What Can You Do With an Art History Degree?

Below are 14 occupations that art history graduates commonly move into, most common first. Curator leads at $63,420 a year (BLS OEWS, May 2025); across the whole list the middle occupation pays $72,295 and 4 of 14 typically need a graduate degree. A major is a body of study, not a job assignment, so treat every entry as a common destination rather than a promise.

What the degree actually involves: Visual analysis, period and movement study, archival research, and long essays.

This is the hardest list on the site to write honestly, so here is the honest version. The art-world destinations at the top — curating, archives, conservation, appraisal — are real, but they are small, competitive, and most of them expect a graduate degree. The rest of the list is where art history graduates actually go: the research, writing, communications and fundraising roles that a degree in reading objects and arguing from evidence genuinely prepares you for. Both halves are on the same list on purpose.

Common destinations: 14
Median pay range: $38,120–$78,760
Projected to grow: 13 of 14
Need a graduate degree: 4 of 14

How this list was built

The destinations are the occupations art history graduates commonly move into. They are ordered by how common the destination is, not by what it pays, so the ordinary outcomes sit at the top where they belong rather than being buried under the flattering ones.
Every destination is matched to a real occupation in the 923-occupation NueCareer career bank. A destination that does not resolve to a bank occupation is dropped rather than shown without data.
All pay, growth, openings and education figures come from that bank: BLS OEWS May 2025 for wages, BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034 for projected change, annual openings and the typical education needed for entry, and O*NET 30.3 Database for what the work involves. Nothing is estimated and no figure here is generated by an AI model.
Destinations whose BLS typical entry education is a master’s or a doctoral or professional degree are marked Graduate study on the list. That flag is read from the federal data, not asserted by us.
What this list is not: a ranking of which destination you should pick, a statement of how many graduates reach each one, or a promise that the degree entitles you to any of them. Read the full methodology.

14 careers an art history degree commonly leads to

Most common destination first. Every card carries the national median annual wage, projected employment change and openings over 2024–2034, and the typical education people already in the job hold.

1. Curator
Educational Instruction and Library
Graduate study
Median pay
$63,420
Growth
+7.0%
Openings/yr
1,800
Education
Master's
Administer collections, such as artwork, collectibles, historic items, or scientific specimens of museums or other institutions.
Full page coming in the next tranche. Data shown here is from the same bank.
2. Archivist
Educational Instruction and Library
Graduate study
Median pay
$64,550
Growth
+3.8%
Openings/yr
1,100
Education
Master's
Appraise, edit, and direct safekeeping of permanent records and historically valuable documents.
Full page coming in the next tranche. Data shown here is from the same bank.
3. Museum Technician and Conservator
Educational Instruction and Library
Median pay
$51,440
Growth
+5.4%
Openings/yr
1,900
Education
Bachelor's
Restore, maintain, or prepare objects in museum collections for storage, research, or exhibit.
Full page coming in the next tranche. Data shown here is from the same bank.
4. Librarian
Educational Instruction and Library
Graduate study
Median pay
$68,270
Growth
+1.7%
Openings/yr
13,500
Education
Master's
Administer and maintain libraries or collections of information, for public or private access through reference or borrowing.
Librarian salary & outlook →
5. Fundraiser
Business and Financial Operations
Median pay
$72,550
Growth
+4.3%
Openings/yr
10,200
Education
Bachelor's
Organize activities to raise funds or otherwise solicit and gather monetary donations or other gifts for an organization.
Full page coming in the next tranche. Data shown here is from the same bank.
6. Appraiser of Personal and Business Property
Business and Financial Operations
Median pay
$67,960
Growth
+3.8%
Openings/yr
6,300
Education
Bachelor's
Appraise and estimate the fair value of tangible personal or business property, such as jewelry, art, antiques, collectibles, and equipment.
Full page coming in the next tranche. Data shown here is from the same bank.
7. Set and Exhibit Designer
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media
Median pay
$75,240
Growth
+2.3%
Openings/yr
2,500
Education
Bachelor's
Design special exhibits and sets for film, video, television, and theater productions.
Full page coming in the next tranche. Data shown here is from the same bank.
8. Tour Guide and Escort
Personal Care and Service
Median pay
$38,120
Growth
+8.1%
Openings/yr
13,000
Education
High school
Escort individuals or groups on sightseeing tours or through places of interest, such as industrial establishments, public buildings, and art galleries.
Full page coming in the next tranche. Data shown here is from the same bank.
9. High School Teacher
Educational Instruction and Library
Median pay
$72,040
Growth
-1.6%
Openings/yr
66,200
Education
Bachelor's
Teach one or more subjects to students at the secondary school level.
High School Teacher salary & outlook →
10. Writer and Author
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media
Median pay
$76,910
Growth
+3.6%
Openings/yr
13,400
Education
Bachelor's
Originate and prepare written material, such as scripts, stories, advertisements, and other material.
Full page coming in the next tranche. Data shown here is from the same bank.
11. Editor
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media
Median pay
$77,920
Growth
+0.6%
Openings/yr
9,800
Education
Bachelor's
Plan, coordinate, revise, or edit written material.
Full page coming in the next tranche. Data shown here is from the same bank.
12. Public Relations Specialist
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media
Median pay
$74,750
Growth
+4.8%
Openings/yr
27,600
Education
Bachelor's
Promote or create an intended public image for individuals, groups, or organizations.
Public Relations Specialist salary & outlook →
13. Market Research Analyst and Marketing Specialist
Business and Financial Operations
Median pay
$78,760
Growth
+6.7%
Openings/yr
87,200
Education
Bachelor's
Research conditions in local, regional, national, or online markets.
Market Research Analyst and Marketing Specialist salary & outlook →
14. Art, Drama, and Music Teacher, Postsecondary
Educational Instruction and Library
Graduate study
Median pay
$78,620
Growth
+1.7%
Openings/yr
9,000
Education
Master's
Teach courses in drama, music, and the arts including fine and applied art, such as painting and sculpture, or design and crafts.
Full page coming in the next tranche. Data shown here is from the same bank.

Does an art history degree decide your career?

For most people, no. Federal survey data has consistently found that only a minority of US graduates work in a job closely related to their degree field, and that share falls further with each year after graduation. The exceptions are the fields where a licence sits at the end of the degree, and they are exceptions precisely because the route is fixed.

The practical reading of the list above is this: 10 of the 14 destinations are typically entered with a bachelor's degree or less, and 4 typically need a master's or a doctoral or professional degree (BLS Employment Projections, 2024–2034). If the destination you want is in the second group, the extra years are part of the decision from day one, not a detail to sort out later.

Not sure this is the right major in the first place? Take the free college major quiz — fifteen questions that score what you like doing against what each major actually asks of you, and show the same real occupations underneath every match.

Art History degrees: FAQ

Do you need a master's degree after an art history degree?

For 10 of the 14 destinations on this page, no: BLS Employment Projections (2024–2034) list a bachelor's degree or less as the typical entry requirement. The other 4 typically need a master's or a doctoral or professional degree, and each is marked on the list below. "Typical" describes what people already in the job hold, not an admissions rule.

What is the highest-paying career an art history degree leads to?

Of the 14 destinations on this page, Market Research Analyst and Marketing Specialist has the highest national median wage at $78,760 a year (BLS OEWS, May 2025), against $50,980 for all US occupations. Typical entry education for it is bachelor's. A median is the midpoint of everyone in the job today, so a first salary normally sits well below it.

Which of these careers hires the most people each year?

Market Research Analyst and Marketing Specialist, with about 87,200 projected openings a year (BLS Employment Projections, 2024–2034). Across all 14 destinations on this page the combined figure is roughly 263,500 openings a year. Openings include replacing people who leave, not just new jobs, which is why a slow-growing occupation can still hire heavily.

Is an art history degree worth it?

That depends on the price you pay for it, which this page cannot know. What it can tell you is where the destinations sit: the middle occupation on this list pays $72,295 a year against $50,980 for all US occupations, the range runs $38,120–$78,760, and 13 of the 14 are projected to grow over 2024–2034 (BLS OEWS May 2025, BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034).

How was this list of careers put together?

The destinations were curated as the occupations art history graduates commonly move into, ordered by how common rather than by pay, then matched against the 923-occupation NueCareer career bank. Every figure shown comes from that bank: wages from BLS OEWS May 2025, projected change and annual openings and typical entry education from BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034, and occupation descriptions from O*NET 30.3 Database. Nothing is estimated, and no figure on this page is generated by an AI model.

How this list was built

14 careers an art history degree commonly leads to

1. Curator

2. Archivist

3. Museum Technician and Conservator

4. Librarian

5. Fundraiser

6. Appraiser of Personal and Business Property

7. Set and Exhibit Designer

8. Tour Guide and Escort

9. High School Teacher

10. Writer and Author

11. Editor

12. Public Relations Specialist

13. Market Research Analyst and Marketing Specialist

14. Art, Drama, and Music Teacher, Postsecondary