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Salary data from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics

Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, And Other Recreational Protective Service Workers Salary: Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR vs San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA

Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, And Other Recreational Protective Service Workers earn a median of $26,830 in Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR and $45,190 in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA. That is a nominal gap of $18,360 (-40.6%), with San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA paying more before any cost-of-living adjustment.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey, May 2024 estimates. Cost-of-living adjustment uses BEA Regional Price Parities, most recent release.

$26,830
Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR median
$30,023 after COL
$45,190
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA median
$40,924 after COL
-40.6%
Nominal gap
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA leads
-26.6%
Adjusted gap
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA leads after COL

The story behind the numbers

On raw wages, San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA pays $18,360 more per year than Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR for lifeguards, ski patrol, and other recreational protective service workers, a gap of +40.6%.

After adjusting for cost of living, San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA still comes out ahead, with roughly $10,901 of extra purchasing power (+26.6% real gap). Local prices do not reverse the nominal advantage.

Full breakdown by location

Detailed wage, employment, and cost-of-living figures for lifeguards, ski patrol, and other recreational protective service workers in each location. Click through to the full local salary page for percentiles, outlook, and peer areas.

Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, And Other Recreational Protective Service Workers

Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR

Median salary
$26,830
Mean salary
$27,530
Employment
200
Location quotient
0.62
Jobs per 1,000
0.6
COL-adjusted median
$30,023
Regional Price Parity
89.4%

Exact metro RPP match.

Full Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, And Other Recreational Protective Service Workers page for Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR →

Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, And Other Recreational Protective Service Workers

San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA

Median salary
$45,190
Mean salary
$45,310
Employment
1,070
Location quotient
1.01
Jobs per 1,000
0.9
COL-adjusted median
$40,924
Regional Price Parity
110.4%

Exact metro RPP match.

Full Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, And Other Recreational Protective Service Workers page for San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA →

Related pages

Keep digging into lifeguards, ski patrol, and other recreational protective service workers from a different angle.

Common questions about this comparison

What does the cost-of-living adjustment actually do? +

It divides each location's nominal median wage by its Regional Price Parity (RPP), which measures how local prices compare to the national average (100 = national). A wage of $100,000 in an area with RPP 120 has the same purchasing power as roughly $83,000 nationally.

Why would the nominal and adjusted winners disagree? +

High-cost metros often pay higher salaries, but not by enough to fully offset the higher cost of housing, goods, and services. When that happens, the location with the lower nominal wage actually offers more real purchasing power.

What is a location quotient? +

The location quotient measures how concentrated an occupation is in a given area versus the national average. A value of 2.0 means the occupation is twice as common there as nationally. It is a signal of what a metro specializes in.