Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers in Maine
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$28,676
after federal, FICA and Maine tax
Tax takes
$5,644
16.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$29,534
Maine costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Maine — 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
$34,320
Kept after tax
$28,676
Worth in national money
$29,534
State rank
18
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Maine sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $34,320, ranking 18 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Measured against other jobs in Maine, this one sits low: 481 of 484 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $34,320, tax leaves $28,676, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $29,534 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $36,510, since top earners drag the number up.
- Maine occupies the middle band for lifeguards, ski patrol, and other recreational protective service workers: a median of $34,320, ranking 18 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Lifeguards, ski patrol, and other recreational protective service workers occupies position 481 of 484 in Maine's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Because Maine sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for lifeguards, ski patrol, and other recreational protective service workers — median $34,320 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $28,676 retained, $29,534 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $36,510 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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 | $31,080 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $34,320 |
| Top tenth earn over | $45,460 |
| This salary | $34,320 |
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 Maine | $28,676 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $29,756 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,088 |
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 | $32,976 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,315 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 97 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $34,320 as a midpoint for Maine, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $31,080 and the ninetieth is $45,460 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Maine's $28,676, worked from $34,320. 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 481 of 484.
- Two cautions on $29,534, the adjusted value of that $34,320 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Maine. 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 481 of 484 locally.
- The Maine median of $34,320 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $31,080 to $45,460. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Maine take-home of $28,676, on $34,320 for work ranking 481 of 484 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 481 of 484 in the state.
- This $29,534 adjusted figure, worked from $34,320, 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 481 of 484 in the state. The occupation ranks 481 of 484 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $36,510, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $31,080 at the tenth percentile, $45,460 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Maine is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $29,534 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Maine then takes its own share, leaving $28,676.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
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 Maine is $36,510. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($31,080 to $45,460) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Maine rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Maine'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 $29,534 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 $28,676 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Maine 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.