Money · 1 of 5
What guards make
Median
$33,580
Bottom tenth
$25,780
Top tenth
$43,970
The national median is $33,580 a year, the bottom tenth earn $25,780 or less and the top tenth $43,970 or more, in the 2025 survey. Read those as a full-year rate, because most guarding is paid by the hour and worked in summer only. The survey also lumps in ski patrollers and other recreation safety workers, so it is a whole family of jobs, not just pool guards.