Average cost of a babysitter
Posted
July 12, 2006 at
4:19 am by
Jessica
Here’s a very interesting article I found in the Kansas City Star on how much babysitters charge and how much you can expect to pay them.
In our area, we have found that if you want someone reliable, you have to pay for it. $8 - $13 an hour is not unheard of. If you want Nanny services part-time, expect to pay on the higher side, $12 - $15 an hour. A full-time Nanny doesn’t expect as much, but in the Chicagoland area I’d still expect to pay a full-time Nanny $10 an hour.
A weekend, infrequent teenage babysitter would probably cost us at least $8 an hour, proving that it’s expensive to have a bad time, so why bother?
The 20 parents who responded to my call for information paid sitters from $2 to $10 an hour. The norm — based on this small sample — seemed to be $5 an hour.
High school or college-age sitters who can drive and take kids to events typically are paid more, and older adults who baby-sit receive a slightly higher premium.
Susan Ramza, who has two children, ages 6 and 9, broke down her salary scale this way: “I pay a youngish neighborhood kid $5 to $6 a hour, a high schooler who doesn’t drive $7 an hour, a high school or college driver $8 an hour, and if we have an adult who has a real job by day, we pay $10 an hour.”
Shirley Brogna said her going rate was $10 an hour to sit for her 6-year-old. “We only hire sitters that are 18 and older because they can drive themselves and hopefully are more mature and more reliable,” Brogna said.
Parents also said their pay rate depends on how much interaction the sitter will have with their children.
“We have two children and have a nanny from 9 to 3 during the week,” said Jayme Nolin. “When we have her baby-sit after her normal hours we pay $7 per hour while the children are awake and $5 per hour when sleeping.”
Here’s a sample of average hourly rates from four cities, based on a recent Money magazine survey:
Austin, Texas Minneapolis, Minn. New York City Santa Monica, Calif. Evening baby sitter age 18 or older $12 $10 $13 $12 Evening baby sitter age 14 to 18 $7 $6 $8 $7
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33 Responses to “Average cost of a babysitter”
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31. Jessica
June 2, 2009 @ 3:50 pm
Sitter and babys, the amount you would charge would depend on what area you live in. Without telling exactly where you live, can you tell us if your area is rural or if you’re close to a big city. (Please do not disclose your exact location!)
32. Babys
June 12, 2009 @ 9:50 pm
I live in Oklahoma.
33. Tiffany
September 14, 2009 @ 7:45 pm
Heres a new perspective. I am 20 and am a full time student. I live in DC suburbia. All the parents in the neighborhood (and sometimes friends) will call on me when they need a sitter. I never have a “going rate” rather most parents pay me what they believe practical. One woman who has two well behaved toddlers will pay me $15 an hour. Another has two hellians and a sweet younger one, she pays me $20. I’ve never been paid less than $15 but I also spend a lot of time playing with the kids and reading to them.