How does the Zoo's pricing compare to other Houston attractions?

Houston mayor John Whitmire made headlines last week after setting his sights on a new target for cost-cutting: The Houston Zoo.

Whitmire thinks admission at the zoo costs too much. He's also questioning the salary of zoo CEO Lee Ehmke, who made more than $605,700 in 2022, according to the Houston Chronicle, who first reported on the story.

"It’s a public asset, and they have outpriced many Houstonians," Whitmire told the paper. The story notes that the average cost for a family of four to attend the zoo can exceed $100.

But how does the Houston Zoo compare to the Museum District's other two most-popular attractions: the Houston Museum of Natural Science and the Museum of Fine Arts Houston? Let's look at the numbers.

One thing that sets the zoo apart from the other institutions is the use of dynamic pricing, also known as surge pricing. The zoo began implementing timed entry during the COVID-19 pandemic in order to better manage capacity and instituted dynamic pricing shortly after.

"The combination of the two allows price-conscious shoppers to buy early for the best price," Jackie Wallace, the zoo's assistant vice president of communications and public affairs, told Chron. "Since launching, it has increased guest satisfaction and reduced crowding on peak days."

On any given day, general admission fees for the zoo can vary from $24.20 to $32.45 for an adult. Tickets for kids under 12 cost slightly less, generally in the $25 range. That doesn't include special add-on experiences, like a ride on the carousel or the zoo's TXU Energy Dinosaur exhibit. It also doesn't include discounts for zoo members, seniors, or other discounted tickets.

Wallace notes however, that unlike other institutions, the zoo allows people to bring their own food, potentially helping to cut overall costs, and does not charge for parking. According to the Houston Chronicle, even with that, the ticket prices are still higher than other zoos across the state.

Compare that to the Houston Museum of Natural Science, where a general admission ticket for an adult costs $25. However, unlike the zoo, tickets at the HMNS are sold piecemeal. That $25 gets you into the museum's permanent exhibition halls, but does not include the Cockrell Butterfly Center, the planetarium or the giant screen theater. The Butterfly Center alone requires a separate $12 ticket, as does the giant screen theater. The planetarium is an additional $9. 

For senior citizens, military personnel and kids under 12, HMNS general admission costs $16 . Tickets for the Butterfly Center, planetarium, and giant screen theater for those groups are $10, $8 and $10 respectively.

Visiting all four attractions at the museum would cost an adult $58 and a child $44. And that doesn't even include special temporary exhibits.

A ticket for the special exhibition Death By Natural Causes, which returns to the museum on June 28, costs $35 for adults and $27 for children, and does include general admission to the museum's permanent exhibits, but not the planetarium, giant screen theater or Butterfly Center. King Tut's Tomb is also a separate $35 ticket, as is the Sharks! special exhibition. Museum visitors who see more than one special exhibit get a 50 percent discount on their second exhibit ticket, so seeing both Sharks! and King Tut's Tomb, for example, would cost $52.50 for an adult.

Ticket pricing at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston is a little more straightforward. An all access ticket, which provides admission to the museum's permanent collection and all special exhibitions, costs $24 for an adult and $20 for seniors and youth aged 13–18. Kids 12 and under are free. Still, that's comparable to the zoo's dynamic pricing, depending on when the zoo ticket is purchased.

Membership-wise, a family membership to the MFAH, good for unlimited admission for a year for two adults and all children under 18 who are living in the household, costs $115. An HMNS membership for two adults and four children under 18 costs $125. A family membership to the zoo, which covers two adults and three children under 18, is $199.

In addition, all three institutions offer regular free admission days or hours.

More puzzling still is Whitmire's focus on the salary of zoo CEO Lee Ehmke. Gary Tinterow, CEO of the MFAH, made at $1.5 million in 2022, more than twice Ehmke's salary, according to the Chronicle article. HMNS president Joel Bartsch's salary is also higher than Ehmke's, according to ProPublica — $714,624 in 2021, and $680,289 in 2022.

The Chronicle notes that zoo prices have been on Whitmire's radar since his time in the Texas Senate. But it's unclear why the mayor has specifically set his eye on the zoo now, when admission prices to other institutions in Houston are roughly the same price, if not higher.

For the zoo's part, Wallace told ABC13 earlier this week that the organization "strongly disagrees" with the mayor's assessment.

"(We) look forward to continuing this conversation in person with the mayor soon," Wallace said.