Museum Technicians and Conservators · SOC 25-4013

Highest-Paying Metro Areas for Museum Technicians and Conservatorss

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025U.S. metropolitan areas

Metro areas ranked by published median annual wage for museum technicians and conservators. Areas where BLS suppressed the median are not ranked (1 such areas are excluded here). Higher medians often track higher living costs — this is a pay comparison, not a ranking of where the job is “best”.

Top 25 of 66 metro areas

Museum Technicians and Conservators: metro areas with the highest published median annual wages, May 2025
#	Metro area	Median annual	Employment	Per 1,000 jobs
1	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$79,230	970	0.3
2	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$77,030	820	0.1
3	Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA	$75,100	30	0.3
4	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$75,020	420	0.2
5	Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA	$68,960	30	0.1
6	Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY	$66,620	70	0.2
7	Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh, NY	$65,310	40	0.1
8	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$62,290	40	0.0
9	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$61,370	180	0.1
10	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$61,040	80	0.0
11	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$60,540	60	0.1
12	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$60,510	Not published	Not published
13	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$60,110	180	0.1
14	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$59,820	100	0.1
15	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$58,840	280	0.1
16	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$58,530	290	0.1
17	Pittsfield, MA	$57,460	30	0.6
18	Santa Fe, NM	$56,670	40	0.7
19	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$56,590	180	0.1
20	Barnstable Town, MA	$55,490	30	0.3
21	Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN	$54,600	80	0.1
22	Providence-Warwick, RI-MA	$54,370	70	0.1
23	Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV	$54,230	40	0.0
24	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	$53,460	90	0.0
25	Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN	$52,800	40	0.1

Full state and metro tables, the national distribution, and the pay map are on the Museum Technicians and Conservators overview.

About this data. Estimates are from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, May 2025 release, retrieved from bls.gov/oes/tables.htm on July 24, 2026. OEWS estimates describe metropolitan/nonmetropolitan areas and states — not city limits — and are not designed for year-over-year comparisons. See BLS methodology, our plain-English methodology, and sources. CitySalaryData is independent and not affiliated with BLS.