Seattle parents are facing some serious sticker shock on date night, now shelling out roughly $27.70 per hour for one child and about $30.79 for two. That puts Seattle second only to San Francisco for babysitting prices and turns a typical three-hour evening out for two kids into about a $92 line item. The climb reflects steady increases in caregiver pay across many major U.S. cities.
Numbers from UrbanSitter show the national average sitter rate at $26.24 an hour for one child and $29.87 for two, based on thousands of bookings the platform analyzed. The rate tracker, updated in January 2026, lists San Francisco as the priciest market, with Seattle holding the No. 2 spot among 30 cities in its comparison…