Nanny Salaries & Rates: What Care Costs by Service Type and Region

How Much Does a Nanny Cost in 2026?

A live-in nanny placed through My Asian Nanny costs $170 to $320 per day, depending on where you live. Southern California runs $170–$300 per day, Northern California $220–$320, and states outside California $220–$300. Chinese postpartum care is a separate and higher band at $290–$430+ per day, because a yue sao works around the clock for a fixed recovery window rather than a normal schedule.

We quote nannies, housekeepers and elderly caregivers as a day rate, not an hourly wage. Night nurses and tutors are the exceptions and are quoted hourly, at $37–$65 and $55–$75 respectively. Night nurse placements are offered in California only, because the role is live-out and depends on a local caregiver pool. Day-rate quoting is standard for live-in placement because room, board and food are part of the arrangement, and an hourly figure would not describe what the family is actually buying.

Service	Southern California	Northern California	Outside California
Live-in nanny	$170–$300 / day	$220–$320 / day	$220–$300 / day
Chinese postpartum care (yue sao)	$290–$430+ / day	$290–$430+ / day	$290–$430+ / day
Night nurse (California only)	$37–$65 / hour	$40–$65 / hour	Not offered
Live-in housekeeper	$170–$300 / day	$220–$300 / day	$220–$300 / day
Live-in elderly care	$160–$300 / day	$250–$330 / day	$250–$330 / day

Nanny Rates by Arrangement: Live-In, Live-Out and Overnight

The arrangement changes the price more than any other single choice, because it changes what the family provides and how many hours the caregiver is on duty. Three arrangements cover almost every placement we make.

Live-In Nanny Cost

A live-in nanny is $170–$320 per day across our regions, and that rate assumes the family provides a private room, board and food. Live-in suits households that need early mornings and evenings covered, or that want the same person handling the full daily routine rather than a handover at 6pm. Because the caregiver is not commuting, live-in placements tend to be the most stable of the three, and families commonly book them for a year or longer. Bookings run from 14 days to a full year. Use the nanny cost calculator to price your own schedule.

Live-Out and Daytime Nanny Cost

Live-out nannies work a set shift of 4 to 12 hours a day and go home afterwards. They are priced from the same regional bands, adjusted for the shorter day, and the family does not provide room or board. This is the right fit when you have no spare room, when both parents work predictable hours, or when grandparents cover evenings and weekends. The trade-off is coverage: a live-out schedule leaves the edges of the day uncovered, which is the most common reason families switch to live-in after a few months.

Overnight and Night Nurse Cost

Overnight newborn care is quoted hourly at $37–$65, the only childcare service we price this way, and we place night nurses in California only. Outside California we place live-in caregivers, who cover nights as part of the live-in arrangement. A night nurse covers feeds, changes, settling and sleep routines through the night so the parents sleep. Most families book overnight care in the first three months and taper off as the baby consolidates sleep. If you want overnight supervision added to an existing live-in nanny placement rather than a dedicated night nurse, that is an add-on of $10–$20 per day, not a separate hourly engagement. Price a schedule with the night nurse cost calculator.

What Moves a Nanny Rate Up or Down

Four things account for most of the spread between the bottom and the top of each band, and a family can usually control two of them.

Language requirement. A caregiver fluent in Mandarin or Cantonese as well as English can cost more; the cost calculators estimate it by region and language. This is the single largest add-on we quote, and it reflects how few candidates clear both a full background screen and a genuine bilingual standard.

Duties beyond childcare. Driving adds $30–$50 per day. Cooking for the wider household rather than just the child adds $10–$30 per day per family member. Overnight supervision adds $10–$20 per day.

Household size and hours. More children, a larger house or a longer daily shift all push toward the upper end. A single infant on an eight-hour live-out schedule sits near the floor of the band. Three children with school runs and meal prep sits near the ceiling.

Region. Northern California is the most expensive market we place in, running roughly $50 per day above Southern California for the same live-in nanny role. That gap is market rate, not a surcharge.

Nanny Costs by Metro Area

Our three rate bands map onto metros as follows. If your city is not listed, the nearest band applies and we confirm the exact figure before you commit to anything.

Metro area	Band that applies	Live-in nanny
Los Angeles County	Southern California	$170–$300 / day
Orange County	Southern California	$170–$300 / day
Inland Empire (Riverside, Rancho Cucamonga)	Southern California	$170–$300 / day
San Francisco Bay Area	Northern California	$220–$320 / day
Sacramento region	Northern California	$220–$320 / day
New York City and Long Island	Outside California	$220–$300 / day
Houston, Dallas–Fort Worth, Austin, San Antonio	Outside California	$220–$300 / day
Northern New Jersey and Princeton	Outside California	$220–$300 / day

Los Angeles families ask about this more than any other market, and the honest answer is that the $170 floor is real but uncommon. It applies to a single child, a live-in room, and no driving or household cooking. Most Los Angeles placements land in the middle of the band once language and driving are included.

What the Rate Covers, and What It Does Not

Every rate on this page includes background checks, reference verification and ongoing support for the length of the placement. For live-in roles it also assumes the family supplies a private room, board and food, which is why live-in day rates look lower than an equivalent live-out schedule once you count the hours.

The rates on this page are what the caregiver is paid. My Asian Nanny’s service fees are separate. A $50 retainer ($125 with a copy of a background check) covers the candidate search, vetting and interview scheduling. When a placement is made, a one-time referral fee applies: 10% of the total booking for postpartum care (minimum $850); for nannies, housekeepers and elderly care, 10% of the daily rate over a standard 60-day period in Los Angeles and Orange counties or 90 days elsewhere; and 20% of the monthly cost for night nurses. The cost calculators above add the fee for you.

The rate also does not include employment administration. My Asian Nanny is a referral agency: we screen and match the caregiver, and the family employs her directly. Payroll, taxes and any benefits you choose to offer sit with the family, not with us, and they are not part of the figures above. Families who want those numbers modelled before hiring usually run them past their own accountant.

Nanny, housekeeper and elderly-care placements carry a 60-day replacement guarantee in Southern California and 90 days in Northern California, San Diego and other states, because a match outside our Southern California base takes longer to settle. Postpartum placements are covered for the full length of the booking. If the match does not work inside that window we replace the caregiver rather than refund a fee and leave you to start again.

Frequently Asked Questions About Nanny Costs

How much does a nanny cost per day?

A live-in nanny costs $170–$320 per day depending on region, with Southern California at the bottom of that range and Northern California at the top. The figure covers the caregiver’s time, background screening, reference checks and our ongoing support. It assumes the family provides a room, board and food.

How much does a live-in nanny cost compared with a live-out nanny?

Live-in day rates look lower, but they buy more hours. A live-out nanny works a defined four to twelve hour shift and the family covers no room or board. A live-in nanny covers the full daily routine including early mornings and evenings. Compared hour for hour, live-in is usually the cheaper of the two. Compared as a headline day rate, it is not.

Do you quote nannies by the hour?

No. Nannies, housekeepers and elderly caregivers are quoted as a day rate. Night nurses, which we place in California only, are quoted hourly at $37–$65, and tutors at $55–$75. We do not publish an hourly nanny figure, because dividing a live-in day rate by hours worked produces a number that does not reflect what the family is actually providing.

How much does a nanny cost in Los Angeles?

Los Angeles County sits in our Southern California band, so a live-in nanny is $170–$300 per day. Where you land inside that range depends on how many children are in the household, whether the role includes driving, and whether you need fluent Mandarin or Cantonese as well as English.

Does the rate change if I have more than one child?

Yes. Household size is one of the four factors that moves a placement up the band, alongside the length of the daily shift, driving duties and cooking for the wider family. There is no fixed per-child surcharge. The rate is quoted for the household as a whole once we know the routine.

How much does Chinese postpartum care cost compared with a regular nanny?

A yue sao is $290–$430+ per day, roughly $100 per day above a live-in nanny in the same region. The gap reflects a different job: round-the-clock newborn care plus confinement meal preparation and maternal recovery support, for a fixed window of about 30 to 60 days rather than an open-ended placement. The yue sao pricing guide breaks the packages down. For household help priced separately, the housekeeper cost calculator covers housekeeping.