City of Seattle / Parks and Recreation Department / Lifeguard

Job-title file

Lifeguard

Carry out the duties of this position in support of the agency's public mission.

371 employees hold this title in Parks and Recreation Department. Median total compensation for the role is $55,994, below the department median of $71,386.

Employees: 371
Total payroll: $20.8M
Role median: $55,994
Agency median: $71,386
Comparison: Below

What the records show

Role pay distribution

Pay distribution for this role

$55,994$56,014+

Hover a bar for its range; click to filter the list below.

How total compensation varies among the 371 people in this role. Even for one job title, pay differs with seniority, step, overtime, and tenure. Each bar is a pay range; the far-right bar collects the highest earners.

Compared with the local labor market

Lifeguard pay vs. the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA area

Across all employers in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA area, the median wage for Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers — about 3,060 people — is $39,240. Parks and Recreation Department pays a median base salary of $55,994 for this role, 43% above that figure — above the 90th percentile of local pay for the occupation.

Where Parks and Recreation Department sits in the local pay range

10th

25th

Median

75th

90th

$34,780

$37,160

$39,240

$45,240

$47,920

Parks and Recreation Department median · $55,994

The bar is the range of annual wages for Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers across every employer in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA area, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows Parks and Recreation Department’s median base salary for this role. Both figures are base pay only.

And across the country

Nationwide, the median wage for Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers — about 157,550 people — is $33,580. Parks and Recreation Department’s median base salary is 67% above that national figure, above the 90th percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.

10th

25th

Median

75th

90th

$25,780

$28,880

$33,580

$37,520

$43,970

Parks and Recreation Department median · $55,994

Local and national wages differ for reasons beyond how well a job pays — cost of living, the mix of employers, and local demand for the occupation all move the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA range relative to the national one.

Median total compensation for this role at Parks and Recreation Department is $55,994, which includes overtime and employer-paid benefits. The benchmark above excludes both, so total compensation is deliberately not compared against it.

Benchmark: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025). BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) covers all employers in the area — private, non-profit, and government alike — so this is a comparison against the whole local labor market for the occupation, not against private-sector pay. OEWS wages are straight-time pay and exclude overtime, shift differentials, and employer-paid benefits, so the government figure shown here is base pay on the same basis. Total compensation is not comparable to it. Job titles are matched to the closest standard occupation, so the comparison is between similar work rather than an identical job classification.

Compare jurisdictions

Lifeguard beyond City of Seattle

This role is reported in 19 jurisdictions. In City of Seattle, the median of $55,994 ranks #2 of 19. See Lifeguard across all of City of Seattle →

Highest-paying jurisdictions for this role

Chicago Public Schools

$56,125 · 5

Tennessee

$30,077 · 37

City of Cincinnati

$27,144 · 252

City of Miami

$26,390 · 96

Louisville Metro, Kentucky

$17,208 · 10

New York City

$13,338 · 858

Connecticut

$11,552 · 5

City of Boston

$9,540 · 127

Median total compensation for comparable Lifeguardroles in other jurisdictions. Titles are matched by normalized name across sources, not identical job classification, and pay is not cost-of-living adjusted. Each bar links to that jurisdiction’s page for the role.

Record list