Here's How Much Charlotte Babysitters Charge

CHARLOTTE, NC — The typical American babysitter now charges an average of $16.75 per hour to watch one child. For two, parents will shell out $19.26 an hour. That’s according to an annual study by UrbanSitter, which connects parents with babysitters in dozens of cities nationwide.

Around Charlotte, that number is more manageable. Babysitters here charge an average of $13 an hour for one child. Across the state in Raleigh, babysitters charge an average of $12.33 per hour for one child and $16.10 for two. With the federal and state minimum wage at $7.25, that’s not half bad.

The cost of babysitting obviously depends on where you live. San Francisco parents, for example, shell out the most for babysitters at $18.75 an hour for just one kid, according to the report.

Here are the 10 priciest places for babysitting based on the study. All rates are for one child.

1. San Francisco — $18.75
2. New York City — $17.30
3. Seattle — $17.05
4. Boston — $16.90
5. Washington, D.C. — $16.15
6. Los Angeles — $16.06
7. Philadelphia — $15.07
8. Austin — $14.98
9. Chicago — $14.57
10. Portland, OR — $14.38

Ask any parent and they’ll tell you: Child care is expensive. The report found that 42 percent of parents spent between $10,000 and $30,000 per child each year on child care. Moreover, 59 percent of parents plan to spend at least $1,000 on babysitters and nannies this summer.

Before you decide to quit your job, consider this — the median American child care worker in 2017 earned $10.72 an hour, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That includes child-care center workers, family child-care providers and nannies. And while most of those people worked full-time, about 40 percent were part-timers.

They often work long or unusual hours to fit parents’ work schedules, including evenings and overnight visits. And while child-care jobs were expected to grow 7 percent from 2016 to 2026, there are few obstacles preventing disgruntled parents from terminating a babysitter or finding someone cheaper.

Patch national staffer Dan Hampton contributed to this report.