Memphis, TN (population: 662,989) has five audio schools within a 100-mile radius of its city center. University of Memphis, the highest ranked school in this group with an audio program, has a total student population of 21,424. It is the 404th highest ranked school in the USA and one of the highest in the state .
Audio students from Memphis schools who go on to become audio professionals, audio production engineers, audio engineers, audio recording professionals, etc. have a good chance at finding employment. For example, there are 46,070 people working as audio and video equipment technicians alone in the US, and their average annual salary is $42,450. Also, Sound engineering technicians make on average $53,940 per year and there are about 15,560 of them employed in the US today. In fact, in the Memphis-MS-AR area alone, there are 30 employed sound engineering technicians earning an average salary of $44,590. Audio and video equipment technicians in this area earn $31,790/yr and there are 120 employed.
Memphis lies in Shelby county, which is one of the 26 counties in Tennessee. Overall, the Memphis-MS-AR area has 605,630 total employed workers according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, with a 1.2% unemployment rate, $18.93/hr average worker wage, and a $39,380 average annual salary. Thus, about 0.191 out of every 1000 jobs in Memphis are held by audio and video equipment technicians, and 0.053/1000 are held by sound engineering technicians.
Of the 5 audio schools with a 100-mile radius of Memphis, only 3 have a student population over 10k. After taking into account tuition, living expenses, and financial aid, University of Mississippi Main Campus comes out as the most expensive ($12,621/yr) for audio students, with Coahoma Community College as the lowest, reported at only $3,529/yr.
| Name | State | Population | # of Schools | Avg School Rank | Total Programs | Distance from Memphis |
| Southaven | MS | 47,625 | 1 | 27.9087 | 11 | 9.7 miles |
| Bartlett | TN | 47,744 | 0 | - | 0 | 12.3 miles |
| Senatobia | MS | - | 1 | 17.4796 | 114 | 34.1 miles |
| Jonesboro | AR | 66,734 | 1 | 24.4204 | 8 | 62.3 miles |
| State University | AR | - | 1 | 57.8251 | 135 | 63.1 miles |