Salary
Average Salary: $20,268
Expected Lifetime Earnings: $846,148
You may not realize this, but in certain parts of the country, where the waves are high and the sun is always shining, lifeguards make some pretty good money.
Full-time beach lifeguards work for cities and have their salaries and whatnot negotiated by unions. The richer the city, the fatter the paycheck. But here's the thing—there are only a handful of these super high paying jobs and they're taken by folks who have been doing this for a long, long time.
Part-time beach lifeguards in L.A. County make $16-$22 an hour with no benefits, while full-timers make $27 an hour with benefits and a pension. That's not too shabby for a summer gig, but captains, the full- timers who are in charge, make considerably more.
How much more? Like a lot more. Full-time beach lifeguards in the OC make over $120k, with some captains making as much as $200k. Factor in full benefits and a $500 a year bonus for sunscreen expenses, and you're doing all right. Oh, and the lifeguards here are only working four days a week, ten hours a day. They're making making more than a pediatrician.
In Newport Beach, lifeguards can retire at 50 and receive a full government pension of over $100k with benefits. So those elite few aren't only guarding the beach, they probably own a house on it, too.
Yeah, lifeguards along the California coast seem to have it made, but things aren't as sunny in other parts of the country. At Jones Beach in Long Island, full-time lifeguards recently had to duke it out to get a pay raise from $15 an hour to $20, and there are plenty of part-time beach guards who have to settle for even less.
Lifeguarding at community pools tends to be a summer job that typically pays slightly more than minimum wage, somewhere between $9.50 to $12.50 an hour. Swanky country clubs, water parks, and posh summer camps might offer a little more, but not much. It still beats slinging burgers.
But as with many things in life, apparently it's all about location, location, location.