Childcare costs - Nanny rates

[canadianoutlaw]

Just doing a sanity check on what is 'reasonable' these days for a nanny per hour. Acknowledging the impact of a variety of factors like cost of living, regional marketplaces, nanny skillset, etc... any opinions on ballpark numbers for $/hour for a nanny. We have three kids all <6 years old, and live in mid-atlantic medium sized metro area. Part of the background is I feel like COVID/pandemic has made some markets and expectations screwy. Any thoughts on this from the WCI community?

[SpacemanSpiff12]

Just doing a sanity check on what is 'reasonable' these days for a nanny per hour. Acknowledging the impact of a variety of factors like cost of living, regional marketplaces, nanny skillset, etc... any opinions on ballpark numbers for $/hour for a nanny. We have three kids all <6 years old, and live in mid-atlantic medium sized metro area. Part of the background is I feel like COVID/pandemic has made some markets and expectations screwy. Any thoughts on this from the WCI community?

I'm in the Midwest and paying $20/hr.

[hospitalist md]

am in midwest, smaller city ... pay 15/hr for 1 kid and 20/hr fr 2 kids . 9month old and a 5 yr old

[sunshine]

I'm on West Coast, $20/hr for 2 kids, including childcare, light household chores erc

[JB14]

$20/hr Minneapolis, 2 kids, 5&8. Guaranteed 35 hrs/ week.

[melly]

We pay $20/hr in Atlanta for two kids, guaranteed hours and paid vacation. The market varies very widely by area though, and what you’re looking far. You may just need to interview some and ask the candidates what they expect

[SpacemanSpiff12]

I should have added that we also do guaranteed hours, paid vacation, and 44 hours a week which means she gets paid for 46hrs/wk due to overtime.

We asked around and this all seemed to be fairly standard near us.

[jfoxcpacfp]

I’m amazed that everyone who responded is paying the same hourly rate.

[vtpaca]

18/hour in the South for one kid. Have friends in northeast paying 23/hour for one kid.

[wideopenspaces]

I should have added that we also do guaranteed hours, paid vacation, and 44 hours a week which means she gets paid for 46hrs/wk due to overtime.

We asked around and this all seemed to be fairly standard near us.

We do guaranteed hours and PTO as well. You technically cannot do a salary for a nanny so this is how we get around it. We pay 44k/year with a yearly 5% raise. This is for our 5 year old ( and she also does school pick up for our 13yo and shuttles him around in the summer). The 5 year old is in preschool now so she probably averages 30ish hours a week. We're in UT.

[canadianoutlaw]

Very helpful. Thanks all. Agree jfoxcpacfp - remarkable consistency! (acknowledging sample size)

[FIREshrink]

More than ten years ago we paid $15/hr for one child, no housekeeping, in a small town. By paying more than the going rate we got a great and stable nanny for more than five years. We didn't pay her for her vacation but we gave her set and guaranteed hours regardless of our schedules or vacations.

[JWeb]

We pay $16/hr for four kids ages 2, 3, 5, and 7 in the midwest. The older two are in school, but she picks them up along with the 3 year-old who goes to preschool 2 days a week. We pay her for all of the holidays and 2 weeks vacation. She get's paid for 47.5 hours per week no matter what and then more if she works before 8am or after 5:30pm.

She's awesome and we could pay her twice that and she would still be well worth it.

[TheTodd]

This thread is depressing. In the Bay Area the going rate is more like 30-40/hr

[CordMcNally]

This thread is depressing. In the Bay Area the going rate is more like 30-40/hr

Don't worry. I've got a business idea for virtual nannies so you'll be able to pay middle of the country prices no matter where you live. I only have a few very small logistical issues to iron out but it's going to be a huge business.