Once you’ve made the decision to hire a nanny to care for your kids, the next step is figuring out how much you should pay them. If you’ve never hired a nanny before, this can feel a little overwhelming. However, we’ll cover several topics that should help you come up with a realistic pay rate for your nanny.
- The current hourly pay rates for nannies in your area
- What to take into account to fine-tune your nanny’s pay
- Other costs associated with hiring a nanny
What is the current hourly pay rate for a nanny in my area?
To get a baseline for how much a nanny earns in your city, Care.com is a great resource to turn to. Based on the millions of job posts on the site, here are the 2023 average hourly nanny pay rates in several major cities.
| City | Average Pay Rate | City | Average Pay Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atlanta | $19.00/hr. | Nashville | $17.60/hr. |
| Austin | $19.00/hr. | New York City | $21.60/hr. |
| Baltimore | $17.60/hr. | Philadelphia | $17.80/hr. |
| Boston | $21.20/hr. | Phoenix | $18.60/hr. |
| Charlotte | $17.60/hr. | Pittsburgh | $17.00/hr. |
| Chicago | $19.80/hr. | Portland | $18.80/hr. |
| Dallas | $17.80/hr. | Sacramento | $18.40/hr. |
| Denver | $18.40/hr. | Salt Lake City | $17.00/hr. |
| Detroit | $16.80/hr. | San Diego | $17.80/hr. |
| Houston | $18.20/hr. | San Francisco | $22.00/hr. |
| Los Angeles | $20.80/hr. | Seattle | $20.40/hr. |
| Miami | $17.00/hr. | St. Louis | $17.20/hr. |
| Minneapolis | $17.40/hr. | Washington, DC | $20.20/hr. |
If you don’t see your city on this list, you can use Care.com’s calculator to see the estimated rate in your city. Keep in mind, these hourly nanny pay rates assume a nanny caring for one child and working full-time. If your care needs are different, you should decrease or increase this rate.
Now that you have a good estimate of what the average nanny expects to earn in your area, you need to look at the details of the job you’re offering and the credentials of the nannies you’re interviewing to fine-tune the final pay rate. Here are four major factors to consider:
1. How many children your nanny will care for. Nannies that watch multiple children should earn more than nannies watching one child. Best practices are to increase your hourly rate $1 to $2 per hour for each additional child a nanny cares for.
2. How much experience your nanny has. According to the International Nanny Association’s most recent salary benefits survey, nannies with less than two years of experience earn about $2 less per hour than nannies with 3-5 years of experience. Additionally, a nanny with 7-10 years experience earns about $2 per hour more than a nanny with 3-5 years of experience. The point is, the more experience a candidate has, the more you can expect to pay for their services.
3. Whether your nanny is first aid or CPR certified. If so, they most likely should command a higher hourly rate than a candidate with no medical training. The added peace of mind knowing your nanny can provide a basic level of support for your child if something goes wrong is generally worth paying extra for.
4. Any job responsibilities that go beyond caring for your kids. Some families ask their nanny to pitch in with additional household help, such as laundry and running errands. If you’re planning to ask your nanny to handle things like this, expect them to want additional money for these tasks.
By now, you should have a good idea of what to pay your new nanny. But there are other expenses aside from payroll that you need to think about to finalize your total care budget.
– Household employment taxes. Sometimes called nanny taxes, these will be about 10 percent of the wages you pay your nanny. The IRS says when you pay a nanny $2,600 or more during the calendar year, you’re responsible for paying these taxes.
– Workers’ compensation insurance. Your state may require you to have a policy in place to protect you and your nanny if they get hurt while on the job.
– Tax and payroll service. Many families either don’t have the time or the desire to manage all the tax filings, payroll calculations, labor law compliance updates and government notice correspondence that come with being a household employer. Using a nanny tax and payroll service like HomePay should be part of your budget if you need help. Give us a call at (888) 273-3356 for a free consultation and we’ll walk you through any questions you have!
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