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What’s the cost of freedom, you might ask yourself on a Friday afternoon after surviving yet another week with your kid(s). It’s whatever your babysitter charges, that’s what! So let’s look at the numbers to make sure you’re paying your babysitter enough, but you know, not too much.

After talking with more than 20,000 families around the country about childcare costs, UrbanSitter has just released tons of info about how much you can expect to pay for a few hours alone with a glass of bubbly and your favorite nail tech. We love UrbanSitter because it’s more than just an app — it unlocks your personal network, connecting you with tried and true babysitters of friends and parents from your moms groups or kid’s school. UrbanSitter makes it so easy to find, book and pay sitters. Easy? Yep, we can get down with that.

Before you settle on your babysitting rate, here’s 5 things you need to know.

1. An hour of freedom costs less than three lattes.

The national average babysitting rate is $16.43 an hour, which basically equals three venti cafe lattes from Starbucks. That doesn’t mean you need to buck up though; average rates vary from state to state (so make sure you check out yours here!).

2. If you wanna save money, move to Phoenix.

To get the most bang for your babysitting buck, head the Phoenix where the hourly rate is the lowest in the country. According to UrbanSitter, an hour of babysitting ranges $11.83 to $14.14. San Francisco, on the other hand, is a good place to be a babysitter! Parents are paying $17.34/hour for one child in the Bay area, which is the highest in the country.

3. Adding an extra kid is only a couple bucks more.

If you’re thinking of growing to your family with a little sib, don’t let the price of babysitting scare you away! Handing over an extra kid to the babysitter should only increase the hourly rate by about two dollars. Not bad considering the extra diapers, bottles and spit up you’re bequeathing.

4. Extra perks go a long way.

When it comes to paying babysitters, it’s not just the hourly rate you have to think about. More than 80 percent of parents surveyed by UrbanSitter offer perks like free food and tickets to museums. If you can’t pay top dollar, extra perks and incentives go a long way to make sure you don’t lose your great sitter to Joey’s generous mom over there.

5. To tip or not to tip? Parents are split.

As many as 55 percent of parents told UrbanSitter they tack on a tip. About 30 percent say they just round up, while about 5 percent say they add on an extra 20 percent or more to the final bill. A good rule of thumb: if the sitter did a great job, give a tip! It’ll make them feel even more valued.

Still not quite sure what to pay? Check out UrbanSitter’s Annual Childcare Rate Survey here!

Then get a $50 credit off your first UrbanSitter booking or membership here with the code SCHOOLYEAR. Must be redeemed by Sept. 30, 2018.

Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash.