SitterRate
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Free · No sign-up · Works past midnight

Babysitter pay calculator

Enter when the sitter started and when you got home. See exactly what you owe, with extra kids, a tip and every line itemized.

Time

Same day · Thu, Oct 1. An end time earlier than the start counts as the next day.

Rate

Not sure? See what families pay.

Children
1 child
Tip
Tip on base pay

A tip percentage applies to base pay only, never to a bonus or reimbursed expenses. Tipping is optional.

12 AM6 AMNOON6 PM
You owe$119.175h 25m at $22/hr
6:15 PM – 11:40 PMTime on the clock
5h 25m
Hourly rate
$22/hr
Base pay5h 25m × $22/hr
$119.17
You owe
$119.17

Doing this every week? The SitterRate app remembers your sitters and their rates, runs a live timer from drop-off, and keeps a paid/unpaid history.

Get SitterRateFree on the App Store · iPhone

Sleepover with a bedtime? Use the overnight calculator.

How the total is worked out

The calculator follows the same six steps as the SitterRate app, in this order:

  1. Time worked is the real time between start and end. An end time earlier than the start is the next day.
  2. Rounding, if you choose it, applies to the length of the session, never to the clock times.
  3. A minimum, such as 3 hours, applies after rounding.
  4. The hourly rate adds your extra-child amount for each child after the first.
  5. Base pay is billable minutes × rate ÷ 60, rounded half-up to the cent once.
  6. The total is base pay plus any bonus, reimbursed expenses and tip. A tip percentage is figured on base pay only.

Every line is rounded once and the total is the sum of the lines you see, so the receipt always adds up, to the cent. That is why 5 hours 25 minutes at $22 is $119.17: $119.1666… rounds up once.

A school-night dinner out6:15 PM to 11:40 PM, $22/hr, $15 tip
Time worked
5h 25m
Base pay5h 25m × $22/hr
$119.17
Tip
$15.00
Total
$134.17

Two more nights, worked through

Past midnight with two kids7:00 PM to 1:00 AM, $24/hr + $2/hr for the second child, 15% tip
Time workedEnds the next day
6h
Hourly rate$24 + $2 × 1 extra child
$26/hr
Base pay
$156.00
Tip15% of base pay
$23.40
Total
$179.40
A short pickup with a minimum3:20 PM to 5:05 PM, $20/hr, nearest 15 minutes, 3-hour minimum
Time worked
1h 45m
RoundedNearest 15 minutes
1h 45m
Billable3-hour minimum applied
3h
Base pay× $20/hr
$60.00
Total
$60.00

Minimums are common for short jobs because the sitter still has to get there and back.

Not sure what rate to use?

For one child, published U.S. figures for 2026 run from about $20 to $26 an hour. They measure different things: what sitters ask on Care.com, what they list on Sittercity, and what families actually paid through UrbanSitter. Rates are higher for more children and in high-cost areas.

See 2026 babysitting rates, with sources, or look up childcare wages in your state.

National babysitting rates, one child
SourceMeasuresPer hour
Care.comPosted starting rate, February 12, 2026$19.81/hr
SittercityListed rate, May 2026$23/hr
UrbanSitterBooked rate, January 2026$26.24/hr

SitterRate for iPhone

The same calculator, on your iPhone

The website answers tonight. The app is for every Friday after: it knows your sitters, starts a timer at drop-off and keeps track of what you've paid.

  • Save each sitter's usual rate and see what you paid them last time
  • Rate Guide with the same sourced benchmarks and about 570 local areas, offline
  • Payment history: mark sessions paid or unpaid and see what you still owe
  • Live timer from drop-off that keeps time through a locked screenPro
  • Overnight sessions, nanny pay and PDF summariesPro
Get SitterRateFree on the App Store · iPhone

Free download. Pro is a one-time in-app purchase, with no subscription. What’s in the app

SitterRate calculator on iPhone: 6:15 PM to 11:40 PM at $22 an hour, total $134.17 including a $15 tip.SitterRate history on iPhone listing saved sessions, paid and unpaid, with the unpaid total.

Questions people ask

How do I calculate babysitting pay?

Multiply the time worked by the hourly rate: minutes × rate ÷ 60, rounded to the cent once. Add any extra-child adjustment to the rate first, then add a bonus, reimbursed expenses and an optional tip. 6:15 PM to 11:40 PM is 5 hours 25 minutes; at $22 an hour that is $119.17.

What if the babysitter stays past midnight?

Enter the end time as usual. If it is earlier than the start time, the calculator treats it as the next day, so 7:00 PM to 1:00 AM counts as 6 hours. You can also pick the end day yourself for sessions that run longer.

Should the tip be a percentage of the whole total?

No. A tip percentage applies to base pay only, the time worked × the rate. Reimbursed expenses such as gas or a pizza are paid back in full and are not tipped on, and a bonus is already extra. Tipping is optional.

Do I round to the nearest 15 minutes?

Only if you and your sitter agree to. The calculator uses exact minutes by default. You can round billable time to the nearest 5, 15 or 30 minutes (exact halves round up) and set a minimum, such as 3 hours. The result always shows when rounding or a minimum changed the time.

How much extra should I pay for a second child?

Published guidance ranges from about $0.50 to $2 more per hour for each additional child. In UrbanSitter's 2026 booking data, families paid $26.24 an hour for one child and $29.87 for two. Enter your own per-child amount in the calculator.

What happens on a daylight-saving night?

The calculator counts the hours actually worked. A sitter who stays from 8 PM to 6 AM on the night clocks fall back works 11 hours, not 10, and is paid for 11. On the spring-forward night the same session is 9 hours. The result notes the change.

Is this the same math as the SitterRate app?

Yes. The calculator runs the same rules as the iPhone app, and it is tested against the app's own calculation engine on more than 1,400 cases, including midnight and daylight-saving sessions.

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