How Much to Pay a Babysitter in 2026

There is no posted price for babysitting, which is why the question is uncomfortable for everyone. Here is what families actually paid in 2026, how to work out your own number, and what the extras are genuinely worth.

The short answer

The 2026 national average is about $26 an hour for one child. Most families land between $18 and $30 depending on where they live.

Source: UrbanSitter national childcare rate survey, 2026.

What moves the number up

• More children. Add $2 to $5 an hour per additional child. Two kids is not twice the work, but it is more than one child’s worth.
• Age. Infants command more. A sitter comfortable with a baby under one is a smaller pool.
• Training. A certified sitter with first aid is worth a premium, and will usually ask for one. Roughly 10 to 15 percent is normal.
• Hours nobody wants. After midnight, holidays, New Year’s Eve. Expect to pay well over the going rate, and offer it before you are asked.
• Anything beyond the children. Cooking a full meal, driving, pets, bath and bedtime for three. If you are adding jobs, add money.

A minimum booking is normal

Most experienced sitters have one, usually three hours. If you go out for ninety minutes, expect to pay for three. This is not a sitter being difficult — they turned down other work and traveled to you for that evening. Agree it up front and it never becomes a conversation.

Do you tip a babysitter?

Not routinely, and no sitter expects it. Round up rather than tip: if the bill lands at $67, hand over $70. Tip properly when it earned it — you came home two hours late, a child was sick, they cleaned up something they had no obligation to clean up.

The exception is a regular sitter at the holidays, where a bonus of roughly one evening’s pay is a normal and very well received gesture.

How to pay, and when

Pay at the end of the night, before they leave. Cash or an instant transfer app is standard. Do not make a teenager ask you for money, and do not say you will “sort it next time” — it is the single fastest way to lose a good sitter.

What you should be getting for it

At $26 an hour you are entitled to more than a warm body. A sitter worth the going rate can tell you what they would do in an emergency as a sequence of steps, has training you can verify, and leaves the house roughly as they found it.

Babysitter cost by state

Where you live moves this number more than anything else on the page. These are the ranges an experienced sitter is charging in 2026, calculated from a national base of $24.50 an hour for one child and adjusted for each state. A trained teenager on their first jobs sits below the bottom of the range; a sitter with years of experience who drives sits above the top.

State	One child, per hour	Two children, per hour	A four-hour evening
Alabama	$19–$23	$22–$27	$78–$93
Alaska	$23–$28	$27–$32	$93–$111
Arizona	$20–$23	$23–$27	$78–$94
Arkansas	$19–$23	$22–$26	$76–$91
California	$24–$28	$27–$33	$95–$113
Colorado	$23–$27	$26–$31	$90–$108
Connecticut	$25–$29	$28–$34	$98–$118
Delaware	$22–$26	$25–$30	$87–$103
District of Columbia	$23–$27	$26–$32	$92–$110
Florida	$20–$24	$23–$28	$80–$96
Georgia	$20–$24	$23–$28	$81–$97
Hawaii	$24–$29	$27–$33	$96–$114
Idaho	$20–$24	$23–$28	$81–$97
Illinois	$21–$26	$25–$29	$86–$102
Indiana	$21–$25	$24–$29	$83–$99
Iowa	$20–$24	$23–$27	$79–$95
Kansas	$20–$24	$23–$27	$79–$95
Kentucky	$21–$25	$24–$29	$83–$99
Louisiana	$21–$25	$24–$29	$83–$99
Maine	$21–$26	$25–$29	$86–$102
Maryland	$23–$27	$26–$31	$90–$108
Massachusetts	$24–$29	$28–$33	$97–$116
Michigan	$21–$25	$24–$29	$85–$101
Minnesota	$22–$26	$25–$30	$87–$105
Mississippi	$18–$22	$21–$25	$74–$88
Missouri	$21–$25	$24–$29	$84–$100
Montana	$20–$24	$23–$28	$81–$97
Nebraska	$20–$24	$23–$28	$80–$96
Nevada	$21–$25	$24–$29	$84–$100
New Hampshire	$23–$27	$26–$31	$91–$109
New Jersey	$23–$28	$27–$32	$94–$112
New Mexico	$20–$23	$23–$27	$78–$94
New York	$24–$29	$27–$33	$96–$114
North Carolina	$21–$25	$24–$29	$85–$101
North Dakota	$20–$24	$23–$28	$80–$96
Ohio	$21–$25	$24–$29	$83–$99
Oklahoma	$19–$23	$22–$26	$77–$92
Oregon	$23–$27	$26–$32	$92–$110
Pennsylvania	$21–$25	$24–$29	$85–$101
Rhode Island	$23–$27	$26–$32	$92–$110
South Carolina	$20–$24	$23–$28	$81–$97
South Dakota	$20–$23	$23–$27	$78–$94
Tennessee	$22–$26	$25–$30	$88–$106
Texas	$21–$25	$24–$28	$82–$98
Utah	$22–$26	$25–$30	$87–$105
Vermont	$22–$26	$25–$30	$87–$103
Virginia	$21–$25	$24–$29	$84–$100
Washington	$25–$30	$29–$35	$102–$122
West Virginia	$18–$22	$21–$25	$74–$88
Wisconsin	$21–$25	$24–$29	$84–$100
Wyoming	$20–$24	$23–$27	$79–$95

Two children adds about 15 percent, not double. If you want a number for your exact evening, including holidays, a baby under one or a last-minute booking, the babysitter cost calculator does it properly.

Per hour, per night, per week, per month

Most families think in evenings, not hours, so here is the same national number expressed the way you actually book it. One child, experienced sitter, no extras.

What you are booking	Typical national cost
A short evening, 3 hours	$68–$81
A normal night out, 4 to 5 hours	$90–$135
A long evening, 6 hours	$135–$162
A full weekend day, 8 hours	$180–$216
An overnight, priced as a block	$200–$325
One evening a week, over a month	$360–$540
Two evenings a week, over a month	$720–$1,080
Three afternoons a week after school, over a month	$880–$1,300

Once you are past roughly two evenings a week with the same person, you have drifted from babysitting into something closer to a regular arrangement, and it is worth reading the section on taxes below.

What a second and third child actually add

The convention is about fifteen percent for a second child and a little less again for a third. Not double, and not nothing.

Children	Multiplier	National hourly
One	—	$23–$27
Two	about +15%	$26–$31
Three	about +26%	$28–$34
Four or more	about +34%	$30–$36

A sitter who tries to double the rate for a second child is out of step with the market. So is a family who offers nothing extra for three under five, which is a genuinely different job from one seven-year-old.

Babysitter, nanny or daycare?

People arrive at this page comparing all three, so here is the honest shape of it. These are the ways families typically pay, not a recommendation.

	How it is priced	Best for
Babysitter	By the hour, paid per booking	Occasional evenings and weekends. Cheapest per use, most expensive per hour.
Nanny	By the hour but scheduled weekly, often with a guaranteed minimum	Regular weekday coverage. Lower hourly, much higher monthly, and it brings real employer obligations.
Daycare or center	Monthly tuition	Full-time care with fixed hours. Cheapest per hour, least flexible.

There is a fuller breakdown in nanny versus babysitter, including where the line legally sits.

When it stops being cash at the door

For an occasional evening sitter, this is not a question you need to think about. It becomes one when you pay the same person more than the IRS household employee threshold in a year, which is where a regular nanny arrangement usually ends up. At that point you may have a household employee rather than someone doing you a favor, with the paperwork that implies.

The practical rule: if you are booking the same person several days a week on a fixed schedule, check it properly rather than guessing. If you are booking someone for date night twice a month, you are fine.

How much to pay a babysitter: frequently asked questions