Museums in the United States
3,458 museums in the United States. Most visited: Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Top museums in the United States
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Art museum · 6,953,927 visitors a year
Nestled in the heart of New York City, the Metropolitan Museum of Art stands as one of the world's most comprehensive and inspiring artistic treasures. Known affectionately as "The Met," this iconic...
National Air and Space Museum
Transport museum · 6,900,000 visitors a year
Discover the wonders of flight and space exploration at the National Air and Space Museum, a crown jewel of the Smithsonian Institution located in the heart of Washington, D.C. Home to the largest...
Free entryNational Museum of Natural History
Natural history museum · 6,900,000 visitors a year
The Hope Diamond, a 45-carat deep-blue stone with a long and storied ownership history, draws crowds to the gem and mineral galleries of the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. It is...
Free entryNational Gallery of Art
Art museum · 4,404,212 visitors a year
Welcome to the National Gallery of Art, a treasure trove of artistic brilliance located in the heart of Washington, D.C. This iconic museum, established in 1937, is a haven for art lovers, showcasing...
Free entrySan Francisco Maritime National Historical Park
Maritime museum · 4,130,970 visitors a year
The largest collection of historic ships afloat in the United States is moored at Hyde Street Pier, where visitors can walk the decks of vessels that once worked the Pacific coast and San Francisco...
National Museum of American History
History museum · 4,100,000 visitors a year
Step into the National Museum of American History, where the vibrant tapestry of the United States unfolds before your eyes. Located in the heart of Washington, D.C., this museum invites visitors to...
Free entryIndependence National Historical Park
Archaeology museum · 3,751,007 visitors a year
Both the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution were debated and signed in Independence Hall, the Georgian brick statehouse at the centre of this national park in...
Free entrySmithsonian American Art Museum
Art museum · 3,150,000 visitors a year
Located in the heart of Washington, D.C., the Smithsonian American Art Museum invites visitors to explore the rich tapestry of American creativity. As one of the nation’s premier art institutions,...
Free entryMuseum of Modern Art
Art museum · 2,800,000 visitors a year
Van Gogh's The Starry Night, Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon and Dalí's The Persistence of Memory hang within a few galleries of one another at the Museum of Modern Art, widely known as MoMA....
National Zoological Park
Zoo or aquarium · 2,200,000 visitors a year
Few zoos began as a rescue mission. The National Zoological Park grew from William Temple Hornaday's push in the 1880s to save the vanishing American bison. Congress created it in 1889 as part of the...
Free entryJ. Paul Getty Museum
Art museum · 2,039,226 visitors a year
Two very different buildings share the J. Paul Getty Museum's collection. The Getty Center crowns a hilltop in Brentwood, a campus of travertine and white metal pavilions designed by Richard Meier...
Art Institute of Chicago
Art museum · 1,846,889 visitors a year
Nestled in the heart of Chicago, the Art Institute of Chicago stands as a beacon of creativity and inspiration. With its stunning Beaux-Arts architecture and iconic bronze lion statues guarding the...
The Henry Ford
Transport museum · 1,780,000 visitors a year
Welcome to The Henry Ford, a captivating destination where innovation, history, and culture come alive! Nestled in Dearborn, Michigan, this extraordinary museum complex invites visitors on a journey...
Indoor mapWebsite of The Henry Ford
Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center
Transport museum · 1,600,000 visitors a year
Space Shuttle Discovery, the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird and the Enola Gay share a single roof at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, the vast companion facility to the Smithsonian's National Air and Space...
Denver Zoo
Zoo or aquarium · 1,582,568 visitors a year
The Denver Zoo began in 1896 with a single orphaned black bear cub named Billy Bryan. Bears remain part of its story: Bear Mountain, built in 1918, was among the first zoo exhibits in the United...
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
Art museum · 1,500,761 visitors a year
San Francisco's public art museum occupies two very different buildings in two of the city's parks. The de Young in Golden Gate Park sits behind a perforated copper skin designed by Herzog & de...
Kenneth C. Griffin Museum of Science and Industry
Science and technology museum · 1,387,555 visitors a year
Welcome to the Kenneth C. Griffin Museum of Science and Industry, an extraordinary destination where curiosity meets innovation! Nestled in the heart of Chicago, this iconic museum invites visitors...
Website of Kenneth C. Griffin Museum of Science and Industry
Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum
Music, film or theatre museum · 1,297,433 visitors a year
Bronze plaques for every member of country music's highest honour line the rotunda of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, the genre's central archive and shrine. The building itself nods to...
Field Museum of Natural History
Natural history museum · 1,280,000 visitors a year
Sue, one of the largest and most complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeletons ever found, is the Field Museum's best-known resident and the reason many visitors come. She sits within a broad natural history...
National Museum of the American Indian
1,200,000 visitors a year
Discover the rich tapestry of Native American culture at the National Museum of the American Indian, a captivating destination nestled in the heart of the United States. This museum stands as a...
Museums by city in the United States
- New York City130 museums
- Washington, D.C.67 museums
- Los Angeles49 museums
- Chicago44 museums
- Philadelphia43 museums
- San Francisco37 museums
- Boston34 museums
- Atlanta26 museums
- San Diego22 museums
- Houston21 museums
- Baltimore20 museums
- Seattle20 museums
- Dallas18 museums
- Pittsburgh18 museums
- San Jose18 museums
- Savannah17 museums
- Cleveland16 museums
- Austin15 museums
- Denver15 museums
- Las Vegas14 museums
- Memphis14 museums
- New Orleans13 museums
- Miami12 museums
- Milwaukee12 museums
Mooseum brings together an unmatched directory of museums in the United States, helping travelers, students, and culture seekers plan their next adventure. From groundbreaking institutions in Washington, D.C. and New York City to community-driven heritage sites across the Midwest and Pacific Northwest, we track every partner museum in real time so you can explore confidently.
Use this resource to compare art, history, science, and specialty museums throughout America. Each profile highlights essential visiting details, digital experiences, and Mooseum-created tours so you can discover the cultural heartbeat of every region without sorting through outdated lists.
Visit The USA
Brand USA (public–private partnership)
Brand USA is the official destination marketing organization for the U.S.; usa.gov page is a government travel info portal.
Featured museums
These museums in the United States offer richer digital content on Mooseum.
Map of museums in the United States
Museums in the United States: questions
- How many museums are there in the United States?
- Mooseum lists 3,458 museums in the United States. New York City has the most, with 130.
- Which cities in the United States have the most museums?
- New York City (130), Washington, D.C. (67), Los Angeles (49), Chicago (44) and Philadelphia (43).
- What are the most visited museums in the United States?
- By annual visitors reported on Wikipedia: Metropolitan Museum of Art (6,953,927), National Air and Space Museum (6,900,000) and National Museum of Natural History (6,900,000).
- What kinds of museums are in the United States?
- Of the 2,341 whose type we know, the most common are art museums (675), transport museums (324), history museums (317) and zoos and aquariums (303).
- Which museums in the United States are free to visit?
- 14 museums list free general admission on their websites: National Air and Space Museum, National Museum of Natural History, National Gallery of Art, National Museum of American History, Independence National Historical Park and 9 more. Special exhibitions can still charge.
- Comprehensive coverage of Smithsonian museums, presidential libraries, and regional cultural landmarks
- Data-backed stats showing where art, science, and living-history museums cluster across the country
- Mooseum indoor map availability for planning complex visits before you arrive on-site
- Secure timed-entry tickets early for major U.S. museums that routinely sell out weekends and holiday blocks.
- Pair big-city institutions with local heritage museums to understand how national history connects to community stories.
- Check Mooseum’s indoor map badges to preview navigation support for sprawling campuses like the Smithsonian or Henry Ford Museum.
From the blog
- How Do You Do Museums? What the Research Says, and What It Doesn't
Most people visit museums a few times a year, rarely alone, and look at a painting for about 17 seconds. Here's what the research says about museum habits, and a 3-minute survey to fill in the gaps.
- The Best Museum You'll Ever Visit Is One You've Never Heard Of
The Louvre has the Mona Lisa. The Met has the Temple of Dendur. But the museum visit you'll actually remember might be a three-room house in a city you visited on a layover.
- Why You Forget Most of What You See in Museums
You spent three hours in a world-class museum last year. How much do you actually remember? The problem isn't your memory — it's how museums are designed to be consumed.
- Museum Fatigue Is Real (Here's How to Beat It)
That glazed-over feeling halfway through the Met isn't boredom. It's museum fatigue, a phenomenon studied since 1916. Here's what causes it and how to fight back.
All museums in the United States
Every museum in the United States listed on Mooseum. Search by name or type.
| Name | Type | Website | Links | Stats |
|---|---|---|---|---|
¡Explora! Science Center and Children's MuseumA high-wire bike, a laminar flow fountain and an experiment bar are among the more than 250 interactive exhibits at ¡Explora! Science Center and Children's Museum, near Old Town Albuquerque. The name... | Children's museum | www.explora.us |  | — |
— | louisianastatemuseum.org/museum/1850-house | | — | |
— | www.1881courthousemuseum.com/index.htm | | — | |
Transport museum | 1940airterminal.org | | — | |
Transport museum | www.1941hag.org | | — | |
Military museum | history.army.mil/museums/fieldMuseums/fortRiley_1stInfDiv/index.html | | — | |
Science and technology museum | www.20thcenturytech.com | | — | |
Military museum | www.6thcavalrymuseum.org | | — | |
Military museum | www.82ndairbornedivisionmuseum.com | | — | |
9/11 Tribute MuseumPersonal stories are the core of the 9/11 Tribute Museum. It brings people who want to learn about the September 11 attacks together with those who lived through them: family members who lost loved... | — | 911tributemuseum.org | | — |
99s Museum of Women PilotsThe Ninety-Nines Museum of Women Pilots holds the largest collection of historical artifacts from women aviators in the world. It is a non-profit museum and research institute dedicated to preserving... | Transport museum | www.ninety-nines.org | | — |
A Christmas Story HouseThe 19th-century Victorian house that played Ralphie Parker's home in the 1983 film A Christmas Story stands in Cleveland's Tremont neighborhood, restored inside and out to look as it does on screen.... | — | www.achristmasstoryhouse.com | | — |
History museum | www.ashiwi-museum.org | | — | |
Science and technology museum | www.noc.edu/a-d-buck-museum | | — | |
Art museum | www.backusgallery.com | | — | |
Natural history museum | www.museum.mtu.edu | | — | |
Memorial museum | www.bowmanmuseum.org | | — | |
Art museum | aplusd.org | | — | |
ABA Museum of LawOpened by the American Bar Association in November 1996, the ABA Museum of Law in Chicago was the only national museum focused on the role of law and the legal profession in America and around the... | — | www.abanet.org/museum | | — |
— | www.mycountyparks.com/County/Linn/Park/Abbe-Creek-School-Museum.aspx | | — | |
— | www.abbemuseum.org | | — | |
Art museum | history.org/history/museums/abby_art.cfm | | — | |
Abiel Smith SchoolThe Abiel Smith School was the first public school for free black people. The city of Boston built it with a bequest from Abiel Smith, a white philanthropist who left an estimated $4,000 in his will... | History museum | www.nps.gov/boaf/historyculture/abiel-smith-school.htm | | — |
Zoo or aquarium | www.abilenezoo.org | | — | |
Art museum | abingtonartcenter.org | | — |