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

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

A factual, source-backed comparison of Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers and Firefighters 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.”

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

At a glance

Dimension Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers Firefighters
Median pay $33,720 $59,530
Employment 143,590 332,240
Employment outlook (2024–34) · BLS projection About average (+5.8%) About average (+3.4%)
Annual openings · BLS projection 42,700 27,100
Typical education · O*NET Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not. Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
AI exposure · published exposure studies Low · 6th pct Low · 18th pct
Global GenAI gradient · ILO ISCO-08 · via crosswalk 33rd pct · 20% of tasks 29th pct · 18% 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: Customer and Personal Service, Problem Sensitivity, Monitoring, Public Safety and Security, Speaking, Oral Expression, Far Vision, English Language, Social Perceptiveness, Service Orientation, Oral Comprehension, Speech Clarity, Active Listening, Deductive Reasoning, Flexibility of Closure, Speech Recognition, Education and Training, Medicine and Dentistry, Critical Thinking, Coordination, Judgment and Decision Making, Inductive Reasoning, Information Ordering, Trunk Strength, Stamina, Near Vision, Static Strength, Active Learning, Multilimb Coordination.

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

Specific to Firefighters

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

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 Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers

Specific to Firefighters

Full profiles

This page is a summary. See the complete source-backed profile for Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers or Firefighters — 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. "Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers vs Firefighters." 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/lifeguards-ski-patrol-and-other-recreational-protective-service-workers-vs-firefighters

APA

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

BibTeX 
@misc{singulariki-lifeguards-ski-patrol-and-other-recreational-protective-service-workers-vs-firefighters,
  title  = {Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers vs Firefighters},
  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/lifeguards-ski-patrol-and-other-recreational-protective-service-workers-vs-firefighters}
}

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