A tour guide takes visitors on guided tours at historical or culturally relevant sites that are unfamiliar to them. Guides share interesting information and entertaining insight into the places to provide tourists with a more in-depth experience. Following the lead of a tour guide in a foreign place usually guarantees that you will not get lost, and you will find the best spot to see and have a great meal, or a fun night out.

Guides sometimes obtain vocational training in travel or tourism, but they are not required to have a degree to hold this position. Language skills are great to have, and experience in the service industry, such as hotels or travel trades, can also be useful.

You will be walking around a lot as a guide, so make sure you are at least more fit than the average tourist if you take on this job. You should not shy away from speaking in public. Unless you advertise yourself as a Zen guide, you will be expected to keep the info and fun titbits coming all day long.

What Does a Guide Do

There are certain skills that many guides have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed customer-service skills, detail oriented and physical stamina.

Learn more about what a Guide does

How To Become a Guide

If you're interested in becoming a guide, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 61.0% of guides have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 7.6% of guides have master's degrees. Even though most guides have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Learn More About How To Become a Guide

Guide Career Paths

Average Salary for a Guide

Guides in America make an average salary of $34,479 per year or $17 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $68,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $17,000 per year.
Average Guide Salary
$34,479 Yearly
$16.58 hourly

What Am I Worth?

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Roles and Types of Guide

The role of a guide includes a wide range of responsibilities. These responsibilities can vary based on an individual's specific job, company, or industry.Here are some general guide responsibilities:

  • Set-up and clean-up equipment needed for educational programs lead science-based, field-oriented, outdoor educational programs work as part of a team of environmental educators to accomplish education objectives effectively communicating program content in an appropriate
  • Responsible for booking owners and guests staying on property both by phone
  • Demonstrate strong customer service skills. Assist desk staff with check in process, waivers

There are several types of guide, including:

Tour Guide

Role:

A tour guide takes visitors on guided tours at historical or culturally relevant sites that are unfamiliar to them. Guides share interesting information and entertaining insight into the places to provide tourists with a more in-depth experience. Following the lead of a tour guide in a foreign place usually guarantees that you will not get lost, and you will find the best spot to see and have a great meal, or a fun night out.

Guides sometimes obtain vocational training in travel or tourism, but they are not required to have a degree to hold this position. Language skills are great to have, and experience in the service industry, such as hotels or travel trades, can also be useful.

You will be walking around a lot as a guide, so make sure you are at least more fit than the average tourist if you take on this job. You should not shy away from speaking in public. Unless you advertise yourself as a Zen guide, you will be expected to keep the info and fun titbits coming all day long.

  • Average Salary: $32,323
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Escort

Role:

The responsibility of an escort is to guard individuals or people on sightseeing and tours through places of interest such as art galleries, public buildings, and industrial establishments. You are to describe your points of interest to group members and also respond to their questions. For every place of interest, there are laws to be obeyed. Therefore, you must ensure your visitors abide by the establishment or tour regulations and safety practices. To entice your visitors, you will greet, register visitors, and also issue any necessary identification badges for safety and identity.

Additionally, you are to distribute brochures on every place of interest, show audiovisual presentations, and explain establishment operations and processes at your sites. You are also expected to provide directions and other important information to visitors. Other responsibilities include ensuring safety by providing first aid, directing emergency evacuation, and providing information about wildlife and their habitat to avoid unnecessary situations.

As an escort, you must put your visitor's safety first. The basic skills of an escort are excellent communication skills, passion for traveling, creative thinking, and the ability to respond to emergencies quickly. The average salary of an escort is $29,000 yearly. Escorts must have a bachelor's degree in Communication, Criminal Justice, or other related fields.

  • Average Salary: $29,252
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

States With The Most Guide Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active guide jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where guides earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Guide Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1California94$40,307
2Florida42$32,341
3Nebraska29$31,985
4Ohio25$39,970
5Texas25$36,160
6Alaska22$41,325
7Colorado22$35,068
8New York21$36,936
9Virginia20$38,601
10Massachusetts18$32,337
11Illinois17$31,686
12Georgia15$38,002
13Washington14$40,788
14Pennsylvania14$37,970
15Oregon13$40,724
16Michigan13$31,283
17North Carolina12$35,942
18Montana11$31,525
19Arizona10$32,707
20Tennessee10$30,999
21Indiana9$39,873
22Missouri9$32,737
23Minnesota9$28,561
24Connecticut7$41,165
25Utah7$32,751
26Maine6$34,652
27Delaware6$30,524
28Arkansas5$33,878
29Maryland5$32,982
30Nevada4$32,343
31Alabama4$31,247
32Wisconsin3$39,188
33Hawaii3$35,628
34Oklahoma3$32,963
35New Jersey3$33,519
36South Carolina3$31,240
37Kansas2$38,676
38Vermont2$37,732
39Wyoming2$33,774
40West Virginia2$32,812
41New Hampshire1$39,419
42Mississippi1$32,615
43Rhode Island1$30,320
44Iowa0$38,576
45Idaho0$37,794
46New Mexico0$35,351
47Kentucky0$32,613
48North Dakota0$32,352
49South Dakota0$30,826
50Louisiana0$31,240

Guide Education

Guide Majors

16.2 %

Guide Degrees

Bachelors

61.0 %

Associate

13.1 %

High School Diploma

11.9 %

Top Colleges for Guides

1. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,354

Enrollment

7,083

2. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

3. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$56,225

Enrollment

19,548

4. Boston University

Boston, MA • Private

In-State Tuition

$53,948

Enrollment

17,238

5. New York University

New York, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,828

Enrollment

26,339

6. George Washington University, The

Washington, DC • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,230

Enrollment

12,161

7. Pennsylvania State University

University Park, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$18,454

Enrollment

40,108

8. Harvard University

Cambridge, MA • Private

In-State Tuition

$50,420

Enrollment

7,582

9. Yale University

New Haven, CT • Private

In-State Tuition

$53,430

Enrollment

5,963

10. Cornell University

Ithaca, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,188

Enrollment

15,105

Top Skills For a Guide

The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 25.8% of guides listed brand awareness on their resume, but soft skills such as customer-service skills and detail oriented are important as well.

  • Brand Awareness, 25.8%
  • Product Knowledge, 12.3%
  • Safety Rules, 11.6%
  • Customer Service, 8.1%
  • Safety Procedures, 4.9%
  • Other Skills, 37.3%

Choose From 10+ Customizable Guide Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Guide templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Guide resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

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Guide diversity

Guide Gender Distribution

Female
Female
51%
Male
Male
49%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among guides, 50.7% of them are women, while 49.3% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among guides is White, which makes up 67.3% of all guides.

  • The most common foreign language among guides is Spanish at 50.1%.

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Best States For a Guide

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a guide. The best states for people in this position are Alaska, Connecticut, Washington, and Oregon. Guides make the most in Alaska with an average salary of $41,325. Whereas in Connecticut and Washington, they would average $41,165 and $40,788, respectively. While guides would only make an average of $40,724 in Oregon, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.

1. Alaska

Total Guide Jobs: 22
Highest 10% Earn:
$65,000
Location Quotient:
13.76

2. Ohio

Total Guide Jobs: 25
Highest 10% Earn:
$79,000
Location Quotient:
1.28

3. Oregon

Total Guide Jobs: 13
Highest 10% Earn:
$67,000
Location Quotient:
1.64
Full List Of Best States For Guides

How Do Guides Rate Their Jobs?

Working as a Guide? Share your experience anonymously.
Overall Rating*
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Work/Life balance
Pay/Salary

Top Guide Employers

We've made finding a great employer to work for easy by doing the hard work for you. We looked into employers that employ guides and discovered their number of guide opportunities and average salary. Through our research, we concluded that Eastern Mountain Sports was the best, especially with an average salary of $33,596. Salesforce follows up with an average salary of $59,862, and then comes Eddie Bauer with an average of $27,391. In addition, we know most people would rather work from home. So instead of having to change careers, we identified the best employers for remote work as a guide. The employers include Humana, Gamerant, and Mindbloom

Most Common Employers For Guide

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1Bonobos$66,514$31.9827
2Salesforce$59,862$28.7852
3National Park Foundation$47,067$22.6319
4Flagger Force$37,086$17.8312
5Sonic Automotive$37,045$17.8115
6Grove Collaborative$36,655$17.6211
7The Escape Game$36,640$17.6217
8Origin$36,509$17.559
9The Program$36,365$17.484
10See Jane Run$36,099$17.364

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