Broadcast Announcers and Radio Disc Jockeys in North Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$39,273
after federal, FICA and North Carolina tax
Tax takes
$8,637
18.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$41,718
North Carolina costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in North Carolina — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$47,910
Kept after tax
$39,273
Worth in national money
$41,718
State rank
15
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. North Carolina's middle earner gets $47,910, putting the state 15 of 47 — about 1.2% ahead of the national figure.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 310 among 489 occupations North Carolina publishes pay for.
- Here is where North Carolina does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $47,910 you keep $39,273, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $41,718 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $78,110, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For broadcast announcers and radio disc jockeys, North Carolina sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $47,910, ranking 15 of 47 and running about 1.2% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Position 310 of 489 in North Carolina places broadcast announcers and radio disc jockeys in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- After federal, FICA and North Carolina income tax, retained pay for broadcast announcers and radio disc jockeys on $47,910 is $39,273. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $41,718 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $78,110 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Broadcast Announcers and Radio Disc Jockeys
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $22,540 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $47,910 |
| Top tenth earn over | $176,730 |
| This salary | $47,910 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in North Carolina | $39,273 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,676 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$140 |
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $46,164 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$170 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 94 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $47,910 as a midpoint for North Carolina, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $22,540 and the ninetieth is $176,730 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $39,273 take-home in North Carolina comes from $47,910. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 310 of 489.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $41,718 uses one figure for the whole of North Carolina. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 489 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 310.
- The North Carolina median of $47,910 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $22,540 to $176,730. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $39,273, from $47,910, assumes a single North Carolina filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 310 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 15 of 47 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $41,718, worked from $47,910, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular North Carolina address, on work sitting at 310 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $78,110, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $22,540 and the top tenth $176,730 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. North Carolina is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $41,718 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; North Carolina then takes its own share, leaving $39,273.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 47 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in North Carolina is $78,110. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($22,540) and the ninetieth ($176,730) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
North Carolina's regional price parity is at or below the national average, so nominal wages understate purchasing power. Take-home deflated by the state price level is $41,718 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $39,273 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and North Carolina income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.