Best programs to become a disc jockey
You do not need a college degree to become a disc jockey. BLS lists a high school diploma or equivalent as the typical entry-level education. The fields of study that lead most directly to this job are Recording Arts Technology/Technician, Music Technology and Audio Engineering Technology/Technician (IPEDS completions).
3 college programs at 285 schools train disc jockeys, graduating 5,905 people a year (IPEDS completions). The job pays a median of $21.61/hr (BLS OEWS May 2025).
About disc jockeys
Play prerecorded music for live audiences at venues or events such as clubs, parties, or wedding receptions. May use techniques such as mixing, cutting, or sampling to manipulate recordings. May also perform as emcee (master of ceremonies).
A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs, club DJs, mobile DJs, and turntablists. Originally, the "disc" in "disc jockey" referred to shellac and later vinyl records, but nowadays DJ is used as an all-encompassing term to also describe persons who mix music from other recording media such as cassettes, CDs or digital audio files on a CDJ, controller, or even a laptop. DJs may adopt the title "DJ" in front of their real names, adopted pseudonyms, or stage names.
Read more on Wikipedia →Best programs to study to become a disc jockey
Ranked by graduates per year (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are College Scorecard figures for people who finished the program, reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. That is a different measurement from the occupation-wide wages further down this page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 10.0203 | 3,670 | 62.2% | 173 | $21,634 | $20,000 |
| 2 | CIP 50.0913 | 2,092 | 35.4% | 122 | $25,929 | $25,980 |
| 3 | CIP 15.0307 | 143 | 2.4% | 12 | $59,859 | $15,372 |
Top 50 schools by graduates into this job
Counting every feeder program a school offers, not just its largest one.
Fields of study that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level, the tier our program pages are built on. Numbers are graduates per year.
What disc jockeys earn
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
BLS publishes an hourly wage only for this occupation. The work is intermittent, so no annual figure is estimated.
States with the most of these jobs
BLS publishes no annual wage for this occupation, so these are ranked by employment.
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Where the jobs are, state by state
Pick a state for in-state pay, the schools there, and the programs they run.
| State | Median pay | Jobs | Concentration | Schools | Graduates / yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | — | 2,190 | 2.36× | 65 | 1,067 |
| Florida | — | — | — | 15 | 979 |
| Tennessee | — | — | — | 10 | 935 |
| Arizona | — | 80 | 0.49× | 7 | 508 |
| Texas | — | 820 | 1.14× | 14 | 341 |
| Washington | — | — | — | 8 | 187 |
| Pennsylvania | — | 100 | 0.33× | 14 | 181 |
| New York | — | 450 | 0.91× | 17 | 162 |
| Georgia | — | 140 | 0.57× | 5 | 111 |
| Ohio | — | 190 | 0.67× | 11 | 105 |
| Oregon | — | 40 | 0.38× | 6 | 87 |
| North Carolina | — | 100 | 0.41× | 5 | 86 |
| New Jersey | — | 220 | 1.02× | 7 | 85 |
| Colorado | — | 60 | 0.39× | 6 | 80 |
| Michigan | — | 360 | 1.62× | 12 | 72 |
| Illinois | — | — | — | 13 | 71 |
| Wisconsinmoderate | — | 360 | 2.42× | 3 | 68 |
| Missourimoderate | — | 360 | 2.39× | 3 | 17 |
| Iowamoderate | — | 130 | 1.59× | 4 | 15 |
| Massachusettslimited | — | 150 | 0.79× | 2 | 10 |
| Nebraskalimited | — | 80 | 1.54× | 1 | 5 |
| Nevadalimited | — | — | — | 1 | 3 |
| Idaholimited | — | 100 | 2.37× | 1 | 2 |
Skills and knowledge
From O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupational database. Importance is a 1 to 5 scale.
What they do day to day
- Accept music requests from event guests.
- Adhere to schedules to keep events running on time.
- Advertise services using media such as internet advertising and brochures.
- Assemble audio and video equipment.
- Collect payments from customers.
- Communicate with clients or venue owners to determine event information, such as music preferences, scheduling, and anticipated attendance.
- Conduct sound checks to ensure equipment is working and appropriate for the venue.
- Create itemized invoices to record amounts due for services rendered.
How to get in
How to become a disc jockey
- Typical entry education
- High school diploma or equivalent
- On-the-job training
- Short-term on-the-job training
Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience. For example, landscaping and groundskeeping workers might require very little training or previous experience, while agricultural equipment operators can benefit from on-the job training.
Ranges from a few days to one year of on-the-job training.
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 3 majors mapped to Disc Jockeys3 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 10.0203Recording Arts Technology/Technician
- 15.0307Audio Engineering Technology/Technician
- 50.0913Music Technology
Related careers
Jobs O*NET identifies as close to this one, with their own pay and outlook.
Common questions
What degree do you need to become a disc jockey?+
You do not need a college degree to become a disc jockey. BLS lists a high school diploma or equivalent as the typical entry-level education. The fields of study that lead most directly to this job are Recording Arts Technology/Technician, Music Technology and Audio Engineering Technology/Technician (IPEDS completions).
Which college majors lead to becoming a disc jockey?+
The fields of study that lead most directly to this job are Recording Arts Technology/Technician, Music Technology and Audio Engineering Technology/Technician (IPEDS completions). In all, the NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 3 programs to this job, which together graduate about 5,905 people a year.
How much do disc jockeys earn?+
The median is $21.61 an hour (BLS OEWS May 2025). 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 disc jockeys growing?+
BLS projects a +3.8% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 1,500 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career?+
285 institutions reported graduates from at least one of the 3 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.
Do you need training or experience beyond a degree?+
BLS lists 'None' for related work experience and 'Short-term on-the-job training' for on-the-job training typically needed to reach competency.
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 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected 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 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, 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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