Lifeguard salaries vary depending on not only the location but the type of facility as well. While rural locations offer limited opportunities and lower salaries, beaches in locations like Hawaii and California offer the highest wages when it comes to the lifeguard salary. The average salary of the lifeguard can vary from $7 an hour all the way up to $18 an hour, depending on the location.
Beach Locations
While many lifeguards earn roughly minimum wage or just a bit more, lifeguards in the most beautiful beaches in the nation have the potential to earn the highest salary. In Honolulu, Hawaii for instance, lifeguards can expect to earn close to $18 per hour. One of the variables in this scenario is that the cost of living is much higher in Hawaii than most states because of its tourist standing. The lifeguards in Hawaii must also be more alert to their surroundings than others, since there are more threats in the water than most places; such as jellyfish and sharks. Second ranked for lifeguard salary is Los Angeles where lifeguards can earn up to $14 per hour. One big difference between LA and Honolulu is that Honolulu offers just 410 lifeguard jobs while LA offers significantly more jobs with roughly 3500 available lifeguard positions.
Rural LocationsWhen lifeguards work in smaller areas; like Idaho or Montana, there is not a large demand for lifeguards. While there are community pools in many towns, there are very few beaches and most beaches do not hire lifeguards. In addition, if it is in a place where there is typically a cold winter, which shuts down most of the swimming and lifeguard opportunities, the only time a lifeguard has a year round job is when it is at an indoor aquatic facility, such as a gym, fitness center or medical facility. Since there is not as much need for lifeguards in these places, lifeguard salary can be anywhere from $8-10 per hour with more limited opportunities. In these types of locations, since the job market is not as competitive for lifeguards, most are teenagers or college students who are just working for the summer so they can concentrate on school during the school year.
Training
Most aquatic facilities pay for the prospective lifeguard to go through lifeguard certification courses; although there is usually a contract in place where the lifeguard works for that facility for a set period of time to eliminate the risk of paying for the training so the lifeguard can go work for someone else. These courses pay for themselves when the lifeguard knows the fundamentals of rescue techniques and first aid.
