Paywatch: Top Lifeguards are Making a Killing

Thanks in part to cult TV shows like Baywatch, being a lifeguard is seen as a pretty glamorous job to have. While the reality is surely a bit tougher than what Hasselhoff and Anderson et al. portrayed on our screens, data collated by Open the Books reveals that if you stick at it, you could make an absolute killing saving lives (in LA, at least).

Thanks to his massive overtime pay packet, lifeguard captain Daniel Douglas brought home a whopping $510,283 in 2021 for his services protecting the people of LA County's beaches and ocean. As detailed in a 2017 job advert, the position of captain entails the "(supervision of) all ocean lifeguard personnel assigned to one area of a beach or to a section's headquarters on a day and/or night shift."

More hands-on duties include "responding to major emergencies within the area on a 24-hour recall basis...directing and participating in ocean rescues and in the administration of first aid; directing crowd control measures pending the arrival of higher level departmental staff or law enforcement officers. According to the ad, the physical strain of the job is classed as "arduous" and "involves frequent heavy lifting over 25 pounds, often combined with bending, twisting, or working on irregular surfaces; and occasionally requires extraordinary physical activity." A tough job, but somebody's got to do it.