When the renovated Museum of Modern Art opened in New York in 2004, its $20 adult admission price raised eyebrows. Four years later, DC’s Newseum, with a $20 charge, is just the latest in a growing trend toward pricey museums—even in a city where most of the government-run Smithsonian is free.

DC’s Madame Tussaud’s is $21.15 per adult, and the International Spy Museum clocks in at $18. The new National Museum of Crime & Punishment, opening in May near Gallery Place, will cost $17.95. Across the country, the Guggenheim in New York asks $18, Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts and Museum of Science both charge $17, and San Francisco’s Museum of Modern Art charges $12.50.

The priciest museum in the nation? Madame Tussaud’s in New York, which charges $29.

Read our review of the Newseum here.

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This article can be found in the April 2008 issue of The Washingtonian.