When I was a teenager, I ran the sound equipment for a rock band. While that meant working all the holidays, we always looked forward to them - because we demanded extra pay. New Year's Eve gigs were especially lucrative.
It's the same for babysitters. It's the law of supply and demand in effect - lots of people need sitters and cash is the way to attract them.
A report by Urbansitter finds the average cost of a babysitter on New Years Eve will be $16.43 an hour for one child, $18.86 for two, or $20.56 for three. Now if you spend four hours out ringing in the New Year that means you’ll likely be paying $65 more than on a regular evening. And that doesn’t even include extras, with 46% of parents saying they tip their sitter, while 80% will pay for things like dinner and transportation home.
Of course, where you live will play a big role in how much you pay for that NYE babysitter. According to a Care.com report, folks in San Francisco, California will be paying the most, $19.70 an hour.
Five Priciest Cities For a New Years Eve Babysitter
- San Francisco, CA: $19.70
- Salinas, CA: $18.90
- Boston, MA: $18.85
- New York City, NY: $18.44
- Kansas City, MO: $17.73
Of course, I am tempted to tell you to save money by having a kid, let them get old enough to babysitter, then have other kids. But given the cost of raising kids (I've raised three), go ahead and pay the sitter.