Smithsonian statistics show the scale of a major cultural institution through attendance, collections, research infrastructure, digital access, and public funding. In 2024, Smithsonian locations recorded 16.8 million visits overall; the comparable 2025 total was 14.9 million. The figures below identify the year, location, and measurement basis so Washington, D.C., visitors can distinguish local attendance from the Smithsonian’s wider network.
Table of contents
- Overall attendance
- Most visited museums and sites
- Washington, D.C., museums and galleries
- Other Smithsonian locations
- Collections and research scale
- Open Access and digital collections
- Federal funding
Overall attendance
The Smithsonian recorded 16.8 million total visits in 2024, according to Smithsonian Visitor Stats. The total fell to 14.9 million in 2025, also according to Smithsonian Visitor Stats. These are annual visit totals, not unique visitors, so one person visiting several sites can contribute more than one visit.
The two-year totals provide context for interpreting individual museums. A location can have a large audience while still representing only part of the institution’s overall attendance. The Smithsonian’s 2024 and 2025 totals also cover a network that includes museums, galleries, the National Zoo, and sites outside Washington, D.C.
The 2024 total was supported by several very large visitor destinations. The National Museum of Natural History recorded 3.9 million visits, while the National Museum of American History recorded 2.1 million. The National Air and Space Museum recorded 1.9 million visits, and the National Zoo recorded 1.6 million.
In 2025, the National Museum of Natural History recorded 3.3 million visits and the National Museum of American History recorded 1.8 million. The National Air and Space Museum recorded 1.9 million, matching its 2024 figure in the supplied annual statistics. The National Zoo recorded 1.9 million visits in 2025.
Most visited museums and sites
The following table compares the locations with the largest reported attendance in the two years. Values described as millions are retained at the precision reported by Smithsonian Visitor Stats rather than converted into unsupported exact counts.
| Smithsonian location | 2024 visits | 2025 visits |
|---|---|---|
| National Museum of Natural History | 3.9 million | 3.3 million |
| National Museum of American History | 2.1 million | 1.8 million |
| National Air and Space Museum | 1.9 million | 1.9 million |
| National Zoo | 1.6 million | 1.9 million |
| National Museum of African American History and Culture | 1.6 million | 1.4 million |
| Smithsonian American Art Museum, including Renwick Gallery | 1.5 million | 1.1 million |
| National Portrait Gallery | 1.3 million | 937,716 |
| Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center | 1.2 million | 1 million |
The National Museum of African American History and Culture recorded 1.6 million visits in 2024 and 1.4 million in 2025. Smithsonian American Art Museum, including the Renwick Gallery, recorded 1.5 million in 2024 and 1.1 million in 2025. The National Portrait Gallery recorded 1.3 million in 2024 and 937,716 in 2025.
The National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center recorded 1.2 million visits in 2024 and 1 million in 2025. The center is listed separately from the National Air and Space Museum in the annual visitor figures, which is important when comparing attendance by site.
Washington, D.C., museums and galleries
Several Smithsonian statistics directly describe Washington, D.C., locations. The National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C., recorded 800,904 visits in 2024 and 620,455 in 2025. Those figures are separate from the National Museum of the American Indian Heye Center in New York City, which recorded 303,627 visits in 2024 and 278,597 in 2025.
The National Museum of African Art recorded 127,623 visits in 2024 and 103,261 in 2025. The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden recorded 602,208 visits in 2024 and 484,175 in 2025. The Arthur M. Sackler Gallery recorded 229,312 visits in 2024 and 219,373 in 2025.
The Freer Gallery of Art recorded 332,177 visits in 2024 and 252,109 in 2025. The National Postal Museum recorded 207,113 visits in 2024 and 175,818 in 2025. The Anacostia Community Museum recorded 14,076 visits in 2024 and 12,983 in 2025.
The Arts and Industries Building recorded 16,461 visits in 2024 and 33,669 in 2025. The Smithsonian Institution Building, commonly called the Castle, recorded 0 visits in both 2024 and 2025 because it was closed for extended renovation, according to Smithsonian Visitor Stats. The zero is therefore a reported attendance figure associated with closure, not evidence that the building lacked public interest.
The Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum recorded 248,414 visits in 2024 and 177,073 in 2025. Smithsonian Visitor Stats also report the broader Smithsonian American Art Museum, including the Renwick Gallery, as having 1.5 million visits in 2024 and 1.1 million in 2025. These entries should not be added together because the broader figure includes the Renwick Gallery.
Other Smithsonian locations
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, in New York City, recorded 135,853 visits in 2024 and 122,200 in 2025. Its figures help show that the Smithsonian attendance network extends beyond the Washington, D.C., museums most often associated with the institution.
The New York City Heye Center recorded 303,627 visits in 2024 and 278,597 in 2025. The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center recorded 1.2 million visits in 2024 and 1 million in 2025. Read together with the National Air and Space Museum’s 1.9 million visits in each year, these figures distinguish the two air-and-space locations rather than treating them as one undifferentiated site.
The National Zoo recorded 1.6 million visits in 2024 and 1.9 million in 2025. Because it is part of the Smithsonian visitor network but is not a museum gallery, its attendance is useful when describing the institution’s public reach across different kinds of destinations.
Collections and research scale
The Smithsonian comprises 21 museums and 9 research centers, according to Smithsonian Open Access. The museum and research-center counts describe the institution’s organizational scale, while the collection statistics describe the material and knowledge resources held across that network.
According to Smithsonian Collections, Smithsonian collections include about 155 million objects, works of art, and natural science specimens. The same source reports 2.1 million library volumes. These figures are approximate where the source says “about,” so they should not be read as an exact inventory count at a particular date.
Smithsonian collections also include 156,000 cubic feet of archival collections, according to Smithsonian Open Access. This is a physical-volume measure for archival holdings and is not interchangeable with the number of objects, works of art, specimens, or library volumes.
The breadth of the holdings helps explain why Smithsonian statistics cover more than visitor counts. The institution combines public museums and a zoo with research centers, libraries, archives, art holdings, and natural science specimens. Each measure describes a different part of the Smithsonian’s operating and educational footprint.
Open Access and digital collections
Smithsonian Open Access offers more than 5.1 million two-dimensional and three-dimensional digital items from Smithsonian collections, according to Smithsonian Open Access. This is a digital-access figure, not a claim that every physical collection item has been digitized.
The program launched with roughly 3.3 million 2D and 3D images, metadata, and research data, according to Unlocking the Smithsonian. The launch figure and the current “more than 5.1 million” figure use different wording and represent different reported points in the program’s development.
The distinction between physical and digital scale matters. Smithsonian Collections reports about 155 million physical objects, works of art, and natural science specimens, while Smithsonian Open Access reports more than 5.1 million digital items. Those numbers should not be compared as if they were two versions of the same inventory: one describes broad holdings and the other describes material available through the digital program.
Open Access also fits within the Smithsonian’s wider research infrastructure. The institution’s 9 research centers and 2.1 million library volumes provide context for the metadata, images, and research data made available online. The reported 156,000 cubic feet of archival collections adds a separate measure of documentary depth.
Federal funding
The Smithsonian’s fiscal year 2024 final appropriation was $1.09 billion, according to Smithsonian Fiscal Year 2024 Federal Budget Totals More Than $1 Billion. This is a fiscal-year federal appropriation, not a visitor-revenue figure and not a per-visit spending estimate.
The appropriation should be kept distinct from the attendance statistics. Smithsonian Visitor Stats report 16.8 million visits in calendar year 2024 and 14.9 million in calendar year 2025, while the budget source identifies a fiscal year 2024 final appropriation. The periods and measures are different, so the figures should not be divided to produce an unsupported cost-per-visit calculation.
Taken together, these statistics describe the Smithsonian from several angles: annual public visits, the distribution of attendance among individual sites, the number and scale of museums and research centers, physical collection holdings, digital access, and federal funding. For Washington, D.C., planning, the location-specific attendance figures are the most relevant measure; for understanding the institution as a whole, the collection and Open Access figures show why its reach extends well beyond the museums visited in person.