Compared with the local labor market
Museum Curator pay vs. the United States
Across all employers in the United States, the median wage for Curators — about 12,150 people — is $63,420. Smithsonian Institution pays a median base salary of $145,489 for this role, 129% above that figure — above the 90th percentile of local pay for the occupation.
Where Smithsonian Institution sits in the local pay range
$40,470
$48,870
$63,420
$83,080
$107,140
Smithsonian Institution median · $145,489
The bar is the range of annual wages for Curators across every employer in the United States, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows Smithsonian Institution’s median base salary for this role. Both figures are base pay only.
Median total compensation for this role at Smithsonian Institution is $145,489, which includes overtime and employer-paid benefits. The benchmark above excludes both, so total compensation is deliberately not compared against it.
Benchmark: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025). BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) covers all employers in the area — private, non-profit, and government alike — so this is a comparison against the whole local labor market for the occupation, not against private-sector pay. OEWS wages are straight-time pay and exclude overtime, shift differentials, and employer-paid benefits, so the government figure shown here is base pay on the same basis. Total compensation is not comparable to it. Job titles are matched to the closest standard occupation, so the comparison is between similar work rather than an identical job classification.
Compare jurisdictions
Museum Curator beyond U.S. Federal Government (non-Defense)
This role is reported in 3 jurisdictions. In U.S. Federal Government (non-Defense), the median of $117,681 ranks #1 of 3. See Museum Curator across all of U.S. Federal Government (non-Defense) →
Highest-paying jurisdictions for this role
Median total compensation for comparable Museum Curatorroles in other jurisdictions. Titles are matched by normalized name across sources, not identical job classification, and pay is not cost-of-living adjusted. Each bar links to that jurisdiction’s page for the role.