Lifeguard shortage forces 1/3 of U.S. pools to cut hours or close

The American Lifeguard Association reported that one-third of the 309,000 pools in America were affected by lifeguard shortages in 2023-2024, forcing reduced hours or complete closures. In 2024, 41.8% of aquatic facility managers still reported staffing shortages, with 30.8% reducing operating hours and 13.4% shortening their seasons due to insufficient lifeguards. YMCAs (68.3% reporting difficulty) and college pools (56.8%) were hit hardest. The root cause is economic: lifeguarding requires expensive certification ($200-350 for Red Cross training), ongoing recertification, and high physical standards, yet pays $12-17/hour in most markets, competing with retail and food service jobs that require no certification and increasingly pay similar wages. The job is seasonal, preventing year-round income. Housing costs in beach and resort communities make it impossible for seasonal workers to live near where lifeguards are most needed. When pools close or go unguarded, drowning risk shifts to unsupervised natural water bodies. This creates a vicious cycle in low-income communities: pools close due to lifeguard shortages, children swim in unguarded creeks, lakes, and rivers, and drowning rates increase among exactly the populations that already face the highest drowning risk.