialist
Average age	44	44
Gender ratio	Male, 32.1% Female, 67.9%	Male, 30.0% Female, 70.0%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 4.2% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 5.2% Asian, 3.5% White, 81.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2%	Black or African American, 4.2% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 5.2% Asian, 3.5% White, 81.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2%
LGBT Percentage	13%	13%

Differences between museum registrar and curatorial specialist duties and responsibilities

Museum registrar example responsibilities.

Manage FoxPro database of historical and archaeological collections locate at state parks throughout Florida.
Train, mentor and supervise museum volunteers and interns, providing example-base leadership to facilitate knowledgeable and customer-service orient staff.
Create and present educational PowerPoint oral presentations.

Curatorial specialist example responsibilities.

Manage user securities, roles, database backups, restore, fail-over management for SQL cluster.
Assist in cataloging incoming items for the collection.
Supervise student employees responsible for processing and cataloging collections.
Conduct research using online federal regulations, review Medicare and Medicaid policy and guidelines to complete an accurate and well-support decision.
Facilitate multi-year project digitizing and cataloguing decoration in manuscripts (approx.

Museum registrar vs curatorial specialist skills

Common museum registrar skills

Condition Reports, 28%
Fine Arts, 25%
Computer Database, 20%
Cataloging, 14%
Permanent Collection, 12%

Common curatorial specialist skills

Cataloging, 100%

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Museum Registrar vs Curatorial Specialist

Updated January 8, 2025

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