Paula, I will email this to you and post to the list as well. There are a couple of resources you can use. One is the AAMD Salary Survey, published annually. The last copy I have is from 1999, and it indicates that the median salary for a Graphic Designer in an art museum (don't know what museum type you are considering) overall was $38,292. The mean was $41,228, the 75th percentile (which many museums shoot for having their salaries match) was $46,429. It varies widely, though, based on both the annual budget of the institution and the geographic location. For example, the median for museums with budgets between 1 and 2.5 million was only $16,000, vs. for museums with budgets over 20 million, where the median was $56,381. Regional differences are smaller: Mid Atlantic median was $40,000, Southeast was $35,900. You should bump all these figures up by 5-8% for 1999-2001 cost of living increases. The second source you can use is the AIGA (American Institute of Graphic Arts) Salary Survey, the most recent copy of which was published in 2000. This only lists national averages, and includes everybody- in-house corporate, design firms, advertising firms, freelancers, not-for-profit, etc. so it is a pretty wide net. For a Designer, median compensation (including benefits) listed is $38,000 and 75th percentile is $45,000. Senior designer is $52,300 and $64,000, and Art director is $55,000 and $70,000 respectively. Hope that is of some help. Overall, I'd say if the institution is large and well-known, in a major city (as you said), and the duties of the job include designing as well as some art direction of outside designers/contractors, you should use the upper end of your guesstimate ($30-40,000) as a starting point (or even a little higher). Maybe ask for $45-50 and see what happens... but 95% of the time you'll get a good feel for the range they are willing to pay during the interview process, anyways. Best of luck! Dennis __________________________ Dennis Kois Assistant Manager of Design The Metropolitan Museum of Art New York ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).