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

Best Broadcast Announcer programs in Washington, ranked by enrollment

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

13 schools in Washington run programs that feed this job, graduating 728 people a year. The job pays a median of $44,420 in Washington across about 620 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledAnchorAnnouncerDJ (Disc Jockey)On-Air PersonalityHostHostessReporterPodcaster
Graduates / yr
728
in Washington
Median pay · Washington
$44,420
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
620
people employed
Schools
13
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
66%
across those schools
Median net price
$24,653
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Washington that lead to this job

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

3 programs in Washington that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Washington (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 Washington page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1642
88.2%
10$34,858$25,000
243
5.9%
3$34,858$25,000
343
5.9%
2$34,515$24,250

Top 13 schools in Washington

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 11 of the 13 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1University of Washington - Seattle Campus
Seattle, WA Public · 1 feeder programs
307Speech Communication and Rhetoric$44,63885%39%
2Eastern Washington University
Cheney, WA Public · 1 feeder programs
106Speech Communication and Rhetoric$37,78243%91%
3Western Washington University
Bellingham, WA Public · 1 feeder programs
101Speech Communication and Rhetoric$34,85765%93%
4Gonzaga University
Spokane, WA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
35Speech Communication and Rhetoric$37,79986%$30,00682%
5Washington State University
Pullman, WA Public · 2 feeder programs
35Broadcast Journalism$36,27360%87%
6Pacific Lutheran University
Tacoma, WA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
31Speech Communication and Rhetoric$33,97069%$19,94478%
7Seattle University
Seattle, WA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
24Speech Communication and Rhetoric$39,31676%$31,90077%
8Central Washington University
Ellensburg, WA Public · 1 feeder programs
22Communication, General$35,82054%91%
9University of Puget Sound
Tacoma, WA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
17Speech Communication and Rhetoric$29,47768%$35,05772%
10Whitworth University
Spokane, WA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
16Speech Communication and Rhetoric$39,30571%$23,51090%
11Seattle Pacific University
Seattle, WA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
13Speech Communication and Rhetoric$32,26062%$24,65383%
12Saint Martin's University
Lacey, WA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
11Communication, General52%$22,13190%
13Northwest University
Kirkland, WA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
10Communication, General71%$21,43383%

All 13 schools in Washington

Every school in Washington 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 Washington that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
University of Washington - Seattle CampusSeattlePublic3071
Eastern Washington UniversityCheneyPublic1061
Western Washington UniversityBellinghamPublic1011
Gonzaga UniversitySpokanePrivate not-for-profit352
Washington State UniversityPullmanPublic352
Pacific Lutheran UniversityTacomaPrivate not-for-profit311
Seattle UniversitySeattlePrivate not-for-profit241
Central Washington UniversityEllensburgPublic221
University of Puget SoundTacomaPrivate not-for-profit171
Whitworth UniversitySpokanePrivate not-for-profit161
Seattle Pacific UniversitySeattlePrivate not-for-profit131
Saint Martin's UniversityLaceyPrivate not-for-profit111
Northwest UniversityKirklandPrivate not-for-profit101

What broadcast announcers and radio disc jockeys earn in Washington

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

Median annual in Washington
$44,420
Mean annual
$69,180
Jobs in state
620
What the range looks like
10th pct$38,750Median$44,42090th pct$102,910
Versus the national median
-6.2%

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

Job concentration
1.27×

Concentrated here: Washington employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.

Metro areas in Washington

Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA
$44,580median
420 jobs
Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA
$43,100median
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 Washington

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 Washington.

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 642 degrees in Washington in 2024-25, 88.2% 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 3 programs to this occupation. The largest are Communication and Media Studies, Journalism. Together they graduate about 728 people a year in Washington.

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

The median is $44,420 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 6.2% 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 Washington?+

13 institutions in Washington 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.

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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