Alabama·Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations·SOC 27-3011

Best Broadcast Announcer programs in Alabama, ranked by enrollment

Speak or read from scripted materials, such as news reports or commercial messages, on radio, television, or other communications media.

17 schools in Alabama run programs that feed this job, graduating 546 people a year. The job pays a median of $38,530 in Alabama across about 300 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledAnchorAnnouncerDJ (Disc Jockey)On-Air PersonalityHostHostessReporterPodcaster
Graduates / yr
546
in Alabama
Median pay · Alabama
$38,530
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
300
people employed
Schools
17
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
53%
across those schools
Median net price
$21,604
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Alabama that lead to this job

Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.

4 programs in Alabama that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Alabama (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Alabama page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1
CIP 09.0101In Alabama
467
85.5%
12$34,858$25,000
2
CIP 09.0100In Alabama
49
9.0%
6$34,858$25,000
3
CIP 09.0701In Alabama
28
5.1%
2$29,112$23,836
4
CIP 09.0402In Alabama
2
0.4%
2$34,515$24,250

Top 17 schools in Alabama

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 9 of the 17 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1The University of Alabama
Tuscaloosa, AL Public · 1 feeder programs
235Speech Communication and Rhetoric$40,79073%77%
2University of Alabama at Birmingham
Birmingham, AL Public · 1 feeder programs
93Speech Communication and Rhetoric$33,19064%88%
3Troy University
Troy, AL Public · 2 feeder programs
32Speech Communication and Rhetoric$33,15450%96%
4Jacksonville State University
Jacksonville, AL Public · 1 feeder programs
30Communication, General$35,14755%78%
5University of South Alabama
Mobile, AL Public · 1 feeder programs
28Speech Communication and Rhetoric$30,15353%71%
6Alabama State University
Montgomery, AL Public · 1 feeder programs
25Speech Communication and Rhetoric$21,99630%98%
7University of Alabama in Huntsville
Huntsville, AL Public · 2 feeder programs
19Speech Communication and Rhetoric64%69%
8University of Montevallo
Montevallo, AL Public · 1 feeder programs
15Radio and Television54%54%
9University of Mobile
Mobile, AL Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
14Speech Communication and Rhetoric57%$19,81778%
10Samford University
Birmingham, AL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
12Speech Communication and Rhetoric$39,69077%$28,16082%
11Tuskegee University
Tuskegee, AL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
12Speech Communication and Rhetoric55%$33,31349%
12Auburn University at Montgomery
Montgomery, AL Public · 1 feeder programs
10Speech Communication and Rhetoric$31,35433%92%
13Spring Hill College
Mobile, AL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
8Communication, General52%$14,11977%
14Oakwood University
Huntsville, AL Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs
4Communication, General45%$23,87045%
15University of North Alabama
Florence, AL Public · 1 feeder programs
4Speech Communication and Rhetoric$30,18255%87%
16Huntingdon College
Montgomery, AL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
3Communication, General48%$21,60469%
17Columbia Southern University
Orange Beach, AL Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
2Communication, General33%$15,554

All 17 schools in Alabama

Every school in Alabama with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.

All schools in Alabama that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
The University of AlabamaTuscaloosaPublic2351
University of Alabama at BirminghamBirminghamPublic931
Troy UniversityTroyPublic322
Jacksonville State UniversityJacksonvillePublic301
University of South AlabamaMobilePublic281
Alabama State UniversityMontgomeryPublic251
University of Alabama in HuntsvilleHuntsvillePublic192
University of MontevalloMontevalloPublic151
University of MobileMobilePrivate not-for-profit142
Samford UniversityBirminghamPrivate not-for-profit121
Tuskegee UniversityTuskegeePrivate not-for-profit121
Auburn University at MontgomeryMontgomeryPublic101
Spring Hill CollegeMobilePrivate not-for-profit81
Oakwood UniversityHuntsvillePrivate not-for-profit43
University of North AlabamaFlorencePublic41

What broadcast announcers and radio disc jockeys earn in Alabama

What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.

Median annual in Alabama
$38,530
Mean annual
$46,020
Jobs in state
300
What the range looks like
10th pct$21,170Median$38,53090th pct$76,230
Versus the national median
-18.6%

U.S. median $47,340. Alabama pays below the national figure.

Job concentration
1.05×

1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.

Metro areas in Alabama

Birmingham, AL
$45,110median
60 jobs
Huntsville, AL
$38,380median
40 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
-5.5%
Decline
Openings per year
2,300
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
-1,300
24,100 → 22,800
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree

Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.

How to get in

The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Broadcast Announcers and Radio Disc Jockeys page.

How to become a Broadcast Announcer

Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree

Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.

A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.

Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.

Top skills

SpeakingActive ListeningReading ComprehensionCritical ThinkingActive LearningWriting

The same job in other states

Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.

Related careers in Alabama

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 5 majors mapped to Broadcast Announcers and Radio Disc Jockeys5 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 09.0100Communication, General
  • 09.0101Speech Communication and Rhetoric
  • 09.0402Broadcast Journalism
  • 09.0701Radio and Television
  • 09.0906Sports Communication

Common questions

Answers for people weighing broadcast announcers and radio disc jockeys programs in Alabama.

What degree do you need to become a Broadcast Announcer?+

Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Speech Communication and Rhetoric, which awarded 467 degrees in Alabama in 2024-25, 85.5% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming a Broadcast Announcer?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 4 programs to this occupation. The largest are Communication and Media Studies, Radio, Journalism. Together they graduate about 546 people a year in Alabama.

How much do broadcast announcers and radio disc jockeys earn in Alabama?+

The median is $38,530 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 18.6% below the U.S. median of $47,340. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.

Is demand for broadcast announcers and radio disc jockeys growing?+

BLS projects a -5.5% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, decline, with roughly 2,300 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in Alabama?+

17 institutions in Alabama reported graduates from at least one of the 4 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.

What other job titles do broadcast announcers and radio disc jockeys work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Anchor, Announcer, DJ (Disc Jockey), On-Air Personality among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 27-3011.

Broadcast Announcers and Radio Disc Jockeys in other statesCaliforniaTexasNew YorkFloridaArizonaOhioNorth CarolinaVirginia

About the data on this page

Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).

  • BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics

    May 2025

    Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.

  • BLS Employment Projections

    2024–34

    Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.

  • IPEDS Completions

    2024-25 (provisional)

    Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.

  • College Scorecard, Field of Study

    2020-21 cohorts

    Median graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.

  • Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes

    latest available

    Graduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.

  • NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk

    CIP 2020 / SOC 2018

    Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.

  • O*NET Database 30.3

    30.3

    Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.

    Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA

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