How Much Does a Babysitter Cost?

The short answer

A babysitter costs $19.81 an hour for one child if you mean the posted starting rate, $23 an hour if you mean the listed rate, and $26.24 an hour if you mean what families actually pay when they book. All three numbers are correct, and they disagree by $6.43 an hour, because they measure three different things. Care.com publishes the posted starting rate, which is what sitters ask when they list themselves: $19.81 an hour for one child, as of February 12, 2026. Sittercity publishes the listed rate, which is what sitters put on their profiles: $23 an hour, as of May 2026. UrbanSitter publishes the booked rate, which is what families actually paid on completed bookings: $26.24 an hour for one child, $29.87 for two, and $32.33 for three, from booking data last updated in January 2026. The posted rate is the ask, the listed rate is the advertisement, and the booked rate is the transaction, and the transaction runs about 32 percent above the ask, because the sitters who get booked are the experienced ones, and the experienced ones charge more, and the families who book through a platform pay the platform rate, not the posting rate.

Two more Care.com figures circulate, and both are real. Care.com's national posted rate had risen to $20.57 an hour by October 2026, which is $0.76 above the February figure, and the rise is the market moving, not a different measure: posted rates rose through 2026 as sitters adjusted to the cost of living. Care.com's 2026 Cost of Care Report puts the national average at $21.88 an hour, or $175 for eight hours with one child, but that figure is built on 2025 rates, so it is older than the February 2026 posted figure and newer than nothing else, and it sits between the posted and booked numbers because it blends them. The honest answer to the question is therefore a range, not a number: one child, daytime, some experience, in a typical American suburb costs $19.81 to $26.24 an hour depending on whether you count the asking or the paying, and the family that budgets on $19.81 and the sitter that charges $26.24 will both find their number confirmed by a real source, and both will be surprised by the other, because the gap between asking and paying is the negotiation, and the negotiation is the market.

What the city does to the rate

The city is the largest single input, because the posted rate runs from $15.00 an hour in a rural town to $22.98 in Brooklyn, and the $7.98 between them is 40 percent of the national rate. Care.com's posted starting rates for February 4, 2026, put Atlanta at $20.10, Chicago at $21.07, Miami at $20.75, Phoenix at $19.77, Portland at $21.49, San Diego at $22.52, Denver at $22.57, Washington, D.C. at $21.77, and Brooklyn at $22.98, against a national average of $19.81. The spread is the cost of living, and it is visible in the same table in the summer figures: Seattle at $25.30, Brooklyn at $22.91, San Diego at $22.48, Denver at $22.54, Washington at $21.63, Portland at $21.36, Miami at $20.61, Chicago at $20.99, Atlanta at $19.99, Phoenix at $19.68, Philadelphia at $19.44, Charlotte at $19.17, Houston at $18.26, Orlando at $18.10, and San Antonio at $17.17, from Care.com's January 5, 2026 summer table. The two tables agree within a dollar for every city they share, which is the check that the measure is stable, and the ranking is the same in both: the coastal metros are dear, the Sun Belt cities are middling, and the small towns are cheap, and the rural rate of $12 to $18 an hour, midpoint $15.00, is the floor.

The table prices the same job in each city: two children, some experience, evening, four hours. The base column is the posted starting rate for one child in the daytime, and the rate column adds $3.00 for the second child and $2.00 for the evening, and the night column is four hours at that rate. Brooklyn is $111.92 for the night and Phoenix is $99.08, and the $12.84 between them is the cost of living, and the rural town is $80.00, and the $31.92 between Brooklyn and the rural town is 40 percent of the night. The booked rate for the same job is the posted rate times 1.32, so the booked night at the national average is $131.45, and in Brooklyn it is $148.25, and in the rural town it is $105.97, and the family that budgets on the posted column and the sitter that charges the booked column are both right, because they are measuring different things.

What moves the rate after the city

Children move it next, by $3.00 an hour for each child after the first, which is the middle of the $2 to $5 range the guides suggest, and which matches the booking data: UrbanSitter's 2026 bookings show $26.24 for one child, $29.87 for two, up $3.63, and $32.33 for three, up $2.46 more, and Care.com's national table shows $20.57 for one child, $23.25 for two, up $2.68, and $26.80 for three or more, up $3.55 more. The step is smaller for the third child than for the second, because the third child is usually older and more independent, and the work does not double with the headcount, but it does rise, and $3.00 an hour is the fair middle of the published steps. Experience moves it after the children, and the bands are wide: entry-level sitters charge $12 to $16 an hour, sitters with some experience $16 to $21, experienced sitters with CPR certification $21 to $30, and professionals with an early childhood education background $30 to $45. At the national average this calculator gives an entry-level sitter $15.81 an hour, a sitter with some experience $19.81, an experienced sitter $24.81, and a professional $29.81, which sits at the top of the entry band, in the middle of the some-experience band, in the middle of the experienced band, and just under the professional band, which is the honest place for each, because the bands are asking bands and the calculator prices the asking rate.

Time moves it last. Evenings add $2.00 an hour, because evenings are the hours everyone wants, and the sitter who works them is giving up her own evening. Weekends and holidays multiply the rate by 1.15, because the guides put the weekend and holiday premium at 15 to 50 percent, and 15 percent is the low end, and the low end is the fair starting point: a two-child evening job at the national average is $24.81 an hour, and the same job on a holiday weekend is $26.23. Overnight does not add an hourly premium at all, because the sitter is available while the children sleep, not working, and the overnight is priced as the hourly rate for the awake hours plus a $50 to $100 flat for the sleeping stretch, so a two-child overnight at the national average is $22.81 an hour for four awake hours plus $50, which is $141.24 for the night. Extra duties add $3.00 an hour, for driving, meal preparation, homework, and light housework, because the guides put the premium for CPR certification or extra duties at $3 to $7 an hour, and $3.00 is the low end of that range.

What tonight costs, and what the year costs

Four hours, two children, some experience, evening, at the national average: $99.24 at the posted rate and $131.45 at the booked rate, and the $32.21 between them is the negotiation, and the family that pays the posted rate is paying the asking rate, and the family that pays the booked rate is paying the market rate, and both are fair, because the asking rate is the floor and the booked rate is the ceiling, and the fair price is usually in between. One date night a week at that rate is $5,160.48 a year, or $430.04 a month, which is the number to budget, because the date night is the recurring cost, not the one-off, and the family that goes out once a week spends $5,160.48 a year on sitting, which is 5.9 percent of the $87,460 median household income, and which is the price of the evening out, and which is worth knowing before the evening, not after. Twenty hours a week at the same rate is $496.20 a week, $2,150.20 a month, and $25,802.40 a year, which is 1.97 times full-time center daycare at $13,128 a year, and which is the comparison that matters, because the sitter is cheaper than daycare below 10.18 hours a week and more expensive above it, and the crossover is the number that decides which one to buy.

Sources

Care.com posted starting rates: national $19.81 an hour, February 12, 2026; nine cities, February 4, 2026; summer city table, January 5, 2026; national $20.57, October 2026. UrbanSitter 2026 booking data, January 2026: booked $26.24 one child, $29.87 two, $32.33 three; San Francisco $29.63. Sittercity listed rate $23 an hour, May 2026. Care.com 2026 Cost of Care Report: national $21.88 an hour (2025 rates). Parent resource ranges: experience bands $12 to $16, $16 to $21, $21 to $30, $30 to $45; rural and small-town $12 to $18 an hour; weekend and holiday premium 15 to 50 percent; overnight flat $50 to $100; extra duties $3 to $7 an hour. Child Care Aware of America 2024: full-time center daycare $13,128 a year. U.S. Census Bureau, Income in the United States: 2025: median household income $87,460 in 2025. All calculator figures were computed by this site's calculator under the stated model: rate equals the city base plus $3.00 an hour for each child after the first, plus the experience adjustment, plus $2.00 an hour for evenings, times 1.15 for weekends and holidays, plus $3.00 an hour for extra duties; the booked rate is the posted rate times 26.24 divided by 19.81.

How Much Does a Babysitter Cost? questions

How much does a babysitter cost per hour in 2026?

It depends on which number you mean. Care.com's posted starting rate is $19.81 an hour for one child (February 12, 2026). Sittercity's listed rate is $23 an hour (May 2026). UrbanSitter's booked rate, what families actually paid, is $26.24 an hour (January 2026). The posted rate is what sitters ask; the booked rate is what families pay.

How much does a babysitter cost for two children?

At the national average, two children on a Saturday evening cost $24.81 an hour at the posted rate, and four hours is $99.24. The booked rate is $32.86 an hour, and four hours at the booked rate is $131.45. Each child after the first adds $3.00 an hour; UrbanSitter's booking data shows $29.87 for two children, up $3.63 from $26.24 for one.

How much does a babysitter cost in New York?

Care.com's posted starting rate in Brooklyn is $22.98 an hour for one child (February 4, 2026), and the overnight rate is $23.57. Two children on a Saturday evening cost $27.98 an hour at the posted rate, and four hours is $111.92. The booked night is $148.25.

Why do babysitting rate sites disagree?

They measure different things on different dates. Care.com publishes posted starting rates (what sitters ask), Sittercity publishes listed rates (what sitters advertise), and UrbanSitter publishes booked rates (what families actually paid). The booked rate runs about 32 percent above the posted rate, because the sitters who get booked are the experienced ones.

Keep reading

• How Much Should I Pay My Babysitter?The posted rate is the offer, the booked rate is the market. Fair pay sits between them.
• How Much Should I Charge for Babysitting?Teen rates by age, the experience ladder, and the rate card that gets regular families.
• Babysitter vs Daycare CostThe crossover is 10.18 hours a week. Below it the sitter wins, above it the center wins.
• Overnight Babysitting RatesAwake hours at the hourly rate, plus a $50 flat for the sleeping stretch. Phoenix explains why.
• Babysitting Rate CalculatorFind the fair rate by city, kids, and experience, and price tonight, the week, and the year.