Occupation salary profile

Museum Technicians and Conservators

SOC 25-4013 BLS OEWS May 2025 H-1B LCAs, last 12 months

Restore, maintain, or prepare objects in museum collections for storage, research, or exhibit. May work with specimens such as fossils, skeletal parts, or botanicals; or artifacts, textiles, or art. May identify and record objects or install and arrange them in exhibits. Includes book or document conservators.

National median · BLS
$51,440
▲ +8.39% YoY
H-1B sponsor median
$66,868
▼ -15.31% YoY · 29 LCAs
Average salary · BLS
$57,410
Mean annual wage
U.S. employment
12,310
Jobs (BLS)
Highest-paying state (cost-adjusted) Loading…
Most jobs Loading…
Highest-paying metro (cost-adjusted) Loading…

Check your salary

Enter your pay and a location to see where you stand against BLS and H-1B pay, your estimated take-home pay, and your purchasing power.

Pay range for Museum Technicians and Conservators

Annual base pay at each percentile. BLS covers all U.S. workers in this occupation; H-1B covers 29 certified Labor Condition Applications filed by sponsoring employers in the last 12 months.

Percentile All U.S. workers (BLS) H-1B sponsored
10th — entry pay$33,780$46,211
25th$41,050$58,802
Median (50th)$51,440$66,868
75th$67,640$83,743
90th — top pay$87,530$100,189
H-1B sponsors pay a median of $66,868 for Museum Technicians and Conservators — 30% above the BLS national median of $51,440.

Hourly ⇄ annual pay

Type in either box; the other updates instantly.

Monthly—
Every 2 weeks—
Weekly—
Daily—
Based on hrs/week × weeks/year = 2,080 hrs
Projections 2025–2035

Job outlook for Museum Technicians and Conservators

BLS projects employment of museum technicians and conservators to grow 3.6% from 2025 to 2035, about the same as the 3.5% average for all occupations. About 1,600 openings are projected each year, on average, from new jobs and from replacing workers who retire or move to other occupations.

Jobs 2025 → 2035
14,000 → 14,500
+500 jobs
Projected change
+3.6%
All occupations: +3.5%
Openings per year
1,600
Average, 2025–2035
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree
No related experience required
Self-employed
7.9% of workers (2025)
Preparation needed (O*NET Job Zone 5)
Extensive Preparation Needed. Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).
Fastest-growing jobs → Best-paying jobs that need a bachelor's degree →

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025–2035 · BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook →

H-1B sponsored pay

Pay by H-1B wage level

Employers assign every H-1B filing a Department of Labor prevailing-wage level, from Level I (entry) to Level IV (fully competent). Pay rises steeply with level.

H-1B median $66,868
Change vs prior year -15.31%
After inflation (CPI-U) -17.88%
Wage level LCAs Share P25 Median P75
Level IV 10 34.5% $61,778 $95,000 $100,710
Skills & tools

Skills needed for Museum Technicians and Conservators

How important each skill and knowledge area is for this job, rated by O*NET on a 1–5 scale from surveys of workers and occupational analysts.

Top skills
  • Reading Comprehension4.0
  • Active Listening3.9
  • Speaking3.6
  • Critical Thinking3.4
  • Monitoring3.4
  • Writing3.4
  • Complex Problem Solving3.3
  • Judgment and Decision Making3.3
  • Active Learning3.1
  • Coordination3.0
Top knowledge areas
  • Chemistry4.5
  • Fine Arts4.4
  • History and Archeology4.2
  • English Language3.6
  • Education and Training3.3
  • Administrative3.0
  • Computers and Electronics2.9
  • Design2.9
Software and technology used
Adobe AcrobatAdobe Creative Cloud softwareAdobe IllustratorAdobe InDesignAdobe PhotoshopAutodesk AutoCADMicrosoft Active Server Pages ASPMicrosoft ExcelMicrosoft Office softwareMicrosoft OutlookMicrosoft PowerPointMicrosoft WordGallery Systems EmbARKMicrosoft Visual FoxProPastPerfect Software PastPerfectQuestor Systems ARGUSQuestor Systems QScan32

Highlighted = in demand: frequently listed in employer job postings for this occupation (O*NET).

Source: O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.

About the job

What museum technicians and conservators do

  • Determine whether objects need repair and choose the safest and most effective method of repair.
  • Specialize in particular materials or types of object, such as documents and books, paintings, decorative arts, textiles, metals, or architectural materials.
  • Recommend preservation procedures, such as control of temperature and humidity, to curatorial and building staff.
  • Install, arrange, assemble, and prepare artifacts for exhibition, ensuring the artifacts' safety, reporting their status and condition, and identifying and correcting any problems with the set up.
  • Study object documentation or conduct standard chemical and physical tests to ascertain the object's age, composition, original appearance, need for treatment or restoration, and appropriate preservation method.
  • Clean objects, such as paper, textiles, wood, metal, glass, rock, pottery, and furniture, using cleansers, solvents, soap solutions, and polishes.
  • Repair, restore, and reassemble artifacts, designing and fabricating missing or broken parts, to restore them to their original appearance and prevent deterioration.
  • Perform tests and examinations to establish storage and conservation requirements, policies, and procedures.
Also called
ConservatorObjects ConservatorPaintings ConservatorPreparatorConservation Technician (Conservation Tech)Exhibit Technician (Exhibit Tech)Museum RegistrarMuseum Technician (Museum Tech)Paper ConservatorTextile Conservator
More job titles for this occupation (12)
Art ConservatorArt PreparatorArtifacts ConservatorConservation WorkerConservator Technician (Conservator Tech)Document RestorerEthnographic Materials ConservatorExhibit PreparatorMuseum Exhibit Technician (Museum Exhibit Tech)Museum PreparatorPreservation ContactorPreservation Vendor

Source: O*NET 31.0 (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0). These are general job titles, not H-1B filings; for titles employers actually filed, see “Job titles” above.