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Babysitter pay by city

What to pay a babysitter depends most on where you live. The best local yardstick is what childcare work pays there: the Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes it for 385 US metro areas. In the typical one, the median childcare worker earned $14.72 an hour in May 2025; the range runs from $9.97 in Anniston, AL to $22.74 in North Port, FL.

Pick your state, then your city, for suggested babysitter rates built on those figures, or choose your city in the calculator.

Where childcare work pays most

Where it pays least

How we get the suggested rates

A babysitter does much the same job as a childcare worker, usually alone and often in the evening, so we start from what childcare work pays locally: a new or teen sitter at the local median wage, an experienced sitter 15% above it, and a pro (CPR-certified, years of experience) 30% above it. Each child after the first adds about $2.50 an hour. It's a starting point, not a rule. Late nights, holidays, last-minute bookings, special needs and extra duties like driving or cooking all justify more; our guide to how much to pay a babysitter goes through them.

What these figures cover

They come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' wage survey for May 2025, for the occupation it calls Childcare Workers: people paid to look after children at daycares, schools, businesses and in private homes. The survey asks employers, so it counts childcare workers on a payroll, and its technical note says it leaves out the self-employed and household workers. Babysitters paid directly by a family aren't in these numbers. Read them as what childcare work pays where you live, not as a survey of babysitting rates.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, occupation 39-9011 Childcare Workers. Suggested rates are Sitterday's rule of thumb, explained above.