Broadcast Announcers and Radio Disc Jockeys in Pennsylvania
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$42,427
after federal, FICA and Pennsylvania tax
Tax takes
$9,653
18.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$43,515
Pennsylvania costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Pennsylvania — 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
$52,080
Kept after tax
$42,427
Worth in national money
$43,515
State rank
9
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pennsylvania is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $52,080, which ranks 9 of 47 states with published figures. That is about 10.01% above the national middle.
- Against other work in Pennsylvania, this sits in the middle: 292 of 492 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- No great distortion either way. Pennsylvania costs about what the country costs, so from $52,080, take-home of $42,427 is worth roughly $43,515 in national money. The average comes to $67,000, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Pennsylvania ranks 9 of 47 states publishing a median for broadcast announcers and radio disc jockeys, at $52,080 — about 10.01% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Broadcast announcers and radio disc jockeys ranks 292 of 492 occupations in Pennsylvania by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Price parity in Pennsylvania is near the national base, so for broadcast announcers and radio disc jockeys, whose median is $52,080, the adjusted figure of $43,515 differs little from $42,427 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $67,000 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Broadcast Announcers and Radio Disc Jockeys
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $26,370 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $52,080 |
| Top tenth earn over | $109,110 |
| This salary | $52,080 |
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 Pennsylvania | $42,427 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $44,026 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,791 |
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 | $50,090 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,166 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 98 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $52,080 as a midpoint for Pennsylvania, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $26,370 and the ninetieth is $109,110 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $42,427 take-home in Pennsylvania comes from $52,080. 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 292 of 492.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $43,515 uses one figure for the whole of Pennsylvania. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 492 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 292.
- The Pennsylvania median of $52,080 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $26,370 to $109,110. 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 $42,427, from $52,080, assumes a single Pennsylvania 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 292 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 9 of 47 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $43,515, worked from $52,080, 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 Pennsylvania address, on work sitting at 292 of 492 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 $67,000, 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?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $26,370, the highest tenth $109,110, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Pennsylvania sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $43,515 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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; Pennsylvania then takes its own share, leaving $42,427.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 47 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 Pennsylvania is $67,000. 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 ($26,370) and the ninetieth ($109,110) 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?
Pennsylvania'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 $43,515 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 $42,427 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Pennsylvania 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.