Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers in Oklahoma
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$21,768
after federal, FICA and Oklahoma tax
Tax takes
$3,482
13.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$24,656
Oklahoma costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Oklahoma — 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
$25,250
Kept after tax
$21,768
Worth in national money
$24,656
State rank
48
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in Oklahoma. The middle earner gets $25,250. That is 48 of 51 states, and about 24.81% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 492 occupations Oklahoma publishes, this job lands at 486. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Oklahoma is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $25,250 the take-home is $21,768; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $24,656 would nationally. The average comes to $26,170, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For lifeguards, ski patrol, and other recreational protective service workers, Oklahoma sits in the lower band at $25,250, ranking 48 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 24.81%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within Oklahoma, this work ranks 486 of 492 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 Oklahoma, on $25,250, is $21,768 — equivalent to $24,656 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 $26,170 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 | $20,830 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $25,250 |
| Top tenth earn over | $35,410 |
| This salary | $25,250 |
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 Oklahoma | $21,768 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $22,403 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,601 |
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 | $24,478 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,889 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $25,250 as a midpoint for Oklahoma, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $20,830 and the ninetieth is $35,410 — 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 Oklahoma's $21,768, worked from $25,250. 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 486 of 492.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $24,656 uses one figure for the whole of Oklahoma. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 492 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 486.
- The Oklahoma median of $25,250 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $20,830 to $35,410. 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 Oklahoma take-home of $21,768, on $25,250 for work ranking 486 of 492 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 486 of 492 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $24,656, worked from $25,250, 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 Oklahoma address, on work sitting at 486 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $26,170, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $20,830 at the tenth percentile, $35,410 at the ninetieth.
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 $24,656.
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 Oklahoma adds its own income tax on top — which is why $21,768 of this wage survives to your account.
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.
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 Oklahoma is $26,170. 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 ($20,830 to $35,410) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Oklahoma rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Oklahoma'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 $24,656 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 $21,768 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Oklahoma 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.