Education & Library
Museum Curators
SOC 25-4012
Acquire, manage, and interpret a museum's collection.
The job
Median pay
$63k
$49k to $83k typical range
Outlook, 2025 to 2035
Growing fast
+4.9% projected
Openings a year
2k
BLS projection
Typical education
Master's
Our model
AI displacement risk
High
How much of this job AI may do instead of the person
Works with AI
7/100
AI alongside the person rather than instead of them
AI exposure
75th pct
More exposed than 75% of occupations · modeled estimate · 79th pct in Microsoft's data
Future-proof
50/100
Key skills
- Reading Comprehension
- Speaking
- Active Listening
- Writing
- Critical Thinking
- Active Learning
Pay and jobs by state
BLS OEWS May 2025, 51 states. Sorted by jobs; per 1,000 is jobs per thousand workers in the state; vs national compares that rate with the country's. A tilde marks a figure estimated from the parent occupation group where BLS publishes none.
| State | Jobs | Per 1,000 | vs national | Median pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York | 1,330 | 0.1 | 1.8× | $79k |
| California | 1,140 | 0.1 | 0.8× | $79k |
| Texas | 690 | 0.0 | 0.6× | $60k |
| North Carolina | 600 | 0.1 | 1.6× | $49k |
| Pennsylvania | 520 | 0.1 | 1.1× | $62k |
| Virginia | 450 | 0.1 | 1.4× | $58k |
| Florida | 420 | 0.0 | 0.5× | $60k |
| Illinois | 410 | 0.1 | 0.9× | $63k |
| Massachusetts | 370 | 0.1 | 1.3× | $78k |
| Ohio | 370 | 0.1 | 0.8× | $64k |
All 51 states
| State | Jobs | Per 1,000 | vs national | Median pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michigan | 360 | 0.1 | 1.1× | $63k |
| Colorado | 300 | 0.1 | 1.3× | $74k |
| Wisconsin | 300 | 0.1 | 1.3× | $64k |
| Missouri | 260 | 0.1 | 1.1× | $60k |
| Oregon | 260 | 0.1 | 1.7× | $63k |
| Washington | 260 | 0.1 | 0.9× | $74k |
| Georgia | 230 | 0.0 | 0.6× | $58k |
| Iowa | 230 | 0.1 | 1.9× | $54k |
| Indiana | 220 | 0.1 | 0.9× | $54k |
| Minnesota | 220 | 0.1 | 0.9× | $54k |
| Connecticut | 190 | 0.1 | 1.4× | $77k |
| Tennessee | 190 | 0.1 | 0.7× | $58k |
| Maryland | 170 | 0.1 | 0.8× | $64k |
| Louisiana | 160 | 0.1 | 1.1× | $60k |
| Alabama | 150 | 0.1 | 0.9× | $61k |
| Arizona | 150 | 0.0 | 0.6× | $64k |
| Oklahoma | 150 | 0.1 | 1.1× | $61k |
| Washington DC | 140 | 0.2 | 2.5× | $93k |
| Hawaii | 140 | 0.2 | 2.9× | $51k |
| New Mexico | 140 | 0.2 | 2.1× | $64k |
| Kentucky | 130 | 0.1 | 0.8× | $55k |
| Kansas | 120 | 0.1 | 1.1× | $57k |
| Nebraska | 120 | 0.1 | 1.5× | $59k |
| New Jersey | 120 | 0.0 | 0.4× | $78k |
| South Carolina | 120 | 0.1 | 0.7× | $47k |
| Maine | 110 | 0.2 | 2.2× | $56k |
| Montana | 100 | 0.2 | 2.5× | $54k |
| Nevada | 100 | 0.1 | 0.8× | $70k |
| Alaska | 90 | 0.3 | 3.5× | $64k |
| Wyoming | 90 | 0.3 | 4.1× | $62k |
| Arkansas | 80 | 0.1 | 0.8× | $54k |
| Rhode Island | 70 | 0.1 | 1.8× | $78k |
| Delaware | 60 | 0.1 | 1.6× | $57k |
| New Hampshire | 60 | 0.1 | 1.1× | $82k |
| Vermont | 60 | 0.2 | 2.5× | $57k |
| West Virginia | 56 | 0.1 | 1.0× | $55k~ |
| Idaho | 50 | 0.1 | 0.8× | $62k |
| South Dakota | 50 | 0.1 | 1.4× | $75k |
| Utah | 50 | 0.0 | 0.4× | $60k |
| North Dakota | 33 | 0.1 | 1.0× | $58k~ |
| Mississippi | 30 | 0.0 | 0.3× | $41k |
Top metro areas
- New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ970 jobs · $83k median
- Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA390 jobs · $77k median
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN290 jobs · $63k median
- Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD290 jobs · $64k median
- Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV270 jobs · $87k median
- San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA240 jobs · $91k median
- Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH220 jobs · $79k median
- Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO180 jobs · $78k median
Explore the rankings
Explore Museum Curators interactively →Pay and outlook from BLS (OEWS 2025, Employment Projections 2025-2035). Skills and work activities from O*NET 30.3. AI exposure and future-proof scores are modeled estimates. How these numbers are made.