Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$22,221
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$3,239
12.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$25,033
Iowa costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Iowa — 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
$25,460
Kept after tax
$22,221
Worth in national money
$25,033
State rank
47
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in Iowa. The middle earner gets $25,460. That is 47 of 51 states, and about 24.18% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 493 occupations Iowa publishes, this job lands at 490. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Iowa is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $25,460 the take-home is $22,221; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $25,033 would nationally. The average comes to $25,890, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For lifeguards, ski patrol, and other recreational protective service workers, Iowa sits in the lower band at $25,460, ranking 47 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 24.18%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within Iowa, this work ranks 490 of 493 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Post-tax income for lifeguards, ski patrol, and other recreational protective service workers in Iowa, on $25,460, is $22,221 — equivalent to $25,033 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $25,890 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 | $20,560 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $25,460 |
| Top tenth earn over | $31,460 |
| This salary | $25,460 |
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 Iowa | $22,221 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $22,576 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,800 |
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 | $25,028 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,124 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 89 |
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 Iowa earn under $25,460 and half over. The published range runs $20,560 at the tenth percentile to $31,460 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $22,221 take-home in Iowa comes from $25,460. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 490 of 493.
- Two cautions on $25,033, the adjusted value of that $25,460 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Iowa. 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 490 of 493 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for lifeguards, ski patrol, and other recreational protective service workers in Iowa, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $20,560 to $31,460; 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.
- Retained pay of $22,221, from $25,460, assumes a single Iowa filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 490 of 493 locally, and the state ranks 47 of 51 for it.
- This $25,033 adjusted figure, worked from $25,460, 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 490 of 493 in the state. The occupation ranks 490 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $20,560 at the tenth percentile, $31,460 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Iowa sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $25,033 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 Iowa's own levy, $22,221 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($20,560 to $31,460) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Iowa rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Iowa's regional price parity is at or below the national average, so nominal wages understate purchasing power. Take-home deflated by the state price level is $25,033 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $22,221 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Iowa 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.