Babysitting costs are going through the roof—as you probably know! See how much you could be on the hook for after your next date night.
Remember when babysitting as a teenager felt like winning the lottery? You’d walk out with a crisp $10 an hour, maybe a bonus for tidying up the Lego explosion or doing the dishes, and head straight to the mall feeling loaded. Fast-forward to today, and parents are realizing those golden days are long gone. Now, hiring a babysitter typically feels less like planning a simple date night and more like a luxury splurge.
And just when you thought it couldn’t possibly get pricier, a new study from UrbanSitter, a child-care referral website, is here to confirm what your wallet already suspected: Babysitting costs are climbing—fast. Ahead, we talked to Lynn Perkins, the CEO and co-founder of UrbanSitter, to get the scoop on the latest babysitting rates for 2026. Keep reading, and let’s take a peek at just how high those hourly rates have climbed.
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How did the study determine the average babysitting rates?
The average babysitting rates in this report are based on real booking data pulled from UrbanSitter and the tens of thousands of babysitting jobs completed on the platform. They calculated the average rates for each U.S. city and for different numbers of children, incorporating flat rates when families reported them or when they appeared in transaction records.
Data is current as of January 2026, and to put the findings in context, UrbanSitter compared the numbers with inflation data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index.
What is the average rate for babysitting in the U.S.?
According to UrbanSitter’s data, the average babysitting rate in the United States is $26.24 per hour for one child. (The range of hourly rates, depending on where you live, is about $19 to $29.) Of course, the hourly cost goes up the more kids you have: The average rate for two kids is $29.87, and $32.33 per hour for three kids.
The average rate for a sitter rose 4.9% over the last year, outpacing the rate of inflation, which was 3%. The most expensive city for hiring a sitter is San Francisco, at $29.63 per hour for one child, and the least expensive city is San Antonio, at $18.21 per hour for one child.
Hold on—these rates have skyrocketed, right?
Yep, you’re not imagining things. As noted above, rates have gone up nearly 5% from last year ($24.99 per hour for one child to $26.24 now), and since 2024, they’re up just over 11%. But looking back a decade to 2016, today’s rates have jumped 67% (!) from the then-average national rate of $15.71. But hey, it could be worse: San Francisco has seen a nearly 79% increase in 10 years, from $16.58 per hour to $29.63.
The pandemic shifted the needle as well. In 2019, the average cost of a sitter for one kid was $16.75. By 2022, the cost had jumped to $20.57—a 23% increase. Perkins explains the connection: “Everything became more expensive, but babysitting rates also outpaced inflation because the supply of care providers tightened at the same time parents needed more help,” she says. “During the pandemic, parents increasingly sought exclusive, single-family care arrangements and were willing to pay higher rates to secure them.” Plus, lengthy school closures and other disruptions made babysitters a hot commodity. “Reliability commands higher rates,” Perkins says.
If we go back even earlier, to 2014, the earliest year a national average is available, parents were paying $14.13 per hour for one child—that’s 85.7% lower than today’s average. And in 2012, the oldest data tracked by UrbanSitter, New York sitters commanded the most expensive hourly rate ($15.50), which is 61.3% lower than today’s $26.03 for that city. Quite the jumps indeed!
Why does babysitting suddenly cost so much?
This massive hike in rates over the last 10-plus years isn’t just a product of inflation or the current economy, Perkins says. It’s more due to increased expectations and responsibilities of babysitters. “More households have two working parents and need many hours of child care, so families are patchworking various child-care solutions, including babysitters,” she says. “Plus, a lot of today’s demand is workday care—after-school pickup, activities, homework and coverage between school and the end of the workday.”
And while babysitting used to be a job reserved for teenagers, now teens are typically in school when parents need sitters most. There’s also been a broader decline in teen employment and busier school schedules, Perkins explains. Plus, she adds, parents these days are more likely to find a sitter through an app or online platform, and most of those platforms and agencies have age minimums. “That makes teens harder to find unless you already know someone locally,” she says.
In addition, the expectations for what babysitters actually do with the kids they watch may be higher today than in years past. In my own circle of friends, I’ve heard of sitters bringing over craft supplies and even musical instruments to keep their charges not only occupied but learning new skills during their time together.
Finally, parents may be looking for older, more seasoned caregivers these days than in years past. “Age matters less than experience, but they often go together,” Perkins says. “The more responsibility involved, like driving, multiple kids or infants, the more parents lean toward adult caregivers.”
How much extra does this add to the cost of a normal date night?
Suffice it to say, a kid-free date night isn’t a cheap endeavor these days. According to data from MoneyGeek, going out to dinner and a movie costs couples $123 on average. Another survey, from BMO, puts the average cost of a night out even higher, at $189, which includes how much people spend on things like pre-date grooming and gas money.
If you take a rough average of these two data points and call it about $150 just for the date itself, then add in three hours of babysitting for just one child ($75), this puts the average spend for a parents’ night out at a costly $225 per date. That’s a serious chunk of change, so it’s no wonder many parents don’t follow the “have a weekly date night” advice that relationship experts often preach—it’s just too darn expensive!
What is the average cost per city?
Here is the average hourly rate for a babysitter in major cities across the country, according to UrbanSitter data. The first dollar amount is for one child, the second for two children.
- Atlanta, Georgia: $20.78; $23.74
- Austin, Texas: $23.39; $27.58
- Boston, Massachusetts: $25.52; $27.78
- Charlotte, North Carolina: $23.56; $28.67
- Chicago, Illinois: $22.21; $25.83
- Columbus, Ohio: $19.98; $20.71
- Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas: $19.25; $22.58
- Denver, Colorado: $24.05; $26.60
- Honolulu, Hawaii: $27.22; $29.38
- Houston, Texas: $21.69; $23.68
- Las Vegas, Nevada: $21.16; $23.08
- Los Angeles, California: $26.11; $29.22
- Miami, Florida: $21.15; $26.56
- Minneapolis, Minnesota: $21.35; $23.46
- Nashville, Tennessee: $23.43; $24.53
- New York, New York: $26.03; $28.77
- North Jersey, New Jersey: $25.38; $26.52
- Orlando, Florida: $21.68; $23.00
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: $20.10; $21.00
- Phoenix, Arizona: $20.59; $23.63
- Portland, Oregon: $23.98; $27.07
- Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina: $22.23; $24.29
- Reno-Tahoe, Nevada: $23.90; $30.50
- Sacramento, California: $22.79; $24.32
- San Antonio, Texas: $18.21; $21.94
- San Diego, California: $24.39; $27.06
- San Francisco, California: $29.63; $33.70
- Seattle, Washington: $27.70; $30.79
- Tampa Bay, Florida: $21.26; $25.58
- Washington, D.C./Baltimore: $23.95; $26.01
What else did the report reveal about babysitting in the U.S.?
The report also looked at different types of babysitting rates (other than hourly). The average day rate for a babysitter is $115, while the average overnight rate is $285, and the average weekend rate is $1,050. UrbanSitter also compared babysitting rates with other caregiving rates to see how they aligned. It turns out that babysitting is just slightly higher than the hourly rates for pet sitting ($24.91) and senior care ($24.26), and lower than household services like housekeeping ($31.10).
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Sources:
- UrbanSitter: “Babysitting Rates by City (2026): Average Hourly Pay for 1–2 Kids”
- AOL: “Can’t buy me love? The average date in America costs $123”
- BMO: “‘Date-flation’ Hits Hard: Average Date Spend Nears $200 – BMO Real Financial Progress Index”
