The Metropolitan Museum of Art is raising its admission prices — but the fee for New Yorkers will remain “pay as you wish,” the cultural institution said Wednesday.
Ticket prices will rise from $25 to $30 for adults, $17 to $22 for seniors and $12 to $17 for students beginning Friday, July 1, the museum said on its website.
New York state residents and students who live in or attend school in New York, New Jersey or Connecticut will still be able to choose how much to pay for admission, the museum noted.
What You Need To Know
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art will raise its admission prices from $25 to $30 for adults, $17 to $22 for seniors and $12 to $17 for students beginning Friday, July 1
- The fee for New York state residents and tristate students will remain "pay as you wish," and members, patrons and children under the age of 12, meanwhile, will still get free entry
- In a statement, a Met spokesperson called the new admission policy a “modest increase for out of state and international visitors, for the first time in 11 years"
Members, patrons and children under the age of 12, meanwhile, will still get free entry.
In a statement provided to NY1, a Met spokesperson called the new admission policy a “modest increase for out of state and international visitors, for the first time in 11 years.”
The Met raised its admission price from $20 to $25 in 2011.
“For out of state residents, the Museum is always seeking a balance between ensuring we are providing as wide access as possible, and generating critical support for our programming,” the spokesperson said.
Friday’s price bump will put the Met’s admission fees above those of the MoMA, which currently charges $25 for adults, $18 for seniors and $14 for students, according to its website.
Both the Guggenheim Museum and the Whitney Museum of American Art also charge $25 and $18 for adult and senior tickets, respectively, but charge $18 for students, their websites show.
The MoMA offers free admission to children under 16, as well as to New York City residents from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. on the first Friday of every month. The Whitney offers free admission for visitors 18 and under, in addition to limited “pay-as-you-wish” ticketing for all visitors from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Fridays.
And the Guggenheim offers free admission for children under 12, as well as a limited number of “pay-what-you-wish” tickets for all visitors from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturdays.
The American Museum of Natural History, for its part, charges $23 for adults, $18 for students and seniors and $13 for children ages 3 to 12, but also has a “pay as you wish” option for tristate residents.
The Met’s announcement came four and a half years after it imposed a mandatory admission fee for out-of-state residents for the first time since 1970.
At the time, the museum said it had “experienced a significant decline in revenue generated per visitor under the pay-as-you-wish policy” for all visitors.