How much do broadcast technicians make in 2026?
Broadcast technicians earn a national median of $59,570 a year, or $28.64 an hour, according to BLS OEWS May 2025 for SOC 27-4012, with the bottom 10% near $31,390 and the top 10% at $123,670 across 21,110 technicians. That band is extraordinarily wide for a technical occupation of this size, and the reason is a technology transition rather than a seniority curve. Traditional broadcast operations, running master control, maintaining transmitters and operating studio equipment at a local station, sit in the bottom half and are under sustained cost pressure as station groups consolidate operations into centralised hubs. The upper half belongs to technicians who work in IP-based production: SMPTE 2110 networks, cloud playout, remote production workflows and the systems engineering that holds them together. Those skills overlap substantially with network engineering, which is why the top decile of this occupation approaches technical IT pay. Live sports and event production is the other well-paid segment, since it demands people who can make complex systems work reliably without a second take. BLS projects a 2.8% decline through 2034 with roughly 1,800 openings a year. → Full broadcast technician career guide, career path, credentials & placement →
Note: $59,570 blends every experience level and every setting in this occupation. For pay by level alone, see Pay by Level below.
- Broadcast Technicians earn a national median $59,570/yr ($28.64/hr) (BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 27-4012); the P10 to P90 range is $31,390 to $123,670.
- The band is unusually wide because the occupation is split: traditional station operations sit in the bottom half while IP and cloud production engineering sits in the top half.
- IP networking competence, particularly SMPTE 2110 and cloud playout workflows, is what pushes this occupation's top decile toward technical IT pay levels.
- BLS projects a 2.8% decline through 2034 with roughly 1,800 openings a year, driven by station consolidation and centralised master control.
US Broadcast Technician Pay Distribution · BLS OEWS May 2025
Pay by Level · BLS OEWS May 2025
How much do broadcast technicians earn at each level?
BLS OEWS publishes one blended wage for the whole occupation and does not break pay out by credential or practice level. The levels below distribute the published percentile range across the credential tiers this role actually hires at.
Level medians are aligned to the BLS OEWS May 2025 percentile distribution for SOC 27-4012; GlobalCybers does not yet publish a verified placement sample for this role, so no verified median is shown.
Methodology & Sources
How the numbers on this page are built
Published (BLS): BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 27-4012, United States national estimate. Public, methodologically rigorous, but sampled on a rolling 3-year basis and published ~10 months after collection — so it reflects wages that are already 1–2 years old by the time you read them.
Level and certification medians: distributed across the published BLS percentile range for this SOC code (P10 through P90) according to the credential tiers this occupation actually hires at. They are modeled reference points, not separately surveyed wages.
State and metro figures: modeled — the BLS national median multiplied by the GlobalCybers state wage index, and for metros by the published metro index for that state. They are estimates of local pay, not BLS state or metropolitan-area observations, and are labelled as modeled in the tables below.
No verified placement sample:GlobalCybers does not yet publish a placement median for this role, so no "verified" figure appears anywhere on this page.
Pay by Career Level
How much does a broadcast technician earn at each career stage?
Broadcast technical pay follows systems responsibility rather than years in a facility. Each median below is anchored to the BLS OEWS distribution for SOC 27-4012.
By State
Which states pay broadcast technicians the most in 2026?
These are modeled state estimates, not BLS state observations: the national median for SOC 27-4012 scaled by the GlobalCybers state wage index. Broadcast facilities follow market size and network infrastructure, and centralised hub operations concentrate the higher-paid roles in a small number of locations that a general wage index cannot identify.
6 of 51 state guides shown, ranked by median. Bar is relative to California ($68,510), the highest-paying state shown. See all role salary guides →
By Metro
Which cities pay broadcast technicians the most?
Metro figures are modeled, national median times state wage index times published metro index, not BLS metropolitan observations. The best-paid broadcast engineering roles sit where network operations centres, sports production hubs and streaming facilities are, which is a narrower map than metro population would suggest.
BLS OEWS MSA estimates, May 2025. Nominal pay — weigh each metro against its cost of living before relocating.
Certification Impact
Which certifications raise a broadcast technician’s pay the most?
Median annual pay before and after each credential, based on GlobalCybers placement data cross-referenced with BLS. License upgrades move the needle most; stackable certs add on top.
Impacts are not additive, the licensing rows share the same career ladder. Browse all 167 certifications →
Trade Comparison
How does broadcast technician pay compare to related roles?
BLS OEWS national median across the closest trades. Broadcast Technicians sit mid-pack on median but carry one of the widest P10–P90 spreads, licensing and specialization drive the upside.
BLS OEWS May 2025. Verify broadcast technician wages on BLS.gov →
Take-Home Pay
What does a broadcast technician actually take home after taxes?
The medians above are gross base wage.
Estimates use 2026 federal brackets, standard deduction, and 7.65% FICA. Actual take-home varies with filing status, deductions, and local tax.
FAQ
Broadcast Technician Salary, Frequently Asked Questions
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