Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers in Alaska
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$29,933
after federal, FICA and Alaska tax
Tax takes
$4,607
13.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$29,428
Alaska costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Alaska — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$34,540
Kept after tax
$29,933
Worth in national money
$29,428
State rank
16
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. Alaska's middle earner gets $34,540, putting the state 16 of 51 — about 2.86% ahead of the national figure.
- Within Alaska this is lower-paid work. Of 430 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 420. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- No great distortion either way. Alaska costs about what the country costs, so from $34,540, take-home of $29,933 is worth roughly $29,428 in national money. The average lands at $34,390, below the middle of the range.
- For lifeguards, ski patrol, and other recreational protective service workers, Alaska sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $34,540, ranking 16 of 51 and running about 2.86% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Against every occupation Alaska reports, lifeguards, ski patrol, and other recreational protective service workers ranks 420 of 430, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Price parity in Alaska is near the national base, so for lifeguards, ski patrol, and other recreational protective service workers, whose median is $34,540, the adjusted figure of $29,428 differs little from $29,933 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $34,390 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $24,770 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $34,540 |
| Top tenth earn over | $45,040 |
| This salary | $34,540 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in Alaska | $29,933 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $29,933 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,375 |
The raise and the real gain point in opposite directions here.
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $34,540 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,663 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 102 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of lifeguards, ski patrol, and other recreational protective service workers in Alaska earn under $34,540 and half over. The published range runs $24,770 at the tenth percentile to $45,040 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Alaska's $29,933, worked from $34,540. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 420 of 430.
- One number stands for prices across all of Alaska, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $29,428, the adjusted value of that $34,540 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 420 of 430 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for lifeguards, ski patrol, and other recreational protective service workers in Alaska, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $24,770 to $45,040; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- The Alaska take-home of $29,933, on $34,540 for work ranking 420 of 430 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 420 of 430 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Alaska, so $29,428 — the adjusted value of that $34,540 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 420 of 430 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $24,770 at the bottom tenth to $45,040 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in Alaska run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $29,428 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $29,933 of this wage reaches your account, because Alaska takes no income tax from wages — but federal tax, Social Security and Medicare still apply exactly as they do everywhere else.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($24,770 to $45,040) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Alaska rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Alaska's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $29,428 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
Why is the take-home ratio comparatively high in this state?
Alaska levies no personal income tax on wages, so take-home of $29,933 reflects the federal layer and FICA alone. Federal income tax and FICA are unchanged; states without a wage income tax generally recover revenue through consumption and property bases instead.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.