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Current’s 2021 Public Media Salary Survey

July 22, 2021

Paige Stampatori

Earlier this year, we asked our readers to take an anonymous survey about what they earn as a public media employee. We received more than 1,900 responses. Below, you can enter your salary and use the filters to explore the results and see how you compare to similar public media professionals. Read more about our key findings and email us with any questions, comments and observations.

This survey was conducted as part of On the Money, our special coverage of money in pubmedia.

Thanks to Eric R. Schuler, quantitative/computational research methodologist with American University, who advised us on designing and fielding the survey.

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Mike Janssen

Mike has held the role of digital editor since 2014. Before becoming editor, he covered public radio and digital initiatives in public media for Current. Mike has also written for a variety of publications as a freelancer, was a Public Media Corps fellow, and has hosted talk and music shows on community radio stations in the Washington, D.C., area. In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with his family, playing banjo, cooking, and making coffee and cocktails.

Tom Sibal 26 July, 2021 at 14:14 Reply

NA
Nikol Hasler 30 August, 2021 at 11:24 Reply

My job title is pretty standard, but I cannot complete the survey because it doesn’t match anything in the database.
Sean 6 September, 2021 at 12:15 Reply

Be nice if the results and key findings weren’t oaywalled.
- Mike Janssen 7 September, 2021 at 14:50 Reply
  
  Hi Sean — it would also be nice if Current didn’t rely on subscriptions for our survival! Unfortunately, we do, so we aren’t able to give free access to this. Readers do get a free article a month and a second if they provide their email address.
  
  Thanks for reading,
  Mike Janssen (digital editor)
  - John 13 September, 2021 at 14:30 Reply
    
    Yay Mike!
Rhonda Austin 9 July, 2024 at 17:01 Reply

Why is it that the Traffic department and staff are ALWAYS ignored on EVERYTHING? We get no support from training to conferences, to being included in lists such as the above. We are our own department in most cases yet we get no support across the entire PBS/NPR system.
- Mike Janssen 10 July, 2024 at 13:50 Reply
  
  Hi Rhonda, it’s true that traffic roles aren’t listed in the “Role Type” drop-down menu. However, if you search for “traffic” in the “Search by Job Title/Keyword” field you’ll see a few dozen jobs. I hope this helps!
JenniferZ 19 September, 2024 at 15:29 Reply

I know this is a few years old, but thank you for this! It makes the salary part of interviewing so much easier and makes me feel like I’m not crazy for turning down a producer role that paid less than $40k. Plus, the organizer in me is THRILLED that there are so many ways to filter the results!