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Firefighters vs Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers

Side-by-side · O*NET · BLS · AI-exposure research · Anthropic Economic Index

A factual, source-backed comparison of Firefighters and Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers on the dimensions both occupations carry. Every figure is a position within an independent published dataset — not a verdict on which job is better, safer, or more “future-proof.”

Firefighters Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers
Median pay · BLS OEWS
$59,530
$33,720
Employment · BLS OEWS
332,240
143,590
AI exposure (percentile) · task overlap, not automation
18th pct
6th pct

At a glance

Dimension Firefighters Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers
Median pay $59,530 $33,720
Employment 332,240 143,590
Employment outlook (2024–34) · BLS projection About average (+3.4%) About average (+5.8%)
Annual openings · BLS projection 27,100 42,700
Typical education · O*NET Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree. Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
AI exposure · published exposure studies Low · 18th pct Low · 6th pct
Global GenAI gradient · ILO ISCO-08 · via crosswalk 29th pct · 18% of tasks 33rd pct · 20% of tasks
Observed AI use · Anthropic Economic Index — —
Mostly remote-capable · Dingel–Neiman No No

Pay and employment are BLS OEWS estimates; outlook and openings are BLS 2024–2034 projections; AI exposure and observed-use figures come from separate research and reflect exposure and usage, not predictions that either job will disappear. Compare like with like.

Skills

Shared: Public Safety and Security, Customer and Personal Service, Education and Training, Problem Sensitivity, English Language, Critical Thinking, Oral Comprehension, Oral Expression, Deductive Reasoning, Static Strength, Far Vision, Coordination, Service Orientation, Judgment and Decision Making, Medicine and Dentistry, Inductive Reasoning, Multilimb Coordination, Stamina, Near Vision, Speech Clarity, Active Listening, Speaking, Active Learning, Monitoring, Information Ordering, Flexibility of Closure, Trunk Strength, Speech Recognition, Social Perceptiveness.

Specific to Firefighters

  • Building and Construction
  • Mechanical
  • Arm-Hand Steadiness
  • Control Precision
  • Telecommunications
  • Manual Dexterity
  • Reaction Time
  • Dynamic Strength

Specific to Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers

  • Selective Attention
  • Learning Strategies
  • Complex Problem Solving
  • Speed of Closure
  • Perceptual Speed
  • Time Sharing
  • Psychology
  • Reading Comprehension

Knowledge, skills & abilities O*NET rates as important for each occupation. “Shared” are common to both; the columns list what is distinctive to each (top by the order O*NET surfaces).

Tools & technology

Shared: Spreadsheet software , Electronic mail software , Presentation software , Word processing software .

Specific to Firefighters

Specific to Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers

Full profiles

This page is a summary. See the complete source-backed profile for Firefighters or Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers — tasks, the full skill graph, tools, work context, preparation, wages by percentile, industries, AI exposure and the AI work map.

More comparisons

Related occupations you can place side by side on the same sourced scale.

Sources for this page

Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

Cite this page
Plain

Singulariki. "Firefighters vs Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/compare/firefighters-vs-lifeguards-ski-patrol-and-other-recreational-protective-service-workers

APA

Singulariki. (2026). Firefighters vs Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/compare/firefighters-vs-lifeguards-ski-patrol-and-other-recreational-protective-service-workers

BibTeX 
@misc{singulariki-firefighters-vs-lifeguards-ski-patrol-and-other-recreational-protective-service-workers,
  title  = {Firefighters vs Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/compare/firefighters-vs-lifeguards-ski-patrol-and-other-recreational-protective-service-workers}
}

Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.