Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers in Montana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$31,495
after federal, FICA and Montana tax
Tax takes
$6,255
16.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$34,899
Montana costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Montana — 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
$37,750
Kept after tax
$31,495
Worth in national money
$34,899
State rank
5
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Montana is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $37,750, which ranks 5 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 12.42% above the national middle.
- Within Montana this is lower-paid work. Of 475 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 422. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Here is where Montana does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $37,750 you keep $31,495, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $34,899 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $39,910, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Montana ranks 5 of 51 states publishing a median for lifeguards, ski patrol, and other recreational protective service workers, at $37,750 — about 12.42% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Against every occupation Montana reports, lifeguards, ski patrol, and other recreational protective service workers ranks 422 of 475, 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.
- After federal, FICA and Montana income tax, retained pay for lifeguards, ski patrol, and other recreational protective service workers on $37,750 is $31,495. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $34,899 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $39,910 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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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 | $26,820 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $37,750 |
| Top tenth earn over | $58,790 |
| This salary | $37,750 |
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 Montana | $31,495 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $32,512 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,442 |
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 | $36,484 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,744 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
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 Montana earn under $37,750 and half over. The published range runs $26,820 at the tenth percentile to $58,790 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Montana the take-home figure of $31,495, from $37,750, 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 422 of 475 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $34,899 uses one figure for the whole of Montana. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 475 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 422.
- Figures are distribution medians for lifeguards, ski patrol, and other recreational protective service workers in Montana, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $26,820 to $58,790; 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 Montana is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $31,495 from $37,750. 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 422 of 475 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $34,899, worked from $37,750, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Montana address, on work sitting at 422 of 475 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 $39,910 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 $26,820 and the top tenth $58,790 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $34,899.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Montana adds its own income tax on top — which is why $31,495 of this wage survives to your account.
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 Montana is $39,910. 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 ($26,820) and the ninetieth ($58,790) 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?
Montana'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 $34,899 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 $31,495 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Montana 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.