Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers in Texas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$25,843
after federal, FICA and Texas tax
Tax takes
$3,607
12.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$26,594
Texas costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Texas — 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
$29,450
Kept after tax
$25,843
Worth in national money
$26,594
State rank
29
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Texas sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $29,450, ranking 29 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Measured against other jobs in Texas, this one sits low: 478 of 493 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $29,450 the take-home is $25,843, which is worth about $26,594 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $30,380, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Texas occupies the middle band for lifeguards, ski patrol, and other recreational protective service workers: a median of $29,450, ranking 29 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Lifeguards, ski patrol, and other recreational protective service workers occupies position 478 of 493 in Texas's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Texas's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for lifeguards, ski patrol, and other recreational protective service workers on its $29,450 median: $25,843 retained after tax becomes $26,594 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $30,380 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 | $22,580 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $29,450 |
| Top tenth earn over | $41,740 |
| This salary | $29,450 |
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 Texas | $25,843 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Florida | $25,843 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,614 |
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 | $29,450 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,078 |
| Prices in Florida | 103 vs 97 |
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 Texas earn under $29,450 and half over. The published range runs $22,580 at the tenth percentile to $41,740 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Texas the take-home figure of $25,843, from $29,450, 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 478 of 493 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $26,594 uses one figure for the whole of Texas. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 493 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 478.
- Figures are distribution medians for lifeguards, ski patrol, and other recreational protective service workers in Texas, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $22,580 to $41,740; 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 Texas is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $25,843 from $29,450. 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 478 of 493 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $26,594, worked from $29,450, 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 Texas address, on work sitting at 478 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $30,380, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $22,580 at the bottom tenth to $41,740 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Texas sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $26,594 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $25,843 of this wage reaches your account, because Texas 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 Texas is $30,380. 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 ($22,580 to $41,740) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Texas rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Texas'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 $26,594 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
Why is the take-home ratio comparatively high in this state?
Texas levies no personal income tax on wages, so take-home of $25,843 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.