Introduction. The state of the cultural sphere is an important indicator of the development of society and largely depends on the level of funding. In recent years, priorities in financial support of the sector at the federal level have changed ‒ more attention has been paid to supporting regions in modernizing and equipping cultural institutions in small towns and villages. It is impossible to solve all the material and technical problems of cultural institutions using their own funds alone or, conversely, budget funds. The need to resolve the contradiction between the social purpose of cultural institutions and the need to find ways to self-finance their activities determine the relevance of work in this area. Methods and materials. The purpose of the work was to study the influence of socio-economic factors on the development of museums, as well as to study the convergence and divergence of regions of the Russian Federation according to indicators characterizing the results of the functioning of museums in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. Multivariate statistical methods of correlation-regression and cluster analysis, as well as graphical methods of data presentation were used as research tools. Conclusion. Museum attendance is influenced by indicators of social and economic development of subjects and museums, which can be generalized into groups: the scale of museum activities and renewal, the state and resources of the museum, revenues, expenses, accessibility, human capital and public expenses. The strongest influence on museum attendance, according to the obtained regression equation, is the number of visits by visitors of preferential categories, the number of excursions, the number of public events of museums and the amount of financial resources spent per year to replenish the museum’s fund.