system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
[Skyrim] How much does the average city guard make?

Does it depend on the hold/area that they're guarding? Or is it a constant rate across the whole land? A guard in Whiterun said he'd wanted to buy Breezehome which implies they were earning a decent amount.
gpt
The Skyrim economy is a mess. Whole cities are often inundated with high-priced, niche goods that the local merchants are incapable of reselling, and for some reason, they never refuse the purchase. A single Daedric Warhammer (while rare) has a rough value of 4,000 Septims, and can cause even an accomplished smith and shop owner to tie up *all* of their capital in that one item. This becomes a major problem when there is literally no one outside of the Jarl or a wandering adventurer who can afford to buy it. To deal with this, merchants must either break down the expensive item into less valuable components or arrange complicated multi-level trades with other merchants, often in other regions. This takes time, and should result in periods of recession and depression in the holds. Yet the flow of money and goods remains constant throughout Skyrim.

How does all this effect guards? Well, keeping those avenues of trade open and safe is *incredibly* important. If the hold's best smith were to lose their investment in one of those Daedric Warhammers to thieves or brigands, that smith would likely go out of business, and the realm would suffer. Same thing for the local potion master, general store owner, and enchanter. So guards are employed to ensure that those trade routes are maintained. Given the value of their task, it stands to reason that being a hold guard, while not prestigious or terribly exciting (minus the occasional dragon attack), is a very lucrative position. Speaking of dragon attacks, the recent upswing in on-the-job casualties among guards does nothing to scare potential applicants away from the job, as vacancies are filled almost immediately, indicating a high degree of interest in becoming a guard. 

Based on the relative need for the position and the near instant replacement rate, we can assume that being a hold guard is an  incredibly profitable job.