The Ballet Artistic and Executive Compensation Report is DDP’s annual study of pay in the Largest 150 ballet and classically based companies in the U.S., ranked by annual expenditure.
This is the 70th report DDP has published, occurring just over 7 years after the publication of the first DDP study. Founder Elizabeth (Liza) Yntema states, “DDP continues to produce groundbreaking research that highlights shifts in the dance landscape and the gender inequities that persist in the field. Every new study teaches us, and the field, something more.”
Among the Largest 50 companies, in Fiscal Year (FY) 2024, artistic directors earned an average of $240,741. This represents an increase compared to FY2023, during which the average compensation was $227,650. In contrast, average executive director compensation decreased from $229,791 in FY2023 to $204,744 in FY2024. The average compensation for female artistic directors in the Largest 50 companies in FY2024 was $234,080, while the average compensation for their male counterparts was $239,785. Research Lead Jenna Magrath explains, “The large year-over-year change may be due to several factors, including retirements, transitions, or partial-year salaries.”
As seen in Figure 1, pay equity improved among the artistic directors of the Largest 50 companies in FY2024; Female artistic directors earned 2 cents less per dollar than their male counterparts, compared to earning 24 cents less per dollar in FY2023.
