Here’s How Much Your Seattle Neighbors Pay Their Babysitter

I was never a very good babysitter.

At least, I never had the bustling trade that so many of my friends in high school seemed to have. (One girlfriend had such a network of families that she was hard-pressed to find a night when she wasn't watching somebody's kids.)

I didn't mind so much; at the most, I made $30 for the evening. But kids these days? They're doing a lot better than that.

National child care service UrbanSitter asked 25,000 parents across the United States what they pay their babysitter. The result? Turns out Las Vegas parents get the best deal ($10.95 per hour for one child, $14.63 for two children). San Francisco families, not so much ($19.74 for one and $22.44 for two children).

Any guesses on where our own bustling city ranked? Not surprisingly, Seattle isn't far behind SF at $18.28 per hour for one child, $19.34 per hour for two.

Price that all out for the pandemic and what do you learn? We spend a lot of money on babysitting.

Seventy-nine percent of surveyed parents said child care is one of their family's biggest expenses. A solid 28 percent expect to pay between $30,000 and $75,000 this year on child care.

Which has me rethinking my own career goals ... Anybody hiring a babysitter?

Editor’s note: This article was originally published in May 2018, and updated in April 2021.