Met Museum Tickets: Pay What You Wish Is Not for Tourists
Pay-what-you-wish at the Met applies only to New York State residents and NY, NJ or CT students. Everyone else pays 30 dollars. And it shuts on Wednesdays.
Sammie O
The Met’s pay-what-you-wish policy is the most misread rule in New York. It is not open to general visitors. It applies to exactly two groups:
- New York State residents, any age
- Students of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut
Everyone else pays the fixed price. That includes out-of-state Americans, all international visitors, and — the expensive misreading — New Jersey and Connecticut residents who are not students, who get no discount at all.
The minimum is one cent, so you must pay something. To use it online you need a New York State billing address; NJ and CT students must show ID in person.
Prices for everyone else
- Adult $30. Senior 65+ $22. Student $17.
- Children 12 and under free. Visitor with a disability $22, care partner free.
No booking fee, no dynamic pricing, and timed entry is not required.
Two things that waste trips
The Met closes on Wednesdays. It is the most common wasted journey in the city. Otherwise Sunday to Tuesday and Thursday 10am to 5pm, Friday and Saturday to 9pm.
And the ticket now covers the Fifth Avenue building and The Met Cloisters on the same day only. The old three-consecutive-days rule is obsolete, though plenty of guides still repeat it. The Cloisters shuts at 5pm even on late Friday and Saturday nights, so do it first.
Also closed Thanksgiving, 25 December, 1 January and the first Monday in May for the Met Gala.
Source: metmuseum.org, checked 26 August 2026.
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