Dear Dr. Lawless:

According to the Association of Art Museum Directors 1997 Salary Survey the
salary ranges for a Curator A/Chief Curator is broken up into many ranges.
The ranges include a summary for all museums responding, those responding by
region, those responding by operational budget and those responding based on
metropolitan Area population.  The highest to lowest ranges are then broken up
into 25th percentile increments and then a mean.

For museums responding to the survey by region, in the western region, the
highest is$182,600 and the lowest is $30,084 with a mean of $68,850.  Those
responding in terms of operational budget of under $1,000,000 reflects the
highest salary at $55,000 and the lowest at $33,000 with a mean of $40,054.
Museums with $1,000,000 to $2,499,000 budgets reflect the highest at $67,000
and the lowest at $20,604 with a mean of $43, 716.  Those responding by
population under 100,000 reflect the highest $56,650 and the lowest $34,680
with a mean of $46,159.  Populations of 100,000 to 499,999 reflect the highest
at $71, 763 and lowest at $20,604 with a mean of 43,903.

For Curator B/Curator following the same as above reflects region: $146,400
highest, $58,717 lowest; budget under $1,000,000:$40,200 highest, $30,941
lowest; $1,000,000 to $2,499,000: $68,729 highest, $45, 908 lowest; population
under 100,00;$73,385 highest, $46,643 lowest; population of 100,00 to 499,999:
$53,500 highest, $38,384 lowest.

By geography, the western region seems to pay the highest salaries in general,
I believe the 1998 survey is published and may be obtained through the AAM I
believe.  I hope this helps.

Sincerely,
Aaron De Groft