Tool 1 of the Get Paid Kit · For nannies

Nanny hourly rate calculator

This free calculator works out the hourly rate a self-employed nanny should charge, starting from the income you need — because when you set your own rate and carry your own tax, the hour has to be priced like a business, not a wage. Families do not buy hours, though; they buy weeks. With the honest presets below the rate lands near $40 an hour, $323 for a full day — and the conversion families actually buy: forty hours a week for one family is $1,600, and in a two-family nanny share each family pays $800 a week for the same hours, which is how an hourly rate that looks high becomes the affordable option per family.

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The pricing reality for self-employed nannies

Start with the arrangement, because it decides whose maths this is. These presets are for the self-employed nanny: you set the rate, you carry the full tax load, and you may work for two or three families or run a nanny share. A nanny employed directly by one family is in a different structure — there, the family carries employer taxes and the conversation is about wages and benefits, not a business rate. Both arrangements are legitimate; they are priced differently, and confusing them is how experienced nannies end up underpaid in both.

The self-employed nanny’s hours are unusual in one helpful way: nearly all of them bill. Care is attendance — while you are with the children, you are working and being paid, and there is no second client inside the same hour. What does not bill is the frame around the care: travel between families, admin, and the gaps when a placement ends and the next has not started. The presets below use an 85% billable share — high for this site, and honest for care work — because the unpaid share is the frame, not half the job.

The numbers below are starting presets, not a survey: a $40,000 target income, $6,700 a year of expenses — car and fuel for the school run lead, with liability insurance, first aid and childcare training, background checks and platform fees, activity supplies, tax administration and marketing — a 22% tax estimate, four weeks of vacation and 85% billable time. The vacation line deserves a look: when a family travels, an unstructured arrangement makes their holiday your pay cut. These presets price your own four weeks into the rate instead — the alternative, guaranteed hours written into the agreement, is covered in the questions below. With those starting numbers the calculator lands near $40 an hour.

Your numbers — nanny presets

Your recommended rate

$0 / hour
$0Day rate (8 hours)
0Billable hours per year
Income + expenses needed$0
Grossed up for tax$0
With profit margin$0
Working weeks0
Total working hours0
Billable hours0

Your rate is saved on this device only, so the Proposal Generator can show it when you price a project.

Easy to miss

Costs nannies forget to put in the rate

  • The family’s holidays. When the family travels, the children vanish — and without guaranteed hours, so does the pay, while your rent does not. Either the agreement guarantees the hours, or the rate carries the empty weeks. One of the two has to be true on paper.
  • The gap between families. A placement ends when a child starts school, and the next family starts when they find you. The weeks between are marketing, interviews and trial days — unpaid, predictable, and part of the year the rate has to average.
  • Your own sick days. An employed nanny has sick pay and cover; a self-employed one has neither, and children are generous with their germs. The profit margin in these presets is, among other things, the sick fund.
  • Certification renewals. First aid and CPR expire on a cycle, background checks renew, and training is what separates a professional rate from a babysitting one. The renewals are small, annual and easy to leave out of the maths entirely.
  • The car. School runs, clubs and outings on your own vehicle put real miles and real wear into the job. Fuel is the visible half; tyres, servicing and depreciation are the other half, and both belong in the expenses.
The maths

How this calculator works

Start with the hours you can genuinely sell. Take 52 weeks, subtract your vacation weeks, multiply by your hours per week, then multiply by your billable percentage. With the nanny presets — four weeks off, 40 hours a week, 85% billable — that is 1,632 billable hours a year: the contracted care hours, once travel, admin and the gaps between placements have taken theirs.

Next, work out what those hours must bring in. Add your desired income and your annual business expenses together — $46,700 on the presets — gross the total up for tax by dividing by one minus your tax rate — at a 22% estimate, divide by 0.78 to get $59,872 — then add your profit margin to reach $65,859 and divide by your billable hours. That final number, $40, is the rate below which the year stops adding up.

Now translate the hour into the week a family actually buys. Forty hours at $40 is $1,600 a week for one family, full-time. The same hour sold as a two-family nanny share splits: each family pays $800 a week, and you earn the full rate for hours that only exist once — which is why shares are the one structure where a professional rate and a family’s budget stop arguing. Shorter patterns scale the same way: a twenty-hour after-school week for one family is $800 at this rate.

Disclaimer: This is a planning estimate, not tax advice. Tax rates, deductions and allowances vary by country, state and business structure. Enter the rate you expect to pay, and check significant decisions with a qualified accountant.
Next: build a proposal with this rate Use the general rate calculator
Questions

Nanny rate questions

It depends on the arrangement, and the distinction is real. In many countries a nanny who works set hours for one family, under that family’s direction, is treated in tax law as that family’s employee — the family then carries employer payroll taxes and the pay conversation is a wage conversation. Self-employment fits the nanny who sets her own terms and hours across several families, or runs a share. These presets assume you carry the full tax load yourself; if a family employs you directly, use the numbers as a comparison point, not a rate card.
Guaranteed hours mean the family pays your contracted hours even when they travel, cancel or need you less in a given week — your income stops depending on their calendar. It is the standard professional alternative to pricing empty weeks into your rate, which is what these presets do with the vacation line. Either structure is honest. The dishonest one is discovering in August that the family’s July holiday was silently your pay cut.
Because care is attendance. Unlike project trades, where half the week can vanish into quotes and admin, a nanny’s contracted hours are worked and paid almost one for one. The unpaid 15% is the frame: travel between families, messages and admin, trial days, and the gaps when one placement ends before the next begins. If you run back-to-back placements in one neighbourhood, your honest figure may be higher still.

Rates differ by trade — the same maths runs with different presets for graphic designer rates, freelance writer rates, web developer rates, marketing consultant rates, photographer rates, video editor rates, virtual assistant rates, social media manager rates, bookkeeper rates, translator rates, business coach rates, illustrator rates, copywriter rates, UX designer rates, SEO consultant rates, data analyst rates, motion designer rates, technical writer rates, podcast editor rates, email marketer rates, life coach rates, proofreader rates, event planner rates, voice actor rates, online tutor rates, personal trainer rates, interior designer rates, music producer rates, grant writer rates, UX researcher rates, book editor rates, transcriptionist rates, presentation designer rates, brand strategist rates, video producer rates, art director rates, WordPress developer rates, mobile app developer rates, 3D artist rates, game developer rates, Shopify developer rates, online business manager rates, podcast producer rates, data entry specialist rates, UX writer rates, copy editor rates, wedding photographer rates, resume writer rates, data scientist rates, instructional designer rates, business analyst rates, email designer rates, interpreter rates, audiobook narrator rates, landscape designer rates, wedding planner rates, wedding videographer rates, personal chef rates, dog trainer rates, music teacher rates, florist rates, cake baker rates, tour guide rates, pet groomer rates, house painter rates, handyman rates, locksmith rates, home organizer rates, pressure washer rates, carpet cleaner rates, chimney sweep rates, pool cleaner rates, window cleaner rates, tattoo artist rates, massage therapist rates, barber rates, makeup artist rates, hairstylist rates, nail technician rates, tailor rates, house cleaner rates, electrician rates, plumber rates, pest control technician rates, ppc specialist rates, content strategist rates, wedding DJ rates, dog walker rates, audio engineer rates, caterer rates, mover rates, appliance repair technician rates, piano tuner rates, garage door technician rates, bicycle mechanic rates, house sitter rates, upholsterer rates, jeweller rates, cobbler rates, blacksmith rates, sign writer rates, farrier rates, mobile car detailer rates, genealogist rates, saddler rates, arborist rates, travel agent rates, watch repairer rates, doula rates, sleep consultant rates, home stager rates, wedding officiant rates, college admissions consultant rates, mobile notary rates, personal shopper rates, welder rates, carpenter rates, glazier rates, plasterer rates, tiler rates, roofer rates, bricklayer rates, HVAC technician rates, dressmaker rates, concrete finisher rates, drywall installer rates, flooring installer rates, gardener rates, fence installer rates, gutter installer rates, solar installer rates, stonemason rates, deck builder rates, insulation installer rates, cabinet maker rates, paving installer rates, furniture restorer rates, blind installer rates, driving instructor rates, picture framer rates, aerial installer rates, car mechanic rates, clock repairer rates, oven cleaner rates, smart home installer rates, alarm installer rates, drain cleaner rates, curtain installer rates, irrigation installer rates, shutter installer rates, artificial grass installer rates, fireplace installer rates, bathtub refinisher rates, snow removal professional rates, landscape lighting installer rates and radon mitigation specialist rates, or start from the general freelance hourly rate calculator.