Parents already pay a lot for babysitting, but hiring someone to watch the kiddos on New Year’s Eve is even more expensive. According to babysitting website Urbansitter, the national average for a sitter is around $15 an hour for one kid. But come December 31, that price goes up, and that’s IF you can find a babysitter who’s available on New Year’s Eve.
Urbansitter says moms and dads of one child can expect to pay an average of $17.88 an hour for a New Year’s Eve sitter and if you have two or more kids, the cost jumps to about $20 an hour. But the babysitter’s hourly rate is only the beginning. Most sitters expect extras like free dinner, and transportation home in a Lyft or Uber.
And parents who want to make sure an experienced sitter chooses their family on a high-demand night like New Year’s Eve sometimes even throw in a $50 tip on top of it all. All that money and you haven’t paid for dinner, drinks, or anything else yet.
But if you live in a major city, it’s even more expensive than that! These are the priciest cities to get a babysitter on New Year’s Eve:
- New York City - For one kid, $18.81 an hour, for two or more kids, $24.06
- San Francisco - One child is $18.90 an hour, $22.36 for two or more
- Seattle - A sitter for one child is about $18.11 an hour and for two or more it’s $22.70
- Los Angeles - Parents of one will pay around $18.38 an hour and for two or more kids, $20.52.
- Washington D.C. - A sitter for one child is $17 an hour and for two or more, $21.45
Source: Moneyish