Dance Data Project's 2026 Report Reveals Compensation Trends and Gender Pay Gaps in U.S. Ballet Companies

The Dance Data Project (DDP) has released its 70th annual study, the Ballet Artistic and Executive Compensation Report for 2026, analyzing pay structures across the 150 largest U.S. ballet and classically based companies. The report, founded by Elizabeth (Liza) Yntema, examines fiscal year 2024 data, highlighting shifts in compensation and persistent gender inequities. Among the top 50 companies by expenditure, artistic directors earned an average of $240,741, up from $227,650 in FY2023, while executive directors saw a decrease from $229,791 to $204,744. Gender pay gaps showed improvement for artistic directors, with women earning 2 cents less per dollar than men in FY2024, compared to 24 cents less in FY2023. However, female executive directors earned 11 cents less per dollar than male counterparts in FY2024, reversing a trend where they had earned more in previous years. The report notes that 39 companies operated at a deficit yet increased artistic director compensation, continuing a pattern from FY2023. Research Lead Jenna Magrath attributed significant year-over-year changes to factors like retirements and transitions. The analysis also covers the Next 50 and Additional 50 companies, offering benchmarking by budget tier. Findings align with a recent Contemporary and Modern Compensation Data Byte, showing pay equity varies by company size. The study uses publicly available financial data from sources like the IRS and ProPublica but does not account for variables such as tenure or geographic location. DDP emphasizes its mission to provide groundbreaking research on the dance landscape.