Babysitting Rates for Teenagers: How Much Should I Charge?

When it comes to babysitting rates, you have to ask yourself, "How much should I charge?" A personal rate needs to be set based on the situation and your experience level. The hourly rate you decide upon actually affects many jobs you may have now or in the future. You may not receive as many opportunities to babysit if you're demanding $15 an hour to watch one child, but on the other hand you may not find babysitting a needy 3 year-old for $6 an hour worth the while.

Babysitting rates for teenagers

These days babysitting rates for teenagers have most often become higher than minimum wage. Considering some 12 year olds are trusted enough with this job, that's a pretty descent payload. Depending on the responsibility and experience level of the teenager, a good base pay would be $6/7 an hour.

Rules and Exceptions for babysitting rates for teenagers

You may have noticed that parents tend to pay more with age as well as experience. That said, if you are 15 and above you may add a dollar to your hourly rate. Also if you have had more than 3 years of experience you may also want to add a dollar, if a dollar has not already been added for age. Becoming a certified babysitter can increase confidence in many parents. If you have been certified in a babysitting class you may additionally want to add a dollar.

Time can really affect babysitting rates for teenagers. If you are babysitting after 10 o'clock for example you may want to charge more. The older the teenager is the busier they become after those hours and therefore are harder to come by.

Like time, age of the children and number being watched can also have a large effect on babysitting rates for teenagers. If you are babysitting an infant or more than two children you may again want to increase your hourly rate. On the other hand if you are babysitting a well-mannered 10 year old you may want to reduce your set rate.

Some babysitting rates for teenagers can be boosted when one is expected to cook, clean, and run errands as part of the job. Since these jobs can range so widely in difficulty and length you need to evaluate the situation yourself and decide how troublesome, if at all, any given chore turns out to be.
Location plays a fair role in hourly rates too. Large cities such as New York and Boston have been known to have leading rates by anywhere from $1-$3! You may also want or need to deduct $1 or so accordingly (if you live in a small town).