This post was sponsored by UrbanSitter.
The answer to how much you pay a sitter varies greatly depending on a lot of factors. One of the biggest is geography! Sometimes — when the rate feels too low or high — I need to whisper it rather than speak the number out loud. But let’s get real here. You’re wondering how much I pay and I’m wondering how much you pay. Living in the Bay Area, I pay near the top end of the range. Gulp. I’ve gone from paying $20 an hour for one baby to $5 an hour for two toddlers (once on vacation!) and back again to $12 an hour for all three children (but I found myself whispering that number, so I gave her a raise).
UrbanSitter did a nationwide study of how much folks pay their sitters and nannies and here’s the scoop:
Click to see the gigantic infographic in all its glory
At this point, a regular night out is $15/hour but when I go to a backup sitter, they often want more than $20. Gulp again. I don’t blame them, you couldn’t pay me enough to babysit for 3 kids. [Related: Put your babysitter on a retainer to take the emotional sting out of the financial pinch].
Because I still have a wild one-year old in the house, I feel more comfortable with a 20-, 30-, or 40-something with lots of experience, but I dream of the imaginary high school student who’s also our next door neighbor and totally reliable for less than $10 an hour.
So, spill it. How much do you pay for babysitting? Ooh, and I’m also wondering, do you ever tip a babysitter or nanny?
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This post was sponsored by the fabulous folks at UrbanSitter.com, who make it so easy for you to find sitters that your friends and contacts already like. All experiences with sitters described above really happened to me.
i regularly pay about $7/hour for my one 3-year old in Sacramento. However, my sitters are usually between 14-16 years old and they usually only have to entertain him for an hour or two before tucking them into bed.
Thanks for sharing, Beka. When my baby was a baby, I paid $8/hour to the sitter who came after we put him to bed. Or $20/hour to his adult daytime nanny when she stayed for an evening.
Oh god, this is embarrassing. I live in the Bay Area, so see map above. For a Friday date night, I pay $18 for two kids to a career nanny who is in her 30s with two kids of her own. My kids are now old enough that I could use a younger sitter, but we’ve had this one since Scarlett was born five years ago and I feel obligated to provide her the work. Looking at the chart, I see that even in SF that is high, and it makes me want to try someone else. Then I come back to thinking, “So I get someone else for $15. I may as well employ the woman we all love for three extra dollars an hour.” That’s like $12 extra dollars for a 4 hour date. And no, I never tip. I only round up if it’s more convenient.
I live in the SF Bay Area and pay $15 – $18 an hour for one child. I was recently in LA and payed the same rate there.
I am currently a baby sitter and preschool teacher at the age of 18. I required 10 dollars an hour for 1 kind, and then 2 dollars an hour for each extra kid. So if by some horrible chance you have 5 kinds I require 18 dollars and hour. I also have my pediatric CPR, pediatric First Aid, Life Guard and food handlers permit though.
Nanny gets $16/hr and gets paid when we go on vacation, too. She is worth it. Nighttime sitters, mostly college kids, get average of $15/hr. This is for 1 kid. And I end up tipping because I am a huge sucker and remember my days as a young babysitter, and how much I needed those extra few bucks at that age – more than I need those extra few bucks now. Also I find that tipping helps make them available at the last minute for me… 😉
@Amelia, I’m curious where you live that you would charge me $18/hour for my imaginary 5 kids.
I think that babysitters (like evening, while hubby and I are on a date) should get less than minimum wage. Quite honestly it’s not like most of them do anything besides eat your snacks and watch your tv. That being said, our ‘babysitters” are family (my parents-in-law, parents, and sisters) who would never accept money for it
SF Bay Area.. 2 kids (4.5 and 1.5) and a crazy puppy. We pay our 20 year old babysitter $15/hour. We don’t tip, but I will round up.
Chicago: $15 an hour for two to nighttime and weekend babysitter. $15.00 an hour for one kid to nanny; $17 an hour for two kids to nanny. I hired a back-up nanny for a few hours this week and next, and I’m paying her $14 for one kid, and I feel as if I’m getting a bargain!
If we pay, it’s $15/hr, which I thought was expensive, but other preschool moms here in Berkeley, shell out up to $25/hr. That’s crazy! And no, no tip involved- ever. Well maybe if the sitter crazy cleaned while I was gone, but that’s a dream that will never happen.
I live in upstate NY (an hour north of Albany). The only time I used a babysitter was when my ex and I were still together and worked opposite shifts. We used my brother’s girlfriend who we knew well and paid her $50 a week to cover the 2 hours each day from when I went to work and he got home (so 10 hours a week). This was about 8 years ago. Since then I have hardly ever used a sitter and if I did it has been family. We do that alot for each other. My daughter is now 10 and I hardly ever go anywhere she can’t go with me. I save those trips/outings/girls nights for the nights she is with her father.
I lucked out with a licensed nanny/daycare next door to me when we moved to a bigger place. Haven’t used her services yet cause our son is only 3 weeks, but we agreed upon $10/hr when I do need her and $115/week if I put him in daycare. I’m just outside Sacramento so I know that’s way low but friendship has its perks. 🙂
We live in a suburb of Boston and pay $15/hour for our babysitter/nanny (for 2 kids). Our nanny is 22 years old. We know people in our town who pay $26/hour for 3 kids (their nanny is 40). As for tipping…I am generous around the holidays and their birthdays 🙂
SF Bay Area here. Our one-day-per-week nanny is $18/hour and our occasional evening babysitter is $20/hour. We have one 1-year-old daughter.
I live in the SF bay area (peninsula) and pay $17/hour for a babysitter to watch our 2 year old. She was once a nanny, now studying and working part time in her late 20s. It seems to be pretty standard where I am. Nannies in the area typically get 20-25/hour depending on how many kids and their experience. I am shocked to see how low the pay is in other areas!!
I forgot to add, our sitter come about 2x month in the evening plus as occasional weekend night. We round up but don’t tip otherwise except for the holidays then we give about $100-$150 as a check or gift card. I try to make her holiday bonus about equal to what we pay in a month.
We’re in Seattle and my sitters are free (thank you Grandparents!!), but occasionally have plans of their own. Our daycare does offer date-night sitting, I think at $10/hr.
I’m a career nanny & have worked in various parts of the USA. I’m shocked at the low national “average” reflected in this survey. I haven’t worked for that kind of pay in at least the past ten – fifteen years.
Your children are your most precious possessions…..yet people are willing to leave them with an amateur at $10-$15 an hour?
By some horrible chance I have 5 kids. I only hire teenagers, and rarely at that. I pay $2 per hour per child.
You know what is really wrong with this chart? The fact that people are willing to fork over $10+ an hour, generally to a teen or young adult with no experience ever having children of their own, who’s pretty much only going to put the kids to bed, yet when it comes to the daycare where their kid spends 50+ hours a week, where they’re fed (meals not provided by the parents), changed, read to, taught manners, taught to use the potty, etc., they shop around for the best deal they can, trying not to pay over $3.50-$4 an hour. Then they take advantage as much as they can, dropping their kids off sick, picking up late as if the provider has no life of their own. Parents need a wake up call. Maybe all childcare providers should unionize and go on strike.
In Pittsburgh, we pay $12/hr for two kids, though we rarely hire a babysitter because we usually swap babysitting with two other families.
$12/hour in the Boston area, 2 kids but the younger one is usually in bed before we leave, and most of the time the babysitter is sitting on the couch watching TV. Our sitters have mostly been in their 20s.
I don’t consider the term “babysitter” applicable to full-time or part-time child care while the parent works. That is a child care provider. A babysitter is a teenager looking to make an extra few bucks watching kids while the parent(s) go out and play. We pay our babysitters $5/hr to watch all six of our kids. Our babysitters are typically a teenage girl who is between the ages of 13-15 years old. Anybody older is too busy or already has a part-time job that pays more.
If I were to pay for “child care” while working (which I don’t even work, therefore don’t need that), I would probably pay about $8 per kid per hour, which is about what the going rate is here in Utah.
The rates shown for Seattle are way off! Babysitters with no experience, $10/hr for 3 kids. Caretaker with experience $15/hr for 3 kids at bedtime. Nanny with experience $20/hr for 3 kids at bedtime.
When I lived in the Bay Area, I paid our sitter $18/hr for our 2 year old. Then we had another baby and the sitter worked 15 hours per week. It was crazy but I needed the help. My husband works and travels a ton. No family around, etc.
Now I pay $15/hr for 2 toddlers and 1 baby in upstate NY. Same situation, approx 15 hrs week because my husband works/travels a ton, I know no one here, and no family support.
Oh, and I don’t tip. I do round up though.
I do tip at holiday time, but not on your average night. It never occurred to me. I do round up or pay for any time LESS THAN 3 HOURS because I think that’s a respectful minimum time to be away since she cleared her evening for me.
In Dallas, I made $10 an hour as a full-time nanny for one baby (same until we moved away when she was 2).
And whew, glad I have never had to pay a sitter so far – the Bay Area rates would make it impossible for us. We have a cool thing in our moms group of exchanging poker chips (1 chip = 30 minutes) for sitting. If you run out, you’d better get sitting for someone else, and if you have a stash (currently guilty) you’d better go out! We really wised up and realized dads were perfectly capable of being sitters too, so my husband almost always does the after bedtime sits for our friends now.
Oh wait! I did pay my friend’s niece one time – we wanted to see the final Harry Potter movie ASAP, and she was in town and willing, so we paid her to watch B during a matinee. She made $11 as a nanny where she lived, so that’s what we paid her.
While I was pregnant with my son (who is now 2) – I babysat for some extra cash. I listed on sitter city and care.com, and made clear that I was an adult (32 yrs old) professional (with a full time office job) who had extensive babysitting experience. I charged 20/hr in central NJ, and had many MANY families as clients. That rate didnt scare anyone away, because their kids loved me, I was trustworthy, experienced, and reliable. Heather – don’t give your babysitter a second thought. If you trust her, and your kids do well with her, I think there is
NOTHING wrong with that rate.
@Sarah, don’t be embarassed; people call us by each other’s names in person and we look nothing alike!
I’m sorry – Whitney! Not heather. Ugh, now I’m embarrassed. 🙂
@royalbird – how you can trust a 13 yr old to watch your 6 kids is beyond me. A 13 yr old still requires babysitting.
I’m 27 & I babysit one evening a week for a family I’ve been with for 2 years now in the Chicagoland Area
I make $15 an hour.
It’s your babies, is this really the place to skimp? Even if your sitter is “just watching tv” (which really? I doubt) isn’t it worth the money to have someone IN YOUR HOME ALONE WITH YOUR CHILDREN that you trust a ton & you’re willing to pay for?
I’ve spent holidays with the family I sit for, picked up their mail while they were away, rocked their babies to sleep, bathed, fed, & played with their kiddos…. I think the money they spend on me is well spent and I believe they would say the same.
@Kate, I’m sure you’re right. I feel totally confident with the adult woman I leave in my home to put the kids to bed. It’s worth the money!
People are posting very interesting answers . . . I’m curious as to when they were paying for babysitting. A lot of posters are describing past tense. Inflation plays a part and definitely the area. My friends have a nanny share they pay 15/hr during the day, and it goes up to time and a half if they ask her to stay in the evening. They currently have an almost 2 yr old. I have paid friends 40 dollars for the whole evening, (mine is a year and half). But thankfully we have very willing grand parents in the area! They get paid with a free dinner and plenty of grandbaby cuddle time!
oops. I’m in the Bay Area too.
Jesus, I’ve never been paid more than 7 bucks an hour. And I only make 200$ a week nannying three children for 7 hours a day. I feel weird asking for more, but its such a great job.
I get paid $5 for babysitting 3 children. The are 1 month, 2, and 4 years old. I am 17 years old
To the person who said babysitters don’t do much except watch tv and eat your food… Really? Really! Here’s what I do: we go for a walk and I insure the child doesn’t trip or get hit by a car and if they’re too tired to walk back and I carry them. Same thing for bikes. If they are hungry I feed them and manage cooking while watching them. I try to get not just messes made since serving but all messes cleaned up while involving kids in ones they made which is way harder than doing it myself. I enforce discipline, restrict sugar, create rewards and punishment, make sure the kids are safe at all time, prevent stains spills and breaks, and also unfortunately deal often with last minute requests for babysitting and parents arriving late. So… Maybe a 14 year old babysitter does as you say, but I never would.
I have a lady who recently asked for a raise to $20/hour for one baby. I feel this is very high. We may have to let her go.
Regina, When my first son was a baby, we paid his nanny about $14/hour for daytime but $20 if she stayed for nighttime sitting — gulp! — and that was nine years ago.
As a 20 year old nanny, I am getting sick reading some of these comments. First of all, you guys as PARENTS should know that taking care of kiddos is not an easy thing to do. I’m not there to just put the kids to bed, eat your food, and watch TV. Believe it or not I try to interact with your children, teach them manners, and truly care for them. In my current nanny job, I cook for the kids, bathe them, pick up their messes, do the dishes, and even deal with the insane puppy. More than a teacher at a daycare would be expected to do. So screw all of you cheap moms who can’t shell out a good amount of cash for your hard working sitters. I pray that when I have kids of my own who need sitting, I don’t think the way all of you do.
P.S. Viv, the fact that you think babysitters should make less than minimum wage is pathetic. Also, that would be illegal. So good luck finding someone stupid enough to work for you, and if you find anyone at all, they’ll be the one to sit on their ass and not invest their time into your children.
In the suburbs of Boston I pay $13.00 for primarily nighttime babysitting of two kids. My sitters are college students and I don’t tip but I do round up.
In Texas, the going rate where I live is $10-15 per hour. I would always try to pay your babysitter as well as you can. I always felt so offended and hurt when families would only pay me $5-7 an hour, especially since I was lifeguard and CPR certified (I am now EMT Certified). I also ALWAYS clean up, wash dishes, straighten up, and try to leave the house better than I found it. When I was in college I nannied for a family with 3 kids and would pick them up from school, do homework/sports practices, make dinner, and get them showered and ready for bed and was paid $75 a day. (from 2:30pm-10:30pm) I felt that was very fair for what I did and always felt appreciated .
I use my mother so its free. But my toddler goes to pre school for 3 days a week and all days are half days. We pay 320 a month. Personally I would never pay someone $20 to watch sleeping children. Seriously, they are asleep. Youre really paying someone to SIT. ridiculous to me.
I’m 18 and I live In Pensylvania, I currently watch a 2 and 8 year old Monday through Friday from 8 am to 5:45 pm. I change diapers, cook every meal and clean every day. I also take the kids to parks, lakes etc with my car and my gas money. I make $200 a week and I feel like I am being taken advantage of. What do you all think?
I’m not a babysitter yet but when I’m a babysitter I don’t know if I should do $5 or $10/hr.
My childcare provider is $125 a week, my son goes from 7:45am to 4:45pm M-F. I live in Iowa and the evening rates vary depending on the age of the sitter. I wouldn’t pay a teenager more than minimum wage to watch my son for just a few hours. As a single mother who works 55-60 hrs a week between 2 jobs, I would be going in dept paying what some of you pay your sitters. On a different note, I think I’m in the wrong field of work lol, anyone need a sitter??? Minimum wage in Iowa is only $7.25hr!