September 11, 2024

Top 20 Museums in North America, By Attendance


Most museums in North America continued steadily on the road to recovery, though at this point many are considering 2023 attendance as their new baseline. Collectively, North American museums grew 34% over 2022 and achieved 90% of 2019 levels. Recovery levels, growth, and museum performance do not appear to vary based upon geography, museum type, or whether or not they have free or paid admission. Instead, recovery appears to be most closely tied to reliance on tourist markets, tourism recovery, and reinvestment into new visitor experiences.

See how North American Museums fared in 2023 compared to previous years:


Top 20 Museums in North America
Rank
Museum, Location
Change 2023 2022
2019
1
The Metropolitan Museum of Art,
New York, NY, USA
67.2% 5,364,000 3,209,000
6,770,000
2
American Museum of Natural History,
New York, NY, USA
NA 5,000,000 NA
5,000,000
3 National Museum of Natural History,
Washington, DC, USA
12.8% 4,400,000 I 3,900,000
4,200,000
4 National Gallery of Art,
Washington DC, USA
17.6% 3,830,000 3,256,000 4,074,000
5
Museum of Modern Art,
New York, NY, USA
29.7% 2,840,000 2,190,000
1,992,000
6
National 9/11 Museum,
New York NY, USA
NA 2,265,000 NA
NA
7
National Museum of American History,
Washington, DC, USA
16.7% 2,100,000 1,800,000
2,800,000
8
National Air and Space Museum,
Washington, DC, USA
353.5% 1,900,000 419,000
3,200,000
9
Houston Museum of Natural Science,
Houston, TX, USA
5.9% 1,800,000 1,700,000
1,974,000
10
California Science Center,
Los Angeles, CA, USA
0.4% 1,700,000 1,694,000
2,200,000
11
National Museum of African American History and Culture,
Washington, DC, USA
46.4% 1,600,000 1,093,000
2,000,000
12 Griffin Museum of Science and Industry,
Chicago, IL, USA
30.2% 1,476,000 1,134,000 1,388,000
13
Smithsonian American Art Museum (with the Renwick Gallery),
Washington, DC, USA
27.3% 1,400,000 1,100,000
2,000,000
13 Museum of Science,
Boston, MA, USA
24.7% 1,400,000 1,123,000
1,458,000
15 The Art Institute of Chicago,
Chicago, IL, USA
27.5% 1,322,000 1,037,000 1,666,000
16 Denver Museum of Nature & Science,
Denver, CO, USA
13.5% 1,306,000 1,151,000 1,487,000
17
Space Center Houston,
Houston, TX, USA
NA 1,270,000 NA NA
18 The J. Paul Getty Museum,
Los Angeles, CA, USA
37.6% 1,251,000 909,000 1,439,000
19 California Academy of Sciences,
San Francisco, CA, USA
28.9% 1,245,000 966,000
1,321,000
20 National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center,
Washington, DC, USA
9.1% 1,200,000 1,100,000
NA
TOP 20 TOTAL ATTENDANCE FROM 2023 AND 2022
(PUBLISHED PRIOR YEAR TOTAL)
33.8% 44,689,000 29,657,000 NA
2023 ATTENDANCE AS % OF 2019 PUBLISHED ATTENDANCE
89.8%      


Source: TEA/AECOM 2024 Theme Index and Museum Index: The Global Attractions Attendance Report




Copyright 2024 Themed Entertainment Association and AECOM. All rights reserved. From https://www.teaconnect.org and https://www.aecom.com.

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