Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers

Low pay & lowrisk
Low Risk
Low High

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Occupation snapshot

What does this snowflake show?
The Snowflake is a visual summary of the five badges: Automation Risk (calculated), Risk (polled), Growth, Wages and Volume. It gives you an instant snapshot of an occupations profile. The colour of the Snowflake relates to its size. The better the occupation scores in relation to others, the larger and greener the Snowflake becomes.
JOB SCORE
5.8/10
What's this?
Job Score (higher is better):

We rate jobs using four factors. These are:

- Chance of being automated
- Job growth
- Wages
- Volume of available positions

These are some key things to think about when job hunting.

Risk & user votes

Calculated automation risk

22% (Low Risk)

Low Risk (21-40%): This occupation has a lower risk of full replacement by AI, software, or robotic systems. Some tasks may be automated or assisted, but the role usually still relies on human judgement, communication, responsibility, physical adaptability, or practical decision-making.

More information on what this score is, and how it is calculated is available here.

Human strengths important in this job

These are human abilities and work contexts that are important in this occupation. They may help explain why parts of the role are harder to replace end-to-end, but they are not the only inputs into the automation score.

Assisting and caring for others

Very important
Why this matters
Provide hands-on help, emotional support, or personal care to people—work that depends on empathy, trust, and responding to individual needs in the moment.
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Working directly with the public

Very important
Why this matters
The job involves face-to-face interaction with customers, clients, or guests—answering questions, handling requests, and managing service situations in real time. Roles with frequent public interaction are harder to replace end-to-end because they rely on trust, communication, and adapting to unpredictable human needs.
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Social perceptiveness

Quite important
Why this matters
Noticing others’ emotions and reactions in the moment and adjusting what you say or do based on why they’re responding that way.
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Decision-making and problem solving

Quite important
Why this matters
Analyze information, weigh tradeoffs, and choose the best solution—especially when situations are ambiguous, high-stakes, or have real-world consequences.
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Coaching and developing others

Quite important
Why this matters
Helps people learn and improve through coaching, mentoring, and feedback. This relies on trust, motivation, and adapting guidance to each person—work that’s hard to replace end-to-end with automation.
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Show 2 more strengths

Coordinating others’ work

Quite important
Why this matters
Bringing people together, assigning tasks, and keeping a group aligned so work gets done.
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Consulting and advising others

Quite important
Why this matters
Provide guidance and expert advice to managers or teams on technical, system, or process decisions—explaining options, tradeoffs, and recommended actions.
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What users think

Based on 135 votes

26% chance of full automation within the next two decades

Our visitors have voted there's a low chance this occupation will be automated. This assessment is further supported by the calculated automation risk level, which estimates 22% chance of automation.

What do you think the risk of automation is?

What is the likelihood that Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers will be replaced by robots or artificial intelligence within the next 20 years?

View sentiment trend

Pay & outlook

Wages

Very low paid relative to other professions

In 2024, the median annual wage for Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers was $33,720 ($16 per hour).

The median annual wage for Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers was 31.9% lower than the national median annual wage, which stood at $49,500.

View wage trend

Wages over time

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics

Growth

Fast growth relative to other professions

The number of 'Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers' job openings is expected to rise 5.8% by 2034

View employment trend

Total employment, and estimated job openings

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the period between 2023 and 2033
Updated projections are due 09-2025.

Volume

Greater range of job opportunities compared to other professions

As of 2024 there were 143,590 people employed as 'Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers' within the United States.

This represents around 0.09% of the employed workforce across the country

Put another way, around 1 in 1 thousand people are employed as 'Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers'.

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What people are saying (9)

Leave a comment
oofzang
02 Mar 2026 05:59
There is no way that AI can replace life guards. Robots can't even go in water 😂😂
AB (No chance)
23 Oct 2024 19:16
Based on the physical and environmental factors, it would be hard to implement any technology that could completely replace an important part of the emergency healthcare chain.
Rohan (Low)
10 Jul 2024 06:51
Saving people by getting them out of the water as a lifeguard will probably be too hard for a robot to do.
Adam (Low)
18 Apr 2023 00:40
Because it would require physical robots to take over the role of human jobs, and I think the chance that would be financially feasable within 20 years is unlikely. Technologically maybe, but financially not.
Alea
13 Jun 2021 17:34
AI could recognize what drowning looks like, but can it tell if a kid is just fooling around? Would it be able to swim? I don't thing it's likely robo-guards will be joining us.
Costodial lifeguard (No chance)
02 May 2021 13:09
Few people will accept that their lives are in the hands of robots. No parent that I know of will send their kids to the pool, and let the robots keep them from drowning. Drowning alerts and alarm are sure to follow, but lifeguards are amongst the last to go in my opinion.
Isla (Highly likely)
17 Jul 2019 19:35
Already with the introduction of technology which can “detect” movement in the water and potential drownings we are seeing the number of lifeguards globally decline as this is used in place of people. My place of work has already dropped from five lifeguards in the building to a mere two, despite concerns over spinal injuries etc.
badger (Low)
16 Dec 2020 20:52
I get how bots can detect if a person is drowning but how are they gonna get the person out of the water
Elias
14 Oct 2022 11:25
Well, it's harder to detect if someone is really drowning than to remove them from the water. A drone could do it very easily and I've even seen machines that perform CPR.
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Job description

Monitor recreational areas, such as pools, beaches, or ski slopes, to provide assistance and protection to participants.

O*NET-SOC code: 33-9092.00