Going rate for babysitters

[jag01]

I'm out of the loop as to the going rates for a babysitter is. If they are watching 2 kids, age 9&6, typically how much would they charge per hour?

[penguingrrl]

Mine charges $15/hour. It doesn't change if she has only 2 of them versus all 3. I'm in a HCOL area, she's a 15 year old who just finished her freshman year of HS. From what I've seen hers is the average price for a HS student, once you hit college age + it goes up.

[lala]

Depends on your area. We pay $15 to our babysitters, most of them are actually early 20s. We are maybe on the high end of MCOL? Not positive. We're outside a major city but our suburban area is not HCOL.

[Deleted]

I'm in a hcol and 15 for those ages sounds reasonable. We pay 12 for our 4 year old ds. But I know my neighbor pays 12 for her 2 and 4 year old so 15 is fair.

[gastro]

We live in a VHCOL area and it's $22 for one and $24 for two. This is for younger kids though.

[Deleted]

Jun 24, 2017 14:25:10 GMT -5 gastro said:

We live in a VHCOL area and it's $22 for one and $24 for two. This is for younger kids though.

holy.cow. 


we are in the suburban midwest and for a 6 and 9 year old i know $10/hr would be sufficient...



we would pay closer to $20 but we have 4 kids 5 and under :0P

[dizzycooks]

Jun 24, 2017 21:45:16 GMT -5 gastro said:

Jun 24, 2017 19:22:44 GMT -5 @sing4mysavior said:

holy.cow. 


we are in the suburban midwest and for a 6 and 9 year old i know $10/hr would be sufficient...



we would pay closer to $20 but we have 4 kids 5 and under :0P

Minimum wage goes to $14 this year and $15 in 2018. The cost of everything here has gotten insane and it just keeps going up.

See my only problem with paying babysitters what they would make at a "real" job is that the real job is taxed. I have yet to meet a hs or college age sitter who is taking races on their babysitting gigs. Therefore I do not feel badly paying less the minimum wage.
We pay about $12-15/ hr for a hs student we know well and it's usually just 2 kids bc no one will watch 3. We do not go out much.

[gastro]

Jun 25, 2017 13:59:38 GMT -5 dizzycooks said:

Jun 24, 2017 21:45:16 GMT -5 gastro said:

Minimum wage goes to $14 this year and $15 in 2018. The cost of everything here has gotten insane and it just keeps going up.

See my only problem with paying babysitters what they would make at a "real" job is that the real job is taxed. I have yet to meet a hs or college age sitter who is taking races on their babysitting gigs. Therefore I do not feel badly paying less the minimum wage.
We pay about $12-15/ hr for a hs student we know well and it's usually just 2 kids bc no one will watch 3. We do not go out much.

I wouldn't necessarily feel bad about paying less than minimum wage but you can not find help for less than at least $5 over minimum wage here.

Also, high school students around here just don't babysit anymore. With all the pressure and commitments they don't have time too.

[court26]

$10-$15 seems to be the norm around here, but I do have friends who pay random teens $5/hr.

[MDmomof2]

Mine are 9 and 6 and I live in a relatively high cost of living area (MD suburbs of DC). My sitters range from $12 to $15 and are all adults. I feel like $15 is "normal" for an adult babysitting my kids (nursing school student looking for extra money) while the one I pay $12 is a friend and really only wanted to charge me $10! For a teenager I'd be looking to pay $10 an hour for these ages.

[nicolewi]

WOW. I pay $12 to $13/hour for four kids and I thought that was a lot. Some high school kids babysit for about $8/hour but that's the minimum. $10/hour is acceptable here but with four kids I pay more, especially if it's over dinner and everything.

[cabbagecabbage]

It's $10-12 in my area. Fairly HCOL but suburban and plenty of teens, moms, and grandmas, so supply is high.

[xokell2]

I pay $15 an hour for 2, ages 8&4. MCOL (Chicago burbs)

[erbear]

I pay my high school sitter $10/hour for 2 kids (8 and 6). I pay my adult sitter $15

[ohyouknow]

We are military and have lived in several different places, both LCOL and HCOL. We have pretty consistently paid $10/hr for 2-3 kids (we also round up and are never gone longer than maybe 6pm-10pm) and never had a problem keeping babysitters.