Museum Curator
Everything OPM FedScope (June 2026) reports about the Museum Curator occupation series (code 1015): headcount, average salary, length of service, and pay comparison.
The verdict
Museum Curator is a smaller, specialized federal occupation: 490 employees (0.0% of the federal civilian workforce) in the Information and Arts Group family. At an average salary of $125,118 it pays near the federal average of $117,339, and headcount declined 0.6% from the prior period.
- Employees
- 490
- Share of workforce
- 0.0%
- Avg salary
- $125,118
- Avg tenure
- 17.5 yrs
What the Numbers Say About Museum Curator
Federal agencies employ 490 people in the Museum Curator occupation (OPM code 1015), accounting for 0.0% of the total federal civilian workforce of 1,953,300 for the June 2026 reporting window. Headcount in this occupation moved down by -0.6% versus the prior period, though at this small a headcount, year-to-year swings can reflect a handful of hires or departures rather than a broad hiring trend.
Average tenure in Museum Curator runs 17.5 years, a long average tenure, typical of career federal roles where employees stay through much of a full career before retirement. Pay averages $125,118 per year, down -0.2% from the prior period, a small shift, within the range of normal year-to-year rounding rather than a broad pay-table change.
Code 10, the Information and Arts Group family, is where the federal government classifies Museum Curator alongside 18 related occupations. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Museum Curator postings should also review these sibling occupations in the Information and Arts Group family.
Within the Information and Arts Group family, Museum Curator ranks #9 of 19 by headcount, accounting for 3.3% of the family's combined 14,755 employees.
Salary context · rich-pay series
How Museum Curator pay compares to the federal average of $117,339
Occupation Average
$125,118
Federal Average
$117,339
vs. Federal Avg
+6.6%
Where Museum Curator ranks on rich federal pay
Its average salary of $125,118 is higher than 72% of federal occupation series (389 of 541). The highlighted bar marks where Museum Curator sits in the federal pay distribution.
Average-salary distribution across all 541 federal occupation series; Museum Curator ranks higher than 72%.
Related Occupations in Information and Arts Group
10 other occupations in the same family
| Occupation | Employees | Avg Salary | Avg LOS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Public Affairs | 5,552 | $129,060 | 14.3 yrs |
| General Arts and Information | 2,759 | $126,733 | 14.5 yrs |
| Visual Information | 1,245 | $110,638 | 15.6 yrs |
| Language Specialist | 864 | $117,705 | 11.8 yrs |
| Technical Writing and Editing | 816 | $128,063 | 14.1 yrs |
| Writing and Editing | 760 | $138,055 | 15.2 yrs |
| Museum Specialist and Technician | 657 | $91,362 | 13.8 yrs |
| Audiovisual Production | 619 | $128,404 | 16 yrs |
| Interior Design | 355 | $105,579 | 11 yrs |
| Exhibits Specialist | 268 | $103,348 | 16.7 yrs |
Nationwide occupation series with similar scale or pay
Two peer sets for Museum Curator outside the Information and Arts Group family, on headcount and average salary axes that vary across all OPM occupation series.
Similar headcount
Nearest employee counts in other occupation families (490 here).
Similar rich average salary
Nearest average salaries in other occupation families ($125,118 here).
Key takeaways
- Museum Curator pays near the federal average by 6.6% ($125,118 vs $117,339 federal-wide), at the 72nd percentile for pay among 541 tracked occupation series.
- A smaller, specialized federal occupation by headcount: 490 employees, 0.0% of the federal civilian workforce, and headcount declined 0.6% from the prior period.
- According to OPM FedScope June 2026, Museum Curator ranks #295 of 663 federal occupation series by headcount (the same employee_count ordering as our occupations directory).
- Within the Information and Arts Group family, Museum Curator ranks #9 of 19 by headcount, accounting for 3.3% of the family's combined 14,755 employees.
OPM FedScope and Federal Workforce Data figures are federal civilian headcounts, average salaries, and length-of-service statistics - not job-quality scores, hiring advice, or a live vacancy listing. A larger or higher-paid agency is not a better employer.