How Old Do You Have to Be to Babysit?
There is no legal minimum age to babysit anywhere in the United States. The real answer is more interesting than that.
This question gets asked thousands of times a month and almost every answer online is wrong in the same way. They quote an age, usually 12 or 13, as though it were the law. It is not.
No state in the United States sets a minimum age for being a babysitter. There is no statute, no license, no exam. A thirteen-year-old babysitting for a neighbor is doing something entirely legal in all fifty states.
What confuses everybody is that a different law does exist, and it is about something else. The same confusion produces the other question we get constantly, whether you need a license, where the answer is also no.
The law that does exist: leaving a child home alone
A handful of states set a minimum age at which a child may be left without supervision. That is a rule about the children being cared for, not about the person caring for them.
Only four states put an actual age in law:
| State | Minimum age a child can be left alone |
|---|---|
| Illinois | 14 |
| Oregon | 10 |
| Maryland | 8 |
| North Carolina | 8 |
State minimum ages: World Population Review, age a child can be left home alone by state
The other forty six states have no statutory age at all. Some publish guidance, usually through their child services department, and some counties and cities have their own recommendations, but guidance is not law.
So what governs it in the other states?
Neglect statutes, applied case by case. The question a caseworker asks is not "how old were they" but "was this child adequately supervised given their age, maturity and the circumstances". The same arrangement can be fine on a Tuesday afternoon and a problem overnight in winter.
The federal clearinghouse on this is explicit that the judgement sits with the caregiver rather than with a number:
Before leaving a child or youth home alone, parents and other caregivers must be confident the child or youth has the necessary skills and maturity to handle staying home alone safely.
Source: Child Welfare Information Gateway, Leaving Your Child Home Alone
What this means for you as a sitter: your own age is not the legal question. Whether the children are adequately supervised is. And when you are in the house, they are supervised, which is the entire point of you being there.
The age families actually hire at
Since the law is not deciding this, families are. The pattern is fairly consistent:
| Age | What families typically hire for |
|---|---|
| 11 to 12 | Mother's helper work, with a parent home. Rarely sole care |
| 13 to 14 | Short daytime and early evening bookings, school-age children, often for neighbors |
| 15 to 16 | Full evenings, bedtimes, more than one child, families who found you by referral |
| 16 to 17 | Later nights, toddlers, sometimes driving. Rates start to look adult |
| 18 and over | Everything, including infants and overnights, and agency and app work |
Two things move somebody up that table faster than birthdays do. A certification, because it gives a nervous family something concrete. And a recommendation from a family they already trust, which beats everything.
Starting at 12 or 13: the sensible route
Start as a mother's helper. You look after the children in the same house while a parent works upstairs or cooks. The parent is there, the risk is low, and you are being paid to do the actual job.
Two or three of those and the same family will start leaving you alone with the children for an hour, then an evening. That progression is how most sitters actually begin, and it is much faster than waiting until you are old enough for somebody to take a chance on you.
When you get there, the three things to decide first take about twenty minutes and save you years of being underpaid.
The free calculator builds your rate from your area, your experience, the ages and how many children. Two minutes, no card.
Work out my rateIf you are younger, do not discount yourself for it
The most common mistake a young sitter makes is quoting a low rate because they feel they should. It is understandable and it is expensive, because the rate you start on is the rate that family will expect from you for years.
Age does affect the rate, and it should. A thirteen-year-old and a twenty-five-year-old are not offering the same thing. But the adjustment is a percentage of a real local rate, not a made-up number like eight dollars.
We wrote about this specifically in babysitting jobs for 14, 15 and 16 year olds.
Common questions
How old do you have to be to babysit?
There is no legal minimum age to babysit in any US state. Families decide, and most start hiring sitters for sole care at around 13 or 14, with mother's helper work available earlier.
What is the legal age to babysit?
There is not one. Four states set a minimum age for leaving a child home alone, which is Illinois at 14, Oregon at 10, and Maryland and North Carolina at 8. Those rules are about the children, not the sitter.
Can a 12 year old babysit?
Legally yes, everywhere in the United States. Whether a family hires a 12 year old for sole care is their judgement, and most start with mother's helper work at that age, where a parent stays in the house.
Can a 13 year old babysit?
Yes. Thirteen and fourteen is where most families begin offering short daytime and early evening bookings, usually for school-age children and usually to somebody they already know.
Is there an age you can leave a child home alone?
Only in four states. Everywhere else it is judged case by case under neglect statutes, based on the child's age, maturity and the circumstances rather than a fixed number.