Under the strategic background of cultural revitalization, it is of great significance to study the evolving characteristics and influencing factors of museums to promote the prosperity and development of urban culture. Take the museums in Shandong province as the research object, based on the data from 1983–2021, the study was conducted by using Kernel Density Analysis, Spatial Autocorrelation, and Geodetector to reveal the spatial and temporal evolutionary characteristics of museums and their influencing factors within the domain of Shandong province. The research found that: 1) the number of museums shows a growth trend and can be divided into four stages: starting, rapid development, small growth, and high-speed development; the difference in the number in each city has a gradient, showing dispersion characteristics in different gradients; museums of historical and cultural themes and non-state museums occupy the main position in terms of quantity, and the trend of diversification of museum types is highlighted. 2) the spatial distribution is the cluster, showing a pattern of one center and multiple centers coexisting; the global distribution has a strong spatial correlation, and local high and low clusters change significantly; the center of gravity is concentrated near the geometric center of Shandong Province in an inverted V-shape migration. 3) The spatial pattern of museums in Shandong Province is formed under the comprehensive influence of policy, tourism, economy, culture, and education factors. The study has certain significance for promoting the development of cultural undertakings in Shandong Province and improving regional cultural competitiveness.