--- description: New York tops the list of most expensive cities for parents to go out on the town title: New York City Is the Most Expensive Place to Hire a Babysitter image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3e26fbd07c2a94fb/69868f77f983e71c9204dd2d/babysitter.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # And the Most Expensive City in America to Hire a Babysitter Is... by [Sam Frizell](/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 15, 2014 3:21 PM CUT  Babysitter with toddler putting together a white jigsaw puzzle Babysitter with toddler putting together a white jigsaw puzzleMECKY—Getty Images by [Sam Frizell](/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 15, 2014 3:21 PM CUT In 2012, the Guinness Book of World Records named New York City the home of the most expensive burger. (That would be “[Le Burger Extravagan](http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/landmark-nyc-restaurant-serendipity-3-receives-a-guinness-world-records-title-for-the-most-expensive-hamburger-in-the-world-154028015.html "undefined")t” for $295 at swanky Upper East Side establishment Serendipity 3.) And now it’s officially the most expensive city for parents to [hire a babysitter](http://www.urbansitter.com/blog/3rd-annual-national-childcare-rate-survey-babysitting-rates-nanny-rates/ "undefined"). So basically, New York City is really just the most expensive city in the United States for parents who want to leave their kids at home and go out to eat luxury burgers. The average hourly babysitting rate for one child in New York is $15.34, based on a survey by UrbanSitter, which compiled data from nearly 7,500 families. That’s about $4.50 per hour more expensive than the cheapest big American city, Denver, whose babysitters charge parents an average of $10.84 per hour. San Francisco parents pay $14.99 for one kid, Los Angeles parents pay $13.53, Washington, DC parents pay $13.83, and on the lower end, Chicago parents bay $11.91 and San Diego parents pay $11.11. UrbanSitter also found that parents go through babysitters pretty quickly, with only 6 percent saying they’ve had the same one for over 5 years. Parents also like to go out a lot: more than a fourth of parents say they hire a babysitter once a week or more. And 30 percent of parents say they would not hire a “manny”—a male babysitter. And there’s another reason it makes sense that New York would top the list: it’s the city with the [highest cost of living](http://www.coli.org/ReleaseHighlights.asp "undefined") in the United States. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/100889/expensive-babysitters/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/100889/expensive-babysitters/"},"headline":"And the Most Expensive City in America to Hire a Babysitter Is...","datePublished":"2014-05-15T15:21:20.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:55:18.429Z","description":"New York tops the list of most expensive cities for parents to have a date night","url":"https://time.com/100889/expensive-babysitters/","keywords":["Living","Parenting","Money","Saving & Spending","New York City","cost of living","Expenses"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3e26fbd07c2a94fb/69868f77f983e71c9204dd2d/babysitter.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sam Frizell","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3e26fbd07c2a94fb/69868f77f983e71c9204dd2d/babysitter.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"163229834","caption":"163229834","creditText":"MECKY—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/100889/expensive-babysitters/","name":"And the Most Expensive City in America to Hire a Babysitter Is..."}}]}] ```