Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers in Hawaii
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$41,912
after federal, FICA and Hawaii tax
Tax takes
$10,718
20.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$38,589
Hawaii costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Hawaii — 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
$52,630
Kept after tax
$41,912
Worth in national money
$38,589
State rank
2
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Hawaii pays this job a middle wage of $52,630, ranking 2 of 51 states and sitting about 56.73% above the national middle.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 291 among 437 occupations Hawaii publishes pay for.
- Hawaii is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $52,630 the take-home is $41,912; in national-average money that behaves like $38,589. The average comes to $55,150, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Hawaii's median for lifeguards, ski patrol, and other recreational protective service workers is $52,630, about 56.73% above the national figure and 2 of 51 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Position 291 of 437 in Hawaii places lifeguards, ski patrol, and other recreational protective service workers in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Take-home for lifeguards, ski patrol, and other recreational protective service workers in Hawaii, on $52,630, is $41,912; deflated by the state's price level, $38,589. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $55,150 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $33,720 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $52,630 |
| Top tenth earn over | $79,840 |
| This salary | $52,630 |
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 Hawaii | $41,912 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $44,468 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$7,172 |
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 | $49,448 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$8,673 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 109 |
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 Hawaii earn under $52,630 and half over. The published range runs $33,720 at the tenth percentile to $79,840 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Hawaii the take-home figure of $41,912, from $52,630, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 291 of 437 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $38,589, the adjusted value of that $52,630 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Hawaii. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 291 of 437 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for lifeguards, ski patrol, and other recreational protective service workers in Hawaii, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $33,720 to $79,840; 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.
- Take-home for Hawaii is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $41,912 from $52,630. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 291 of 437 locally.
- This $38,589 adjusted figure, worked from $52,630, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 291 of 437 in the state. The occupation ranks 291 of 437 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $55,150, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $33,720 and the top tenth $79,840 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. Hawaii costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $38,589 rather than its face figure.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Hawaii's own levy, $41,912 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in Hawaii is $55,150. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($33,720) and the ninetieth ($79,840) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Hawaii's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $38,589 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $41,912 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Hawaii income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
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.