What museum & curatorial jobs actually pay
Of the 180 roles live on the board right now, 40 (22%) state what they pay — either an explicit figure, or a German public-sector pay grade that maps to a published table. This page lists every one of them. The rest say nothing; that silence is itself the state of pay transparency in this field.
What does a museum or curatorial job pay?
Median advertised salary: ≈ €60,200 / year
Range: ≈ €30,410 to €163,400 / year, across 40 postings with stated pay. By market: CAD postings ≈ €63,200 (n=4) · USD postings ≈ €50,820 (n=27) · EUR postings ≈ €82,974 (n=9).
Annualised euro figures are approximate — see how these numbers work, below.
Data last updated 6 September 2026 · based on 139 salary observations since August 2026 · 40 of 180 live roles state pay
These figures move every day as roles open and close. See the 180 behind them →
Leadership
- Director of Live Programs
The Broad (Los Angeles) · USA
$170,000 – $190,000 / year — public-sector scale, lowest to highest step ≈ €146,200–163,400/yr
- Direktorin / Direktor (m/w/d)
Stiftung Deutsches Hygiene-Museum, Dresden · Germany
€6,790 – €9,425 / month, gross — analogous to public-sector scale, lowest to highest step ≈ €81,481–113,105/yr
- Director
Georgia Southern University Museum
$78,706 – $102,285 / year — public-sector scale, lowest to highest step ≈ €67,687–87,965/yr
- Technische:r Leiter:in (m/w/d)
Stiftung Saarländischer Kulturbesitz, Saarbrücken · Germany
€4,846 – €6,773 / month, gross — public-sector scale, lowest to highest step ≈ €58,153–81,276/yr
Curatorial
- Kurator*in / stellvertretende künstlerische Leitung (m/w/d)
Schinkel Pavillon · Germany
€5,881 – €8,431 / month, gross — analogous to public-sector scale, lowest to highest step ≈ €70,576–101,172/yr
- Kurator/in (m/w/d)
Diözese Würzburg, Würzburg · Germany
€5,881 – €8,431 / month, gross — public-sector scale, lowest to highest step ≈ €70,576–101,172/yr
- Curator of Insects & Arachnids
Royal Ontario Museum · Toronto, Canada
CA$78,047 – CA$122,654 / year ≈ €49,170–77,272/yr
- Associate Curator, Photography
Art Gallery of Ontario · Toronto, Canada
CA$89,180 – CA$111,456 / year — public-sector scale, lowest to highest step ≈ €56,183–70,217/yr
- Associate Curator, Contemporary Art
Art Gallery of Ontario · Toronto, Canada
CA$89,180 – CA$111,456 / year — public-sector scale, lowest to highest step ≈ €56,183–70,217/yr
- Senior Curator
Turchin Center for the Visual Arts · Boone, USA
$70,000 – $81,000 / year — public-sector scale, lowest to highest step ≈ €60,200–69,660/yr
- Curator, Outreach and Special Projects
KSU/ Museums, Archives, and Rare Books
$58,000 – $65,000 / year — public-sector scale, lowest to highest step ≈ €49,880–55,900/yr
- Assistant to the Chief Curator
The Museum of Modern Art · New York, USA
$64,023 / year — public-sector scale, lowest to highest step ≈ €55,060–55,060/yr
- Curatorial Assistant, Publications
The Broad (Los Angeles) · USA
$28 – $29 / hour — public-sector scale, lowest to highest step ≈ €49,192–52,448/yr
- Curatorial Assistant (January 2027 start)
Walker Art Center · Minneapolis, USA
$45,000 / year — public-sector scale, lowest to highest step ≈ €38,700–38,700/yr
- Curator of African Collections and African Diasporic Art
Albany Museum of Art
$44,000 / year — public-sector scale, lowest to highest step ≈ €37,840–37,840/yr
Education & Public Programmes
- Museumspädagog*in / Bildungsreferent*in (m/w/d) für die Sonderausstellung „Steppenwächter“
Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung, Görlitz · Germany
€5,014 – €7,261 / month, gross — public-sector scale, lowest to highest step ≈ €60,168–87,134/yr
- Museum Educator, Community Engagement
The University of Chicago · Chicago, USA
$62,000 – $66,000 / year — public-sector scale, lowest to highest step ≈ €53,320–56,760/yr
- Gallery Activation Coordinator (18-month contract)
Royal Ontario Museum · Toronto, Canada
CA$74,303 – CA$84,917 / year ≈ €46,811–53,498/yr
- Education Associate
Georgia Historical Society
$44,000 – $50,000 / year — public-sector scale, lowest to highest step ≈ €37,840–43,000/yr
- Education Coordinator
TRR Cobb House Museum
$44,500 / year — public-sector scale, lowest to highest step ≈ €38,270–38,270/yr
Archives
- Project Archivist
Institute of Contemporary Art Boston · USA
$39 / hour — public-sector scale, lowest to highest step ≈ €69,763–69,763/yr
- Processing Archivist and Cataloger
The University of Chicago · Chicago, USA
$25 / hour — public-sector scale, lowest to highest step ≈ €44,720–44,720/yr
- Archivist
Augusta Museum of History
$17 / hour — public-sector scale, lowest to highest step ≈ €30,410–30,410/yr
Collections
- Leitung der Sammlung und Denkmalpflege
Stiftung Gedenkstätte Berlin-Hohenschönhausen, Berlin · Germany
€5,711 – €8,118 / month, gross — public-sector scale, lowest to highest step ≈ €68,535–97,412/yr
- Associate Registrar, Exhibitions
SFMOMA - San Francisco Museum of Modern Art · San Francisco, USA
$38 – $46 / hour — public-sector scale, lowest to highest step ≈ €68,046–81,659/yr
- Museologe/in (m/w/d) in der Sammlung Alltagskultur 1
Stiftung Deutsches Historisches Museum, Berlin · Germany
€4,813 – €6,633 / month, gross — public-sector scale, lowest to highest step ≈ €57,754–79,599/yr
- Head Registrar
Columbia Museum of Art · Columbia, USA
$63,000 – $73,000 / year — public-sector scale, lowest to highest step ≈ €54,180–62,780/yr
- Associate Registrar for Collections
Philadelphia Museum of Art · Philadelphia, USA
$56,292 / year — public-sector scale, lowest to highest step ≈ €48,411–48,411/yr
- Associate Registrar for Outgoing Loans
Philadelphia Museum of Art · Philadelphia, USA
$56,292 / year — public-sector scale, lowest to highest step ≈ €48,411–48,411/yr
- Assistant Collections Manager - Insects
The Field Museum · Chicago, USA
$49,000 – $52,000 / year — public-sector scale, lowest to highest step ≈ €42,140–44,720/yr
Conservation
- Conservation Scientist
Philadelphia Museum of Art · Philadelphia, USA
$91,000 / year — public-sector scale, lowest to highest step ≈ €78,260–78,260/yr
- Restaurator, Sachbearbeiter Museum/Ausstellungen (m/w/d)
Vier-Tore-Stadt Neubrandenburg, Neubrandenburg · Germany
€4,536 – €6,376 / month, gross — public-sector scale, lowest to highest step ≈ €54,430–76,512/yr
- Associate Conservator of Photographic Materials
Philadelphia Museum of Art · Philadelphia, USA
$72,000 / year — public-sector scale, lowest to highest step ≈ €61,920–61,920/yr
- Assistant Conservator for East Asian Works of Art on Paper
Philadelphia Museum of Art · Philadelphia, USA
$64,000 / year — public-sector scale, lowest to highest step ≈ €55,040–55,040/yr
Intern & Fellowship
- Wissenschaftliches Volontariat im Museum Ratingen (m/w/d)
Amt für Kultur und Tourismus der Stadt Ratingen, Ratingen · Germany
€5,881 – €8,431 / month, gross — analogous to public-sector scale, lowest to highest step ≈ €70,576–101,172/yr
- Rauschenberg Fellow
The Studio Museum in Harlem (New York) · USA
$50,000 / year — public-sector scale, lowest to highest step ≈ €43,000–43,000/yr
- Curatorial Intern (Fall’26-Spring’27)
Institute of Contemporary Art Boston · USA
$19 / hour — public-sector scale, lowest to highest step ≈ €33,987–33,987/yr
Production
- Project Manager II, Exhibitions
SFMOMA - San Francisco Museum of Modern Art · San Francisco, USA
$81,374 – $88,055 / year — public-sector scale, lowest to highest step ≈ €69,982–75,727/yr
- Art Handler/Installer
Elite Art Enterprises, LLC
$25 – $30 / hour — public-sector scale, lowest to highest step ≈ €44,720–53,664/yr
- Exhibitions Manager
Weber State University · Ogden, USA
$46,000 / year — public-sector scale, lowest to highest step ≈ €39,560–39,560/yr
Five roles worth your time, every Friday
Free. The pay data above comes from the board — the digest is the short version of it, one email a week.
How are these salary figures calculated?
Every figure is taken from what a posting itself advertised — either an explicit amount, or a public-sector pay grade that maps to a published salary table. Nothing is estimated, modelled or inferred from job titles.
Most German museum jobs don't state a euro amount — they state a collective-agreement pay grade like Entgeltgruppe 13 TV-L or EG 10 TVöD. Those grades map to published monthly salary tables, so a posting that names one has, in effect, published its pay. The ranges span the grade's lowest to highest experience step; where you land depends on recognised prior experience. Postings that only promise “up to” a grade, or offer several, are excluded rather than guessed at. Some private institutions pledge pay in Anlehnung an (analogous to) a scale without being bound to it — those are marked.
Grade-mapping currently covers the German public sector only. UK pay bands (Agenda for Change, civil-service grades) and US pay-transparency postings aren't parsed yet, so the true share of postings stating pay is higher than the number above.
The annualised euro figures are deliberately approximate: German monthly figures are multiplied by 12, which understates actual public-sector pay (the Jahressonderzahlung adds roughly half to nearly a full extra month depending on grade); hourly figures assume full-time year-round; other currencies convert at coarse indicative rates. The stated figure is always the authoritative one.
Every advertised salary the board has carried is archived permanently — 139observations and counting since August 2026. The listings above churn as roles close; the record doesn't.
Can I use this data?
Yes — free, for any purpose, with attribution. Quote it as “CuratorSearch, curatorsearch.com/salaries” with the date — the methodology is above, and every stated salary is archived permanently.
The whole archive is yours to download and use, free, with attribution — CSV or JSON, 139 observations. Figures are as advertised: never converted between currencies, never inferred.
The Curatorial Pay Report — the annual analysis built from that archive — first interim edition early 2027, then annually:
Setting a salary? We can share comparable data — write to us.
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