Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers in Washington
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$32,528
after federal, FICA and Washington tax
Tax takes
$5,242
13.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$29,963
Washington costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Washington — 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
$37,770
Kept after tax
$32,528
Worth in national money
$29,963
State rank
4
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Washington is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $37,770, which ranks 4 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 12.48% above the national middle.
- Measured against other jobs in Washington, this one sits low: 491 of 493 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Washington is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $37,770 the take-home is $32,528; in national-average money that behaves like $29,963. The average comes to $39,940, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Washington ranks 4 of 51 states publishing a median for lifeguards, ski patrol, and other recreational protective service workers, at $37,770 — about 12.48% 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.
- Lifeguards, ski patrol, and other recreational protective service workers occupies position 491 of 493 in Washington'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.
- Take-home for lifeguards, ski patrol, and other recreational protective service workers in Washington, on $37,770, is $32,528; deflated by the state's price level, $29,963. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $39,940 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 | $34,650 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $37,770 |
| Top tenth earn over | $45,940 |
| This salary | $37,770 |
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 Washington | $32,528 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $32,528 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,511 |
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 | $37,770 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,246 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 109 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $37,770 as a midpoint for Washington, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $34,650 and the ninetieth is $45,940 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $32,528 take-home in Washington comes from $37,770. 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 491 of 493.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $29,963 uses one figure for the whole of Washington. 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 491.
- The Washington median of $37,770 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $34,650 to $45,940. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $32,528, from $37,770, assumes a single Washington 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 491 of 493 locally, and the state ranks 4 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $29,963, worked from $37,770, 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 Washington address, on work sitting at 491 of 493 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 $39,940, 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 — $34,650 at the tenth percentile, $45,940 at the ninetieth.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in Washington run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $29,963 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $32,528 lands after tax, since there is no state income tax on wages here — though the federal floor is identical in every state.
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 Washington is $39,940. 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 ($34,650 to $45,940) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Washington rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Washington's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $29,963 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?
Washington levies no personal income tax on wages, so take-home of $32,528 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.