Arts, culture and humanities nonprofits: pay, overhead and reserves by state
22,139 arts, culture and humanities organizations with revenue USD 100k-5M, latest Form 990 or 990-EZ e-filed in 2025-2026. Median program share 80.8%, management and general 14.2%, fundraising 0.5%, reserves 11.6 months; 49.1% report paying at least one officer or key employee.
Source: IRS Form 990 / 990-EZ e-file releases (public domain) joined with the Exempt Organizations Business Master File for NTEE codes; one latest return per EIN; universe = revenue USD 100k-5M, latest Form 990 or 990-EZ e-filed in 2025-2026, expenses above zero, 50 states + DC. Medians over filers reporting the field; management and fundraising shares count Form 990 filers only (990-EZ has no split). Data as of 2026-10-31.
Medians here (bar) vs all 226,109 filers nationally (mark):
| Revenue band | Filers | Pay anyone | 25th pct | Median | 75th pct |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USD 100k-250k | 9,108 | 33% | $14,519 | $30,000 | $49,824 |
| USD 250k-500k | 5,083 | 46% | $35,100 | $56,276 | $75,532 |
| USD 500k-1M | 3,653 | 61% | $55,612 | $75,853 | $97,500 |
| USD 1M-5M | 4,295 | 76% | $85,280 | $114,053 | $150,338 |
Top officer = the highest reportable compensation from the organization among the officers, directors, key and highest-compensated employees listed on Form 990 Part VII or 990-EZ Part IV (title and amount only, never a name). Percentiles cover filers that pay anyone; a dash means fewer than 10 of them. Benefits and deferred pay excluded.
By state
States with 20 or more filers link to a page with the full band table and bars.
| State | Filers | Program median | Reserves (mo) | Top pay median, 500k-1M |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 198 | 85.4% | 16.6 | $70,000 |
| Alaska | 98 | 78.9% | 14.1 | $75,192 |
| Arizona | 289 | 81.8% | 7.8 | $70,133 |
| Arkansas | 120 | 79.5% | 14.4 | — |
| California | 2,844 | 82.0% | 8.5 | $80,437 |
| Colorado | 539 | 81.5% | 10.8 | $88,870 |
| Connecticut | 320 | 79.4% | 16.4 | $80,722 |
| Delaware | 94 | 76.9% | 14.5 | $79,420 |
| District of Columbia | 288 | 78.4% | 8.7 | $92,182 |
| Florida | 950 | 84.1% | 8.2 | $72,025 |
| Georgia | 445 | 83.1% | 10.1 | $75,000 |
| Hawaii | 188 | 83.3% | 7.6 | $75,000 |
| Idaho | 103 | 78.3% | 13.3 | — |
| Illinois | 850 | 78.4% | 11.8 | $73,846 |
| Indiana | 366 | 82.1% | 18.6 | $74,218 |
| Iowa | 240 | 86.6% | 25.9 | $70,857 |
| Kansas | 198 | 83.2% | 26.4 | $64,620 |
| Kentucky | 192 | 81.6% | 14.0 | $63,100 |
| Louisiana | 260 | 79.1% | 10.0 | $68,820 |
| Maine | 217 | 78.0% | 17.3 | $69,908 |
| Maryland | 409 | 77.0% | 12.3 | $84,212 |
| Massachusetts | 875 | 77.5% | 15.0 | $90,182 |
| Michigan | 571 | 81.8% | 15.2 | $58,500 |
| Minnesota | 541 | 80.9% | 10.7 | $72,654 |
| Mississippi | 107 | 78.0% | 11.1 | — |
| Missouri | 329 | 80.0% | 11.5 | $81,138 |
| Montana | 136 | 80.2% | 13.4 | $68,914 |
| Nebraska | 149 | 83.6% | 25.4 | $63,609 |
| Nevada | 109 | 79.5% | 8.4 | — |
| New Hampshire | 145 | 80.2% | 20.5 | $76,402 |
| New Jersey | 428 | 80.2% | 9.1 | $80,206 |
| New Mexico | 162 | 82.8% | 9.8 | $74,601 |
| New York | 2,333 | 79.4% | 8.8 | $78,458 |
| North Carolina | 573 | 82.3% | 13.2 | $75,000 |
| North Dakota | 62 | 80.8% | 22.6 | — |
| Ohio | 708 | 83.1% | 15.8 | $65,500 |
| Oklahoma | 190 | 83.2% | 12.8 | $71,893 |
| Oregon | 440 | 77.7% | 10.1 | $69,861 |
| Pennsylvania | 872 | 78.1% | 16.4 | $72,607 |
| Rhode Island | 126 | 79.1% | 14.4 | $80,124 |
| South Carolina | 247 | 82.1% | 11.7 | $73,758 |
| South Dakota | 64 | 81.3% | 20.9 | — |
| Tennessee | 378 | 78.8% | 13.6 | $73,446 |
| Texas | 1,303 | 83.1% | 10.2 | $75,000 |
| Utah | 170 | 85.2% | 9.3 | $60,876 |
| Vermont | 142 | 82.6% | 17.4 | $69,131 |
| Virginia | 561 | 80.6% | 15.2 | $78,417 |
| Washington | 669 | 79.1% | 10.6 | $76,512 |
| West Virginia | 81 | 88.4% | 13.2 | — |
| Wisconsin | 396 | 79.3% | 20.8 | $82,288 |
| Wyoming | 64 | 82.3% | 22.8 | — |
Paid report
USD 49 one-time: a arts, culture and humanities organization vs the 10 closest named peers on top officer pay, expense split, reserves and revenue mix, with a filing link per peer; USD 79 adds the one-page comparability data sheet for the board file. Checkout opens shortly; the free lookup and pages work meanwhile.
NTEE group A as assigned in the Business Master File (code list). Codes can lag an organization's real activity; the paid report uses the 3-character code and lets you swap a peer once for free.