Lighthouse Keeper Salary

lighthouse keeper salary

Lighthouse keepers are often associated with a life of isolation and danger, but that’s not necessarily the case. Many of these maritime professionals, who oversee coastal routes, earn quite a bit on the job. Depending on the location, experience and seasonal job, a lighthouse keeper salary can range from $26,400 to $60,350 a year.

Keeping a lighthouse in the modern world isn’t as challenging as it was in the past, when people had to stay up all night tending to the tower and guiding passing ships to safety. Today, a lighthouse keeper is usually just one of a team working to keep the lights shining on their station. The work can include filing up to seven reports a day that are logged to help climatologists and scientists analyze weather patterns. The lighthouse keeper’s duties also include observing the sea and shore, determining visibility and weather conditions, relaying radio messages to nearby stations, and performing grounds maintenance on their assigned light station.

For those interested in a career as a lighthouse keeper, it might be worth looking at positions in Canada. The Canadian Coast Guard is hiring assistant lightkeepers in several coastal locations across the province, including Victoria, Port Hardy, Tofino and Prince Rupert. The position comes with a housing allowance and full time health benefits, and requires applicants to be a pair of willing workers who can live and work together in close quarters.

The current operators of the East Brother light station in San Francisco have decided to move on after two years at the historic landmark, which is a popular bed and breakfast and listed on both state and federal historic preservation lists. Che Rogers and Jillian Meeker are looking forward to a new adventure, but they’ll miss the job, which requires them to welcome guests, provide tours of the lighthouse and its historic quarters, and perform regular cleaning and maintenance.