# What's the salary of Major Market DJs?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-salary-of-major-market-djs/361265>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 19, 2006, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-salary-of-major-market-djs/361265 "2006-06-19T06:22:22Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![diggleblop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@diggleblop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/diggleblop)\
**Post date:** [June 19, 2006, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-salary-of-major-market-djs/361265/1 "2006-06-19T06:22:22Z")

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For instance, how much does the Standard Noon to 5 pm DJ make for the Classic Rock Station in D.C.?

Or how much does the Rock DJ make in Chicago? Not radio personalities like The Greaseman (whom is only on AM radio nowdays due to racist comments) or Howard Stern.

You get my drift…

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**Author:** ![Only\_Mostly\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f19dbf/32.png) [@Only\_Mostly\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Only_Mostly_Dead)\
**Post date:** [June 19, 2006, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-salary-of-major-market-djs/361265/2 "2006-06-19T12:49:32Z")

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I remember doing a school project in, oh, let’s say about 1998, that analyzed a given job of our choice. Thinking it seems like a cool job, I chose radio DJ.

Average salary back then for a major market DJ was, IIRC, about $35,000. Sorry I don’t have any cites, especially adjusted for inflation. But it’s not much, and it’s not an easy job to break into.

Needless to say, I gave up my dream of being a DJ soon after doing the project.

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**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\
**Post date:** [June 19, 2006, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-salary-of-major-market-djs/361265/3 "2006-06-19T15:18:57Z")

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DJs don’t make that much money. Unless you’re a DJ at a top-rated station in a high-visibility slot like drive time, you’re not going to make that much money.

[Here](http://stats.bls.gov/oes/current/oes273011.htm) are the Bureau of Labor Statistics numbers for wages for Radio/TV announcer. Take into consideration that DJs generally don’t hold full-time 40-hour-per-week jobs, and they supplement their income with voice work.

Robin

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**Author:** ![diggleblop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@diggleblop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/diggleblop)\
**Post date:** [June 20, 2006, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-salary-of-major-market-djs/361265/4 "2006-06-20T01:22:32Z")

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thanks guys. I thought they would’ve made a little more than that. Ouch.