Remuseum Quick Facts
Museum data can be hard to find. We originate and curate relevant data from credible sources to increase availability and transparency.


are women
25% of employees are men and 9% identify as non-binary/other gender

are Millennials or Gen Z
36% are Gen X or Boomers. This is near opposite the age profile of museum leadership.

identify as BIPOC
67% of employees are White. BIPOC proportion of employees is down 3% since 2023.

identify as BIPOC
67% of employees are White. BIPOC proportion of employees is down 3% since 2023.
Average 9.3 years in the field.
Average 6 years at current museum.
Male and white employees have slightly longer tenure in field and at current institution.
Among museum leadership, 66% are women, and 80% are White.
77% of Collections staff are White.
47% of Building Operations staff are POC.
[1] Museums Moving Forward. "Report on Workplace Equity and Organizational Culture in US Art Museums." Oct. 2025. https://museumsmovingforward.com/data-studies/2024-2025/report/who-we-heard-from
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ithaca S+R and Mellon Foundation. “Art Museum Staff Demographic Survey 2022” November 2022. https://sr.ithaka.org/publications/art-museum-staff-demographic-survey-2022/ The survey defines “museum leadership” as “directors, deputy directors, chief executives, chief finance officers, and chief technology officers”.
We’ve analyzed art museum mission statements.
Almost all American art museums now center the public in their missions.
Three or four decades ago, most American art museums defined their purpose around the idea of collecting and preserving objects for the benefit of the public.
Today, most museums define their purpose in terms of engaging and connecting the public through art. Nearly 60% of American art museums now define their mission in terms of serving the public without even mentioning their collections; another 30% define their missions as a balance between the public and their collection. Only 11% still center objects at the heart of their mission.

Despite this shift, it is not always easy for the public to access museum data. We asked art museums if they share number of visitors and financial statements:
Read Museum Missions & Transparency for more about museums and their evolving missions.
From Remuseum’s database on 153 major American art museums.

With some interesting differences based on size, local MSA, and whether or not they charge for general admission:



Read Remuseum’s Access, Scale & Market Share for more data insights and find out how real museums are building broader audiences.
Anecdotal feedback from search firms suggests museum director vacancies are getting harder to fill. While more vacancies may be on the horizon.
Director pool is aging

Length of tenure may be reducing
Recruiters report that directors used to spend 15-20 years in a role[3], which could be shortening due in part to the pace, level of change and evolving difficulty of roles.


[1] American Alliance of Museums. 2024. "Museum Board Leadership: a National Report, 2024." April 23, 2024. https://www.aam-us.org/2024/04/23/2024-museum-board-leadership-a-national-report/
[2] American Alliance of Museums. 2018. "Museum Board Leadership: a National Report, 2017." January 19, 2018. https://www.aam-us.org/2018/01/19/museum-board-leadership-2017-a-national-report/
[3] Halperin, Julia. 2023. "Does the search for US museum leaders lack transparency?" The Art Newspaper. https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2023/09/01/does-the-search-for-us-museum-leaders-lack-transparency

$84.4 trillion in assets is expected to move from the Silent and Baby Boomer generations to descendants[1].
This historic transfer of wealth is affecting who gives money and how:

Arts and culture don’t appear on the top three list of giving priorities for younger generations.[2]

“Next-gen” philanthropists are:

Young people are interested in non-traditional models beyond fundraising[3], like:
[1] World Economic Forum. 2024. "The 'Great Wealth Transfer': What is it and how can women make the most of it?" https://www.weforum.org/stories/2024/07/women-inheritance-great-wealth-transfer/
[2] Giving USA. 2025. "Giving USA Special Report: Giving By Generation." https://store.givingusa.org/products/giving-usa-special-report-giving-by-generations-2025
[3] MCW Projects. 2022. "Understanding Next-Gen Funders | How can museums thrive in the next era of private cultural philanthropy?" https://www.mcw-projects.com/insights2020/2022/7/21/point-of-viewm-museum-magazine-understanding-next-gen-funders-how-can-museums-thrive-in-the-next-era-of-private-cultural-philanthropy
And how do they compare to the general population?


Museum visitor data from Collaboration for Ongoing Visitor Experience Studies (COVESArt Museums).Data on the U.S. population comes from 2020-2023 census data.

White visitation is over-represented vs theU.S. population, and non-white visitation is under-represented (except among Asian/AsianAmericans).

Contrary to popular belief, art museums attract a higher percentage of young adults compared to their role in the population. Visitors over 45 are under-represented in museum audiences.

Education levels represent the biggest gap between museum visitors and the general population. Those without college degrees makeup 39% of the population, but only 7% of museum visitors.

Higher income visitors are over-represented among museum visitors, compared to households with income less than $50,000 a year. Museums attract middle-class households at levels close to their national averages.
Read Remuseum’s Case Studies in Innovation: Audience Development for more data insights and find out how real museums are building broader audiences.


of museum trustees are over age 50[1], up 8% since 2017[2]



of Museum trustees are female, up 4% vs. 2017


of Museum board members are white, down 7.9% vs. 2017
[1] American Alliance of Museums. 2024. "Museum Board Leadership: a National Report, 2024." April 23, 2024. https://www.aam-us.org/2024/04/23/2024-museum-board-leadership-a-national-report/
[2] American Alliance of Museums. 2018. "Museum Board Leadership: a National Report, 2017." January 19, 2018. https://www.aam-us.org/2018/01/19/museum-board-leadership-2017-a-national-report/
[3] BoardSource. 2021. "Leading with Intent: BoardSource Index of Nonprofit Board Practices." https://leadingwithintent.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/2021-Leading-with-Intent-Report.pdf
[4] Lilly Family School of Philanthropy with Johnson Grossnickle + Associates and BoardSource. 2018. "The Impact of Diversity: Understanding How Nonprofit Board Diversity Affects Philanthropy, Leadership, and Board Engagement." https://scholarworks.indianapolis.iu.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/fa039f5c-a986-4ee4-8a60-186078d1fafe/content
[5] Black Trustee Alliance and Ithaka S+R. "2022 Art Museum Trustee Survey: The Characteristics, Roles and Experience of Black Trustees." 2022. https://sr.ithaka.org/publications/the-bta-2022-art-museum-trustee-survey/
A 2018 survey by the Association of Art Museum Directors reported that their roughly 200 member museums (representing most of the country’s largest art museums) held over 16 million objects [1] at that time. Applying an annual growth rate of 2% (which may be low[2]), we estimate they hold around 18 million objects today.

A 2002 study estimated the cost of storing those 9 million objects in 1988 (square footage and capital costs) to be just over $200 million[3]. Adjusted for inflation and collection growth, the equivalent cost in 2025 would be $1.1 billion. Applying a formula by museum architect GeorgeHartman in the same period (1988)[4], the cost of storing/maintaining the 18 million objects today might be $2.8 billion or more.

One museum conducted thorough internal research into the total costs of its own collection (including indirect/staffing costs). Using their 2017 estimate of $106 per object, and adjusting for inflation, we can estimate 18 million objects would cost at least $2.4billion.
These costs represent between 28-70% of overall museum budgets?
[1] “Art Museums By the Numbers 2018.” Association of Art Museum Directors. https://aamd.org/our-members/from-the-field/art-museums-by-the-numbers-2018
[2] Robin Pogrebin. “Clean House to Survive? Museums Confront Their Crowded Basements.” The New York Times, March 12, 2019. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/03/10/arts/museum-art-quiz.html
[3] Ann Stone. “Treasures in the Basement An Analysis of Collection Utilization in Art Museums” Rand Corporation. 2002. https://www.rand.org/pubs/rgs_dissertations/RGSD160.htm
[4] Gretchen G. Bank, “Determining the Cost: Architect George Hartman’s Formula,” Museum News, Vol. 66(5), 1988, p. 74.
Read More Art for More People in More Places for more data on the growth of collections, and case studies for how museums are using collections differently to better serve the public.
Museum data can be hard to find. We originate and curate relevant data from credible sources to increase availability and transparency.