Met Sees Highest Attendance Figures Since 2019
127July 24, 2025
TheMetropolitan Museum of Artin New York on July 21announcedthat it had welcomed a total of more than 5.7 million visitors to its two locations in the 2025 fiscal year, which ended June 30. The number represents a 5 percent increase in attendance over that in 2024, when 5.5 million people passed through the doors of the Met Fifth Avenue and the Cloisters, farther uptown.
Though the 2025 figure is not as robust as that of 2019, when attendance reached 7 million, it shows the Met to be steadily recovering from the Covid-19 crisis. The institution chalked up its success in part to an increase in visitors from New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey, representing a 109 percent recovery rate since the pandemic. Residents of New York state and tri-state area students may pay what they wish, unlike those from farther-flung regions, who are faced with a minimum adult ticket price of $30, with students paying $17. New York state residents made up 62 percent of attendees, and domestic out-of-state museumgoers accounted for just under 25 percent. International attendance remained comparatively low, dropping from 16 percent in 2024—barely half the pre-pandemic figure—to 15 percent in 2025, according toHyperallergic.
Fueling the Met’s overall attendance surge were two landmark exhibitions, “Sargent and Paris,” which lured more than 427,000 visitors, and the Costume Institute’s “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” which brought in 291,000 guests. Both shows are still on view. “Caspar David Friedrich: The Soul of Nature” attracted 300,000 visitors before closing in May, and “Siena: The Rise of Painting, 1300–1350,” garnered 298,000 sets of eyeballs ahead of its January end date. The May 31 public unveiling of the newly renovated Michael C. Rockefeller Wing stood as the most popular single-day event, drawing 33,700 people.