How To Become A Radio Host: What It Is and Career Path

What is a radio host and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a radio host. For example, did you know that they make an average of $22.57 an hour? That's $46,944 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -4% and produce -1,700 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreRadio HostUS Average

Salary

3.7

Avg. Salary $46,944

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.4

Growth rate -4%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.4

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.42%

Asian 4.34%

Black or African American 5.72%

Hispanic or Latino 13.64%

Unknown 3.29%

White 72.59%

Gender

female 39.35%

male 60.65%

Age - 49

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 49

Stress level

7.4

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.2

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.1

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a radio host

Explore radio host education requirements

Most common radio host degrees

Bachelor's

71.3 %

Associate

11.8 %

High School Diploma

6.5 %

Start to develop specific radio host skills

Skills	Percentages
Audio Board	8.78%
FM	7.96%
Twitter	6.02%
Adobe Audition	5.98%
DJ	5.83%

Complete relevant radio host training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New radio hosts learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a radio host based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real radio host resumes.

Research radio host duties and responsibilities

Founded, host and manage one of the main radio programmes for Kairi Fm, a leading radio station in Dominica.
Learned FCC regulations, how to use live radio equipment, create show content, review albums for radio hosts
Broadcast live over FM radio and online.
Air timed commercial breaks and appropriate PSAs and promos.

Prepare your radio host resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your radio host resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a radio host resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable radio host resume templates

Build a professional radio host resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your radio host resume.