Nanny spinoff - going rate

kns1988 · April 2016

I don't want to threadjack the nanny thread so I figured I'd start a new one for my question. I know this will depend on where you're located in the country, but does $15 an hour seem too low for a nanny/every day sitter? I live in rural PA and I'm looking at a website for nannys from Philadelphia - it says the going rate for a part time nanny is $15-$25 an hour.

I'd be looking to get someone to watch the baby at the camp from June-August only, 6 hours a day M-F. H would be around but working. Obviously I don't need to find one right this minute, but I've been thinking about our options a lot recently and I wouldn't want to shortchange anyone.

atcwag · April 2016

We live in rural NW PA. Our sitter is paid $5/hour. She only comes 3-4 days/week and only for 3 hours/day. She doesn't have other expectations other than watching DS. We looked into what full time/partial day daycare costs were and then based pay somewhat off of that. Full-day daycare around here is $25-$30/day.

TheBorg7of9 · April 2016

I'm in Chicago. I've paid $12 an hour for one kid, 14 for two, etc. but I know someone who has twins who pays $17 an hour.

We we have a nanny share with our next door neighbor. We each have two kids. So we pay 18 an hour total, $9 each. So it's a real deal. We give her a weeks's pay for a bonus every year and a 3% raise. We pay over the table because I feel it's a better deal for everyone and she'll get unemployment if we ever have to fire her and she's paying into social security.
A big thing that makes the nanny share work is that we have a written contract. We give her 5 vacation days of her choice, 5 vacation days of our choice 5 holidays.

DunkinDecaf · April 2016

I've never hired a babysitter but when I was in college I nannied during the summers and I was paid $20/HR. That was about 5 years ago and for full time work watching 2 kids with a SAHM who was also usually around the house. Also worth noting, it was in a weird wealthy suburb of Boston and I definitely felt like I was being overpaid. I was pretty glad she threw out that number because I would've suggested a lower one.

talkthewholetime · April 2016

It's REALLY going to depend where you live. A high school aged babysitter around here is $12+/hr. I was making at least that when I babysat 10 years ago. A true "nanny" makes $20+ here.

shevaCC · April 2016

I live outside Seattle and pay our nanny $15/hour. It seems to be the going rate here unless you hire someone with crazy qualifications (a former elementary school teacher, for example).

elsie2014 · April 2016

I was a nanny for a while here in Omaha, NE (much lower cost of living than most places mentioned in this thread) and I was paid $10 an hour for one five year old girl. That's a pretty standard rate for here, anything above $15 would be crazy. It all depends on where you live and the number of kids. And expectations of work done.

muybueno · April 2016

A word about nanny websites- they are very biased in favor of nannies. Believe me, I'm all about workers' rights, but when I look at the rates listed on Care.com and SitterCity.com for my area, they are MUCH higher than the actual going rate in my area (a major Texas city).

It's hard to talk about hourly wages without knowing:
1) What her duties are. Ours does childcare but also grocery shops, makes the boys' meals, folds laundry, and cleans the kitchen- they sleep a lot during the day!
2) How you are paying her and what her benefits are. I treat my nanny more like a professional in that I pay her a salary, which she makes week-in and week-out, regardless of whether she works on a particular day (e.g. she's sick, we go on vacation). In addition to getting time off when we take our vacation, she also accrues her own vacation and sick days and gets a few major federal holidays off. I also pay her overtime for hours worked over 45 in a week. She eats breakfast and lunch here. She gets 50-cents/mile if she uses her own car during work (sometimes I run an errand while she takes the boys somewhere).

All of that factors in. Having said that, the simple answer to your question is that the going rate for 2+ kids in my area is $13-$17/hr for sitters and nannies.

Thewizardofrhythm · April 2016

I live in New York City. The average range for a full time nanny/sitter is between $600-$750 a week starting salary for one kid. Part time/hourly sitters range from $12-$20 depending on age, experience, and qualifications. For example, we have a 19 y/o kid who night sits for us sometimes that we pay $12. On the other end, we have a child development grad student who day sits for us during the day at times and she charges $20.

kns1988 · April 2016

Thanks, everyone! This is really helpful. Lots of good points about expected duties and how you expect to pay them, and it's really interesting to see the different ranges. I think it's really respectable that some people treat nannies like salaried employees. I won't be just because it's short term (3 months), but I think there are definitely benefits to doing that if your nanny is full time. After reading all of these comments, I'd be pretty comfortable offering $15.

talkthewholetime · April 2016

@kns1988 Since it's a summer position, you'd probably have great luck hiring someone in college in an education program.

Thewizardofrhythm · April 2016

Have you considered an au pair if your just looking for a summer thing? it sounds like it would fit your requirements perfectly. Its basically an international host program where you provide boarding and they provide child care. They usually cant work more than 40hrs a week and get the weekends off. When I was a kid we had a summer au pair for several summers and many of my parent friends now do the yearly program for child care. Its very economical and the quality of care is good.

TheBorg7of9 · April 2016

kns1988 said:

Thanks, everyone! This is really helpful. Lots of good points about expected duties and how you expect to pay them, and it's really interesting to see the different ranges. I think it's really respectable that some people treat nannies like salaried employees. I won't be just because it's short term (3 months), but I think there are definitely benefits to doing that if your nanny is full time. After reading all of these comments, I'd be pretty comfortable offering $15.

FYI, technically, legally you have to withhold taxes if you pay her more than 1900 in a year.

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