List of museums in Washington, D.C.

This list of museums in Washington, D.C. encompasses museums defined for this context as institutions (including nonprofit organizations, government entities, and private businesses) that collect and care for objects of cultural, artistic, scientific, or historical interest and make their collections or related exhibits available for public viewing. Also included are university and non-profit art galleries. Museums that exist only in cyberspace (i.e., virtual museums) are not included. The present list numbers 82 museums.

Defunct museums

 * Army Medical Museum and Library, opened 1862, became the National Museum of Health and Medicine in 1989 and relocated to Silver Spring, Maryland in 2011
 * Bead Museum, closed December 2008, museum website
 * Black Fashion Museum, founded 1979, moved to Washington in 1994, closed in 2007 and collection donated to the National Museum of African American History and Culture
 * Corcoran Gallery of Art, open 1869–2014. Art holdings donated to the National Gallery of Art, building donated to George Washington University.
 * Fondo del Sol
 * Madame Tussauds Washington D.C., 2007–2021, featured wax sculptures of famous figures from politics, culture, sports, music and television, including the 45 U.S. presidents from George Washington to Donald Trump
 * Marine Corps Museum, 1960–2005, collections now part of the National Museum of the Marine Corps
 * National Gallery of Caricature and Cartoon Art, open 1994–1997, collections now at the Library of Congress.
 * National Jewish Museum, collections now online, trying to establish to new museum
 * National Museum of Crime & Punishment, closed in September 2015 and is now operated as Alcatraz East in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee
 * National Pinball Museum, website, planned move to Baltimore, Maryland
 * Newseum, founded 1997 in Rosslyn, Virginia, moved to Washington in 2008, closed December 2019 and is currently seeking new location.
 * Washington Doll's House and Toy Museum, founded in 1975, closed 2004.
 * Washington Gallery of Modern Art
 * USS Barry (DD-933), opened as a museum ship in 1984, closed in 2015