Depends a lot on where you are, and what you are looking for. But I'm in a really HCOL area (not DC), and there are plenty of nannies in the $20-22/hr range. The question is what level of experience are you looking for, and whether you are willing to be flexible in other areas.

Personally, we interviewed super experienced "professional" nannies, and they clearly were not a good fit for what we were looking for. They just all came across as very rigid and inflexible. I'm sure that was at least partially due to bad prior experiences, but it didn't endear them to us. Slightly less experienced nannies all interviewed better, and generally wanted less pay (we actually ended up paying our first nanny more than she asked).

I pay $20/hour, part time, no health insurance (she’s young so covered by her parents) paid sick/vacation…

Anonymous wrote:$25 an hour was the going rate for a good nanny for one baby two years ago. Our nanny is up to $30 an hour with annual raises and adding a new baby.


Try daycare, OP. Nanny care is the best but not affordable for everyone.

So genuinely curious - if you pay $30 an hour, how many hours do you have your nanny for? Then you pay taxes on top? Assuming it’s 50 hours per week (and that you don’t pay overtime), that is $79000 per year of post tax money. I honestly don’t know anyone who pays that much.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm sorry but they are getting greedy. As a new REGISTERED NURSE I started out making $27 an hour 3 years ago in this insanely expensive area. A nanny would make more than I did? Jeez.

Why wouldn’t some nannies earn more than you? Our nanny has a bachelor’s in Early Childhood Education. Registered nurses don’t have to have bachelors.

You could earn close to 50 an hour now as a night nanny tho.

PS my plumber makes three times what you do.

PP here and that doesn’t surprise me that plumbers do well. That’s skilled labor and they have to deal with some pretty undesirable conditions. So why not? What is the point of you rubbing this information in my face? We work our asses off, are beyond physically and mentally exhausted, and a nanny is by no means under the amount of stress that we are under.

Stop, PP. You sound hysterical and embittered. You’re the one bemoaning you job choice. And you sound like a piss-poor nurse.

Our nanny works hard and deserves every penny.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm sorry but they are getting greedy. As a new REGISTERED NURSE I started out making $27 an hour 3 years ago in this insanely expensive area. A nanny would make more than I did? Jeez.

Why wouldn’t some nannies earn more than you? Our nanny has a bachelor’s in Early Childhood Education. Registered nurses don’t have to have bachelors.

You could earn close to 50 an hour now as a night nanny tho.

PS my plumber makes three times what you do.

Nowadays most have bachelors and if they don’t, most hospitals require they get their BSN. And sorry but RN’s, especially those at risk of DYING, because they are taking care of vented covid patients, should absolutely make more than the nanny sitting around at the park on her phone.

Capitalism, baby. It has nothing to do with job requirements and everything to do with what the market dictates. Get used to it. Our housecleaner makes more than you do too.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm sorry but they are getting greedy. As a new REGISTERED NURSE I started out making $27 an hour 3 years ago in this insanely expensive area. A nanny would make more than I did? Jeez.

Yes, an experienced, college educated nanny today will make more than you make. The market drives cost when there aren’t enough experienced, educated workers of any type, and Covid drove the cost to employ a nanny up.

You would be paid more if you loved caring for newborns, trained to be a Newborn Care Specialist, got several years of experience, and worked as an actual “Baby Nurse”, since you are an RN.

That is sporadic work. Does it guarantee 36 hours a week? I work with nurses who have done that on the side (think Let Mommy Sleep) and they were only making $25 an hour so I would love to know more about what you are referring to.

Working through an agency drops the rate because the agency takes a big cut of what the parents pay. Agency work as an actual baby nurse with an RN is steadier, but lower income. It’s a good way to get experience and gain references in preparation for marketing themselves without losing the $15+ per hour agency cut.

NCS who do the work to establish themselves and market themselves independently often end up charging $40+ per hour and book themselves a year in advance. They are able to take a month off between jobs to relax, because even working just 5 12-hour-shifts a week, they earn about $2400 a week, and many of them work 12/7 or 24/7 shifts for 3 months. That’s up to $800 a DAY, 7 days a week, for 12 weeks. Approximately $67,000 earned, then a month off before the next job.

5 years ago in DC proper we were able to find someone for $24/hour for 40 hours/week (on the books, paid vacation, no insurance, no car, no college degree). But, we had to look pretty hard. I would assume that with inflation and the pandemic prices have gone up.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm sorry but they are getting greedy. As a new REGISTERED NURSE I started out making $27 an hour 3 years ago in this insanely expensive area. A nanny would make more than I did? Jeez.

Why wouldn’t some nannies earn more than you? Our nanny has a bachelor’s in Early Childhood Education. Registered nurses don’t have to have bachelors.

You could earn close to 50 an hour now as a night nanny tho.

PS my plumber makes three times what you do.

PP here and that doesn’t surprise me that plumbers do well. That’s skilled labor and they have to deal with some pretty undesirable conditions. So why not? What is the point of you rubbing this information in my face? We work our asses off, are beyond physically and mentally exhausted, and a nanny is by no means under the amount of stress that we are under.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm sorry but they are getting greedy. As a new REGISTERED NURSE I started out making $27 an hour 3 years ago in this insanely expensive area. A nanny would make more than I did? Jeez.

Why wouldn’t some nannies earn more than you? Our nanny has a bachelor’s in Early Childhood Education. Registered nurses don’t have to have bachelors.

You could earn close to 50 an hour now as a night nanny tho.

PS my plumber makes three times what you do.

Nowadays most have bachelors and if they don’t, most hospitals require they get their BSN. And sorry but RN’s, especially those at risk of DYING, because they are taking care of vented covid patients, should absolutely make more than the nanny sitting around at the park on her phone.

Anonymous wrote:There are a lot of people on DCUM who, for whatever reason, seem to want to inflate the prices of nannies around here, but I will say that at the $20/hr price point I don’t think you’ll find someone reliable.

But OP found this to be true in real life. Read her post. She has nanny candidates walking out on her.

Anonymous wrote:Maybe I am wrong, but I assumed the going rate for nannies was around $20-$22 per hour for one child. We are looking for a full time nanny and have spoken with several candidates who are all quoting me between $25-$28 per hour for one child for 40 hours per week. This really seems like a lot of money, especially since we plan to have more children and want to keep this nanny for several years, so the cost will continue going up and up each year and it just seems unaffordable.

Is $25+ per hour truly the going rate? I have told all of the nannies that we are looking to pay $20/hr and they have pretty much walked away and said they aren’t flexible.

I do have 2 friends who pay under than $20 an hour so I know there are people out there not paying that much.

So keep looking and see who you can get for $20.

$25 an hour was the going rate for a good nanny for one baby two years ago. Our nanny is up to $30 an hour with annual raises and adding a new baby.


Try daycare, OP. Nanny care is the best but not affordable for everyone.

Anonymous wrote:I'm sorry but they are getting greedy. As a new REGISTERED NURSE I started out making $27 an hour 3 years ago in this insanely expensive area. A nanny would make more than I did? Jeez.

Why wouldn’t some nannies earn more than you? Our nanny has a bachelor’s in Early Childhood Education. Registered nurses don’t have to have bachelors.

You could earn close to 50 an hour now as a night nanny tho.

PS my plumber makes three times what you do.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm sorry but they are getting greedy. As a new REGISTERED NURSE I started out making $27 an hour 3 years ago in this insanely expensive area. A nanny would make more than I did? Jeez.

Yes, an experienced, college educated nanny today will make more than you make. The market drives cost when there aren’t enough experienced, educated workers of any type, and Covid drove the cost to employ a nanny up.

You would be paid more if you loved caring for newborns, trained to be a Newborn Care Specialist, got several years of experience, and worked as an actual “Baby Nurse”, since you are an RN.

That is sporadic work. Does it guarantee 36 hours a week? I work with nurses who have done that on the side (think Let Mommy Sleep) and they were only making $25 an hour so I would love to know more about what you are referring to.

We pay $22 for two kids outside beltway. 45 hrs guaranteed. No driving. Pretty much unlimited sick and vaca. But non-spanish and non-English primary language. One kid will go to school next year and we aren't lowering the pay.