Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers in Michigan
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$25,078
after federal, FICA and Michigan tax
Tax takes
$4,682
15.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$26,627
Michigan costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Michigan — 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
$29,760
Kept after tax
$25,078
Worth in national money
$26,627
State rank
27
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Michigan is 27 of 51 states for this job, with a middle wage of $29,760. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within Michigan this is lower-paid work. Of 493 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 487. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $29,760 you keep $25,078 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $26,627 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $33,670, since top earners drag the number up.
- Michigan ranks 27 of 51 for lifeguards, ski patrol, and other recreational protective service workers at $29,760. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Against every occupation Michigan reports, lifeguards, ski patrol, and other recreational protective service workers ranks 487 of 493, 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.
- Retained pay in Michigan is $25,078 after the full tax stack, from $29,760. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $26,627 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $33,670 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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 | $25,960 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $29,760 |
| Top tenth earn over | $47,630 |
| This salary | $29,760 |
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 Michigan | $25,078 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $26,092 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$224 |
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 | $28,498 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$271 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 94 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Michigan earn less than $29,760. The published range is $25,960 up to $47,630, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Michigan's $25,078, worked from $29,760. 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 487 of 493.
- One number stands for prices across all of Michigan, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $26,627, the adjusted value of that $29,760 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 487 of 493 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for lifeguards, ski patrol, and other recreational protective service workers in Michigan the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $25,960 to $47,630. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Michigan take-home of $25,078, on $29,760 for work ranking 487 of 493 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 487 of 493 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Michigan, so $26,627 — the adjusted value of that $29,760 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 487 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $33,670 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $25,960 and the top tenth $47,630 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Michigan sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $26,627 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 Michigan's own levy, $25,078 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 Michigan is $33,670. 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 ($25,960) and the ninetieth ($47,630) 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.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Michigan'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 $26,627 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 $25,078 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Michigan 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.