Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers in New Hampshire
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$27,972
after federal, FICA and New Hampshire tax
Tax takes
$4,128
12.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$26,553
New Hampshire costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in New Hampshire — 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
$32,100
Kept after tax
$27,972
Worth in national money
$26,553
State rank
20
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. New Hampshire is 20 of 51 states for this job, with a middle wage of $32,100. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within New Hampshire this is lower-paid work. Of 488 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 479. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $32,100 the take-home is $27,972. But New Hampshire costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $26,553 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $34,850, because the best-paid pull it up.
- New Hampshire ranks 20 of 51 for lifeguards, ski patrol, and other recreational protective service workers at $32,100. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Against every occupation New Hampshire reports, lifeguards, ski patrol, and other recreational protective service workers ranks 479 of 488, 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 after federal, FICA and New Hampshire income tax is $27,972 for lifeguards, ski patrol, and other recreational protective service workers, from $32,100. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $26,553. ⚠️ This is purchasing power and not a wage; cross-state offer comparisons that stop at the nominal figure systematically overvalue high-cost states. The mean of $34,850 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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 | $27,970 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $32,100 |
| Top tenth earn over | $45,770 |
| This salary | $32,100 |
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 New Hampshire | $27,972 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $27,972 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,232 |
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 | $32,100 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,700 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 105 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in New Hampshire earn less than $32,100. The published range is $27,970 up to $45,770, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $27,972 take-home in New Hampshire comes from $32,100. 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 479 of 488.
- One number stands for prices across all of New Hampshire, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $26,553, the adjusted value of that $32,100 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 479 of 488 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for lifeguards, ski patrol, and other recreational protective service workers in New Hampshire the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $27,970 to $45,770. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $27,972, from $32,100, assumes a single New Hampshire 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 479 of 488 locally, and the state ranks 20 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for New Hampshire, so $26,553 — the adjusted value of that $32,100 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 479 of 488 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 $34,850 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $27,970 at the bottom tenth to $45,770 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in New Hampshire run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $26,553 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $27,972 of this wage reaches your account, because New Hampshire takes no income tax from wages — but federal tax, Social Security and Medicare still apply exactly as they do everywhere else.
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 New Hampshire is $34,850. 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 ($27,970 to $45,770) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to New Hampshire rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
New Hampshire's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $26,553 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
Why is the take-home ratio comparatively high in this state?
New Hampshire levies no personal income tax on wages, so take-home of $27,972 reflects the federal layer and FICA alone. Federal income tax and FICA are unchanged; states without a wage income tax generally recover revenue through consumption and property bases instead.
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.