How Much Do You Charge A Day?

[LadyK8]

I'm looking for ideas on how much to charge a day. I will be taking care of children ages 0-4 from 7 am to 5:30 pm. I live in an area where normal weekly rates seem to be in the $125 range.

Does $120 sound good for 2-4, with daily rates of $25 and an hourly rate of $5?

What about $135-weekly, $30-daily, and $7 hourly for infants?

Any ideas? I just got my license, and I don't want to over/under-charge. Thank you for whatever help you can give.

[SSWonders]

I live about 25 minutes from Boston. In my area $40/day is mid range.

[Patches]

I charge by the week. My rates for full time range from $130 - 155/ week.
Hit submit to quickly. I meant to say, I would just go with whatever is average for your area

[Unregistered]

I charge $185/week for full time. $40/day for part time. When I opened the average in my area was between $100-$125 I started out much higher at $150 only because I invested over $20,000 into my daycare and I was looking for a different clientele. I'm still one of the higher daycares in my area and have always been full with a long wait list.I guess it would depend on exactly what you offer,your set up,education,etc. If you can offer something more or different to parents charge more,if you offer the same as other providers charge the same.If you didn't invest much into opening your daycare and only plan on doing it for a short time or only plan on having a few children I would charge a little less.Good luck!

[Blackcat31]

I'm looking for ideas on how much to charge a day. I will be taking care of children ages 0-4 from 7 am to 5:30 pm. I live in an area where normal weekly rates seem to be in the $125 range.

Does $120 sound good for 2-4, with daily rates of $25 and an hourly rate of $5?

What about $135-weekly, $30-daily, and $7 hourly for infants?

Any ideas? I just got my license, and I don't want to over/under-charge. Thank you for whatever help you can give.

I charge weekly and don't offer daily rates.

Weekly rates are dependent on how many days per week a family needs, whether it is a set or varying schedule and the time a family will be picking up.

[LadyK8]

I charge weekly and don't offer daily rates.

Weekly rates are dependent on how many days per week a family needs, whether it is a set or varying schedule and the time a family will be picking up.

Can you expound on that last statement? I always wondered if it would be better to just have a weekly rate, instead of dealing with the daily rates, but I didn't know if that would be fair.

[llpa]

My daily rate is $40 here no matter the age for a day of care. However, parents contract for a certain amt of days and if they go beyond that, they pay an extra 40 for each day. I don't guarantee any days beyond contracted days. $40 is around the middle of a $37 to $42 or so range in my area.

[Blackcat31]

Can you expound on that last statement? I always wondered if it would be better to just have a weekly rate, instead of dealing with the daily rates, but I didn't know if that would be fair.

I have a rate for:

3 set days
3 varying days (slightly higher than the 3 days per week but less than 4 day rate because they have access to the whole week)
4 days per week
5 days per week

It works like this: (see attachment)

[LadyK8]

Well, you guys have been a huge help!

I've got my prices set, and I'm ready to go.

[jenboo]

preschool age average is $25 a week here too.
I charge $125 a week for 3+
$150 a week for 19 months-3
$175 a week for 18 months and under

I provide all food and drinks, diapers and wipes.
I could probably charge a little more because i offer a high quality home daycare compared to a lot in my area but I was nervous when I was just starting out in sept

[BumbleBee]

$3 an hr per kid between the hrs of 7am & 6pm. Before 7am and after 6pm is $5 an hr per kid. I'm in SW Michigan. Small town-out in the boonies.

[TwinKristi]

I'm 45 min North of San Francisco and charge between $40-50/day depending on hours and attendance. If it's less than 3 days I charge $50/day, 3-4 days is $45/day and 5 days is $40/day. For drop-in care I charge $10/hour/child. It's pretty average, most people charge $40-50/day and some more if they offer preschool. I don't discount based on age.

[mom2many]

I'm 45 min North of San Francisco and charge between $40-50/day depending on hours and attendance. If it's less than 3 days I charge $50/day, 3-4 days is $45/day and 5 days is $40/day. For drop-in care I charge $10/hour/child. It's pretty average, most people charge $40-50/day and some more if they offer preschool. I don't discount based on age.

I'm about an hour south of San Francisco in San Jose. My rates are exactly the same as yours, except I discount for S/A only. I charge $30/day for them, regardless of whether they are in school or on vacation.

[melilley]

I charge:
$140 a week for full time
My part time is $30 a day with a minimum of 2 days a week
And if I have an opening on a day, I have drop in spots that are $35 a day.

I don't do hourly. They pay for the full day/week for up to 10 hours a day regardless of the minimum amount of hours.

I do part time because I decided to have 2 pt kids and 3 full time. My 2 part time kids make up for a full time child (financially) so it works out. Plus I can take drop ins if I want 3 days out of the week, which equals to extra money.

[TwinKristi]

I'm about an hour south of San Francisco in San Jose. My rates are exactly the same as yours, except I discount for S/A only. I charge $30/day for them, regardless of whether they are in school or on vacation.

I forgot SA care- I charge $7/hr