Is a babysitter cheaper than daycare?

Below about 10 hours a week, yes. A sitter at $24.81 an hour for 10 hours a week costs $12,901.20 a year, just under full-time center daycare at $13,128 a year (Child Care Aware of America, 2024). At 20 hours a week the sitter costs $25,802.40 a year, which is 1.97 times daycare. The crossover is 10.18 hours a week.

How much does full-time daycare cost?

Full-time center care costs $13,128 a year according to Child Care Aware of America for 2024, and $13,184 for 2025, which is $1,094.00 a month. Care.com's 2026 Cost of Care Report puts daycare at $332 a week for an infant ($17,264 a year) and $308 a week for a toddler ($16,016 a year).

Is a nanny cheaper than a babysitter?

For full-time care, yes. A nanny at Care.com's $22.26 starting rate costs $46,300.80 a year for 40 hours a week, while a full-time sitter at $24.81 an hour would cost $51,604.80 a year. The nanny is a salary arrangement, and the salary is the discount for the forty-hour commitment.

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The sitter’s ledger · Table No. 48

Babysitter vs Daycare Cost

Below about 10 hours a week, the babysitter is cheaper. Above it, daycare is cheaper. The crossover is 10.18 hours a week. This article prices the sitter, the center, and the nanny, and states when each one wins.

Filed November 5, 2026 · figures checked against 2026 sources

The short answer

Below about 10 hours a week, the babysitter is cheaper. Above it, daycare is cheaper. The crossover is 10.18 hours a week, because a sitter at $24.81 an hour for 10 hours a week costs $12,901.20 a year, which is just under full-time center daycare at $13,128 a year, and at 20 hours a week the sitter costs $25,802.40 a year, which is 1.97 times daycare, and the arithmetic is the answer, because the sitter charges by the hour and the center charges by the week, and the hourly rate times the hours is the comparison, and the comparison has a crossover, and the crossover is 10.18 hours. The family that needs eight hours a week of care should hire the sitter, because eight hours costs $10,320.96 a year, which is $2,807.04 less than daycare, and the family that needs forty hours should buy the center, because forty hours of sitting costs $51,604.80 a year, which is $38,476.80 more than daycare, and the difference is the decision, because the decision is the hours, not the preference.

Daycare is the cheaper full-time option by a wide margin, and the margin is the scale: a center spreads one teacher across several children, and the sitter gives one child her whole attention, and the attention costs more, because the attention is the service. Full-time center care costs $13,128 a year according to Child Care Aware of America for 2024, and $13,184 for 2025, which is $1,094.00 a month, and Care.com's 2026 Cost of Care Report puts daycare at $332 a week for an infant, which is $17,264 a year, and $308 a week for a toddler, which is $16,016 a year, and the two sources differ because one is the national average for all ages and the other is the infant and toddler price, and the infant is dearer than the average, because the infant needs more attention, and the attention is the cost. The sitter at $24.81 an hour costs $496.20 a week for twenty hours, which is more than the center's $332 for an infant for forty hours, and the comparison is the hours, because the sitter is part-time and the center is full-time, and the part-time sitter at twenty hours is half the hours for one and a half times the price.

Care, per week	Hours	Cost per week	Cost per year
Sitter, 2 kids, evening rate	5	$124.05	$6,450.60
Sitter, 2 kids, evening rate	10	$248.10	$12,901.20
Full-time center daycare	40	$252.46	$13,128.00
Sitter, 2 kids, evening rate	20	$496.20	$25,802.40
Nanny, $22.26/hr starting	40	$890.40	$46,300.80
Sitter, 2 kids, evening rate	40	$992.40	$51,604.80

The table prices the sitter at $24.81 an hour, which is the two-child evening rate at the national average, and daycare at $13,128 a year, which is $252.46 a week, and the nanny at Care.com's $22.26 starting rate. The crossover is visible in the table: ten hours of sitting costs $248.10 a week, and the center costs $252.46, and the two are within $4.36, and twenty hours of sitting costs $496.20, which is nearly double the center, and forty hours costs $992.40, which is nearly four times it. The nanny sits between them: $890.40 a week for forty hours, which is cheaper than a full-time sitter at $992.40, because the nanny rate of $22.26 is lower than the sitter rate of $24.81, and the nanny is a salary arrangement, and the salary is the discount for the commitment, and the commitment is the forty hours, and the forty hours are the job.

When the sitter wins, and when the center wins

The sitter wins below ten hours a week, for date nights, for sick days, for irregular hours, and for the evening, because the center is closed in the evening, and the sitter is not, and the center does not take a sick child, and the sitter does, and the center charges for the week whether the child attends or not, and the sitter charges for the hours she works. The sitter wins for one child, because the center's price is per child and the sitter's price is per hour, and the second child adds $3.00 an hour to the sitter and a full second tuition to the center, and the family with two children in a center pays twice, and the family with two children and a sitter pays $24.81 an hour, which is $3.00 more than one child, not double. The sitter wins for the infant, because the infant needs one-to-one attention, and the center gives one-to-several, and the attention is the service, and the service is worth the premium when the child is small.

The center wins above ten hours a week, for full-time care, for the socialization, and for the predictable cost, because the center is $252.46 a week for forty hours, which is $6.31 an hour, and the sitter is $24.81 an hour, and the center is a quarter of the price per hour, because the center spreads the teacher across the children, and the spreading is the saving. The center wins for the family that needs care every weekday, because the center is always open, and the sitter is sometimes sick, and the backup is the problem, and the center has the backup built in. The center wins for the family that wants the child with other children, because the socialization is the service, and the sitter cannot provide it, and the child who spends the day with other children learns what the child alone at home does not.

The nanny, the third option

The nanny is the third option, and it wins for two or more children full-time, because the nanny's rate does not double with the second child the way the center's tuition does, and the nanny at $22.26 an hour for forty hours costs $46,300.80 a year, which is cheaper than a full-time sitter at $51,604.80, and which is more expensive than a center at $13,128 for one child, and which is cheaper than a center for two children, because two center tuitions are $26,256, and the nanny is $46,300.80, and the nanny is still more expensive, and the comparison turns on the hours, because the nanny is forty hours and the center is forty hours, and the nanny is $890.40 a week, and the center is $252.46, and the nanny is 3.53 times the center, and the nanny is the premium option, because the nanny comes to the house, and the house is the convenience, and the convenience is the price. Care.com's Cost of Care Report puts the nanny at $870 a week for an infant, which is $45,240 a year, and $936 a week for a toddler, which is $48,672 a year, and the two figures bracket the $46,300.80 from the hourly rate, which is the check that the hourly rate and the weekly rate agree.

The nanny wins for the family with an infant and a toddler, because the center charges $332 a week for the infant and $308 for the toddler, which is $640 a week together, and the nanny is $870 a week for the infant alone, and the nanny for both is still $870, because the nanny's rate is per hour, not per child, and the second child adds nothing to the nanny, and the second child adds $308 a week to the center, and the family with two children in the center pays $33,280 a year, and the family with a nanny pays $45,240, and the nanny is still more, and the premium is the house, the hours, and the attention, and the premium is worth it when the children are small, and not worth it when they are not.

The new insight

The crossover is 10.18 hours, and the crossover is the decision, because the family that needs less than ten hours should hire the sitter, and the family that needs more should buy the center, and the family that needs forty hours and hires the sitter is paying $51,604.80 for what the center sells for $13,128, and the $38,476.80 difference is the most expensive mistake in childcare, because it is the wrong product for the hours, and the product is the hours, and the hours are the decision. The sitter is the flexible option, and the center is the cheap option, and the nanny is the premium option, and the family should buy the flexibility when the hours are few, the cheapness when the hours are many, and the premium when the children are small and the house matters, and the buying should follow the hours, because the hours are the price.

The tax side: the $7,500 FSA

The Dependent Care FSA is the tax side, and it applies to all three options, because the sitter, the center, and the nanny all qualify, provided the care is for a child under thirteen and both parents work or study, and the limit is $7,500 a year from 2026, the first increase since 1986, under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, and a family in the 22 percent bracket that contributes the full $7,500 saves $1,650.00 in tax, which is 12.6 percent of the $13,128 daycare bill, and 6.4 percent of the $25,802.40 twenty-hour sitter bill, and 3.6 percent of the $46,300.80 nanny bill, and the saving is the same dollars in each case, because the FSA is capped, and the cap is the limit, and the limit is $7,500. The FSA does not change the crossover, because it saves the same $1,650.00 on either side, but it changes the total, and the total is what the family pays, and the family should claim it, because the claiming is one form, and the saving is $1,650.00.

Sources

Child Care Aware of America 2024: full-time center daycare $13,128 a year; 2025: $13,184. Care.com 2026 Cost of Care Report: daycare $332 a week for an infant ($17,264 a year) and $308 a week for a toddler ($16,016 a year); nanny $870 a week for an infant ($45,240 a year) and $936 a week for a toddler ($48,672 a year); nanny starting rate $22.26 an hour; babysitter national $21.88 an hour (2025 rates). Care.com posted starting rate $19.81 an hour, February 12, 2026. UrbanSitter 2026 booking data, January 2026. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services affordability benchmark: child care should cost no more than 7 percent of family income. One Big Beautiful Bill Act (Public Law 119-21, July 4, 2025): Dependent Care FSA limit $7,500 from 2026. All calculator figures were computed by this site's calculator under the stated model.