Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers in South Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$22,971
after federal, FICA and South Carolina tax
Tax takes
$3,239
12.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$24,653
South Carolina costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in South Carolina — 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
$26,210
Kept after tax
$22,971
Worth in national money
$24,653
State rank
46
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. South Carolina pays this job a middle wage of $26,210, 46 of 51 states and about 21.95% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within South Carolina this is lower-paid work. Of 492 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 488. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $26,210 you keep $22,971 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $24,653 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $27,170, since top earners drag the number up.
- South Carolina's $26,210 median for lifeguards, ski patrol, and other recreational protective service workers places it 46 of 51 states, about 21.95% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Against every occupation South Carolina reports, lifeguards, ski patrol, and other recreational protective service workers ranks 488 of 492, 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 South Carolina is $22,971 after the full tax stack, from $26,210. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $24,653 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $27,170 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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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 | $20,470 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $26,210 |
| Top tenth earn over | $35,430 |
| This salary | $26,210 |
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 South Carolina | $22,971 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $23,194 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$785 |
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 | $25,939 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$926 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $26,210 as a midpoint for South Carolina, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $20,470 and the ninetieth is $35,430 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In South Carolina the take-home figure of $22,971, from $26,210, 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 488 of 492 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $24,653, the adjusted value of that $26,210 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of South Carolina. 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 488 of 492 locally.
- The South Carolina median of $26,210 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $20,470 to $35,430. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for South Carolina is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $22,971 from $26,210. 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 488 of 492 locally.
- This $24,653 adjusted figure, worked from $26,210, 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 488 of 492 in the state. The occupation ranks 488 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $27,170, 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 — $20,470 at the tenth percentile, $35,430 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. South Carolina is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $24,653 in national terms.
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 South Carolina's own levy, $22,971 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 South Carolina is $27,170. 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 ($20,470 to $35,430) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to South Carolina rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
South Carolina'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 $24,653 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 $22,971 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and South Carolina 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.