Museum Technicians and Conservators Career, Salary and Skills
Museum Technicians and Conservators have a BLS-reported national median annual wage of $51,440 based on the 2025 OEWS dataset, with reported national employment of 12,310. Wage data is published for 111 locations.
Occupation description
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.
O*NET code
25-4013.00
Job zone
5
Typical education
Not recorded
Experience
Over 2 years, up to and including 4 years
National salary and employment
Median annual
$51,440
Hourly median
$24.73
Employment
12,310
Data year
2025
National salary distribution
Top skills
| Skill | Importance | Level |
|---|---|---|
| Reading Comprehension | 4.00 | 4.12 |
| Active Listening | 3.88 | 3.88 |
| Speaking | 3.62 | 3.88 |
| Critical Thinking | 3.38 | 3.62 |
| Monitoring | 3.38 | 3.50 |
| Writing | 3.38 | 3.88 |
| Judgment and Decision Making | 3.25 | 3.25 |
| Complex Problem Solving | 3.25 | 3.25 |
| Active Learning | 3.12 | 3.12 |
| Social Perceptiveness | 3.00 | 3.12 |
Typical tasks
- 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.
- Prepare artifacts for storage and shipping.
Technology
- Adobe Acrobat
- Adobe Creative Cloud software
- Adobe Illustrator
- Adobe InDesign
- Adobe Photoshop
- Autodesk AutoCAD
- Gallery Systems EmbARK
- Microsoft Active Server Pages ASP
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft Office software
- Microsoft Outlook
- Microsoft PowerPoint
- Microsoft Visual FoxPro
- Microsoft Word
Museum Technicians and Conservators salary by location
Areas with the highest reported employment for this occupation.
- Museum Technicians and Conservators Salary in CAMedian $61,550 · Employment 1,610
- Museum Technicians and Conservators Salary in NYMedian $74,550 · Employment 1,050
- Museum Technicians and Conservators Salary in Washington, DCMedian $79,230 · Employment 970
- Museum Technicians and Conservators Salary in MOMedian $49,170 · Employment 850
- Museum Technicians and Conservators Salary in New York, NYMedian $77,030 · Employment 820
- Museum Technicians and Conservators Salary in St. Louis, MOMedian $50,690 · Employment 750
- Museum Technicians and Conservators Salary in TXMedian $45,880 · Employment 670
- Museum Technicians and Conservators Salary in DCMedian $76,110 · Employment 520
- Museum Technicians and Conservators Salary in MDMedian $76,900 · Employment 450
- Museum Technicians and Conservators Salary in NCMedian $39,290 · Employment 450
- Museum Technicians and Conservators Salary in MAMedian $58,530 · Employment 440
- Museum Technicians and Conservators Salary in San Francisco, CAMedian $75,020 · Employment 420
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Career and skills data: O*NET 31.0 (onetcenter.org). Salary and employment data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS, 2025 (bls.gov/oes). Figures are published survey estimates, not real-time market data.