Education, Training, and Library · Holland code CES

Curators

Administer collections, such as artwork, collectibles, historic items, or scientific specimens of museums or other institutions. May conduct instructional, research, or public service activities of institution.

Also called: Collections Curator, Collections Manager, Curator, Museum Curator, Education Curator, Exhibitions Curator, Exhibits Curator, Photography Curator.

O*NET 25-4012.00

At a glance

US median annual pay: $63,420; Middle half earn $48,870 to $83,080. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: Master's Degree; 44% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 5 of 5; Extensive preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

Plan and organize the acquisition, storage, and exhibition of collections and related materials, including the selection of exhibition themes and designs, and develop or install exhibit materials.
Develop and maintain an institution's registration, cataloging, and basic record-keeping systems, using computer databases.
Plan and conduct special research projects in area of interest or expertise.
Provide information from the institution's holdings to other curators and to the public.
Negotiate and authorize purchase, sale, exchange, or loan of collections.
Study, examine, and test acquisitions to authenticate their origin, composition, history, and to assess their current value.
Inspect premises to assess the need for repairs and to ensure that climate and pest control issues are addressed.
Write and review grant proposals, journal articles, institutional reports, and publicity materials.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Reading Comprehension4.0 / 5
Speaking4.0 / 5
Active Listening3.9 / 5
Writing3.9 / 5
Critical Thinking3.8 / 5
Active Learning3.5 / 5

Knowledge areas

English Language4.6 / 5
History and Archeology4.5 / 5
Fine Arts3.8 / 5
Administration and Management3.3 / 5
Sociology and Anthropology3.3 / 5
Communications and Media3.2 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic25
Investigative41
Artistic33
Social47
Enterprising47
Conventional73

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

museum director · DE Museumsdirektor/Museumsdirektorin · FR directeur de musée/directrice de musée
zoo curator · DE Zookurator/Zookuratorin · FR conservateur de zoo/conservatrice de zoo
archivist · DE Archivar/Archivarin · FR archiviste
collection manager · DE Wissenschaftlicher Sammlungsmanager/Wissenschaftliche Sammlungsmanagerin · FR gestionnaire de collections
exhibition curator · DE Kurator/Kuratorin · FR responsable des expositions
exhibition registrar · DE Museumsregistrar/Museumsregistrarin · FR régisseur des collections/régisseuse des collections

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Senior officers in fire, ambulance, prison and related services (1163)8,000 employed
Leisure and sports managers and proprietors (1224)60,500 employed
Archivists, conservators and curators (2472)17,100 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Professionals”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Professionals, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€61,714
Germany	€59,529
Ireland	€56,877
Austria	€55,374
Netherlands	€53,595
Sweden	€43,567
France	€41,515
Spain	€35,735
Italy	€33,649
Portugal	€26,072
Poland	€14,380

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Exposure to AI

This occupation sits in the higher third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of +0.74. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.

Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.

Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (25-4012).

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

Take the career interests test