Highest-paid LA County lifeguards made up to $500,000 in 2021: Report

A new report reveals some lifeguards in Southern California made six-figure salaries in 2021.

A nonprofit watchdog site Open The Books put "Baywatch on pay watch" (their words, not ours) by filing a Freedom of Information Act request to obtain data that listed Los Angeles County's highest-paid lifeguards. In the site's report, the county's lifeguard captain made $510,283 in 2021, the highest paid in the area, with nearly $250,000 coming from overtime pay.

The second highest-paid, the county's lifeguard chief, made $463,517 in 2021, Open the Books reports. Of the $463,517 in total earnings, the lifeguard chief made $0 in overtime but made more than $142,000 in benefits and more than $78,000 in other pay, the report reads.

The lifeguard chief made $391,971 in 2019 back when he was the county's acting chief lifeguard, which made him the highest-paid lifeguard in LA County at the time. The lifeguard captain earned $368,668 in 2019, which was the second highest-paid salary in the county at the time. 

The report also reveals more than 90 lifeguards in LA County earned at least $200,000 and 20 lifeguards made between $300,000 and $510,283. The report also adds that 37 lifeguards made between $50,000 and $247,000 in just overtime 

Of the top 20 highest-paid lifeguards, only two were women. The two women, a lifeguard captain and an ocean lifeguard specialist, made $307,664 and $303,518 respectively in 2021.

Those looking to read more into Open The Books' report can click here for more information.

FOX 11 is making calls to Los Angeles County for comment on the report revealing the highest-paid lifeguards' salaries.