A fair hourly rate & total for the night — adjusted for kids, late hours, holidays & extra duties
Are you paying a sitter, or quoting as one?
Extra duties (small add-on, ~$2/hr each)
This calculator turns a fair babysitting price into an exact number for a specific night out. You set a base hourly rate for one child, enter how many hours and children are involved, and add any premiums — a per-child bump, a late-night premium, a holiday multiplier, and small add-ons for extra duties like cooking, tutoring, pet care or light cleaning. It returns the total for the night, your effective per-hour rate, and a suggested rounded cash amount. It works in both directions: parents figuring out what to pay, and sitters quoting a price. Everything is computed privately in your browser, free.
Save as link: the link encodes your inputs so the calculator reopens pre-filled. It stays in your browser, but the values are visible in the URL — don't post it publicly if you'd rather keep them private.
National surveys put the typical US babysitter rate around $18–$22 per hour for one child, with higher rates in big metros and lower rates in rural areas. Add roughly $1–$3 per hour for each additional child. Experienced sitters, CPR-certified sitters, and those caring for infants or kids with special needs reasonably charge more. Late nights (after ~10pm) and holidays like New Year's Eve command premiums. Treat the output as a fair starting point to agree on, not a fixed market price.
You're going out for 5 hours and leaving 2 children with a sitter at a $20/hr base, adding $2/hr per extra child. The last 2 hours are after bedtime with a +15% late premium, it's a regular night (1×), and you've asked for light cleaning ($2/hr add-on):
Change any input and the result updates instantly — the live numbers above match this example.
effectiveRate = baseRate
+ perChild × (children − 1)
+ dutyAddOn × numberOfDutiesChecked // dutyAddOn = $2/hr each
regularHours = totalHours − lateHours
regularPay = regularHours × effectiveRate
latePay = lateHours × effectiveRate × (1 + latePremium%)
subtotal = regularPay + latePay
total = subtotal × holidayMultiplier
effectivePerHour = total ÷ totalHours
roundedCash = round total UP to the next $5No account, no coding — grab the copy-paste embed code from the "Add this calculator to your site" box below the guide. See it live: view a real embed example →
A common 2024–2025 starting point is ~$18–$22/hr for one child, rising with the number of kids, experience, and local cost of living. This tool starts from a base you set, then adds per-child, late-night, holiday and duty adjustments for a fair total.
Yes — add roughly $1–$3/hr per additional child. The tool applies your per-child add-on for every kid past the first.
Usually. A 10–25% late-night premium and a 1.5×–2× holiday rate are common. Set both here and see how each changes the total.
Yes — babysitting is occasional and hourly, a nanny is regular employment with a weekly/salaried wage and taxes. This tool is for the per-night babysitting case.
Yes, the sitter is still on duty. Pay the normal rate, or set a small late-night premium for after bedtime.
Round the total up to clean cash and add a small tip for great work or extra-late nights. The tool shows the exact total plus a rounded-up amount.
This tool gives an estimate to help two people agree on a fair price, not an official market rate. Babysitting pay varies widely by region, the sitter's age and experience, certifications, the children's ages and needs, and local demand. The defaults (per-child add-on, duty add-ons, suggested premiums) are typical US conventions and are fully editable. For ongoing or full-time childcare, a nanny or daycare with a written agreement and proper tax handling is more appropriate than an hourly estimate.
Disclaimer. Not legal, tax, or employment advice. If you employ a regular caregiver, check your local rules on household-employee taxes and minimum wage.
Everything is calculated in your browser. We don't store or sell your data. Estimate only.