The average 20-something baby-sitter earns about $10 an hour — that's about $3 higher than minimum wage and more than a new Starbucks barista makes after taxes.

And it doesn't cap there. Some college students can earn up to $15 hourly if they can drive kids to swim team practice, toss a pizza in the oven or change a diaper. A princely sum, considering that teachers' aides at child day-care centers earned an average of $9.37 hourly in King County in 2004, according to the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services.

Baby-sitters today wield tremendous bargaining power when it comes to charging for child-care. Across King County, the wage scale is more favorable to older and more experienced sitters, many of whom have completed formal classes and have résumés to prove it.

The American Red Cross, Campfire USA and YMCA are among organizations that offer in-class baby-sitting instruction.

"Kids are savvy. They are well aware what minimum wage is and that they have a skill set to offer," said Kaye Dickenson-Boldrey, assistant healthy lifestyles director at Northshore YMCA.

Are you paying your baby-sitter enough?


College-age nanny: $12-$15 an hour. Includes transportation, cooking and cleaning.

Experienced baby-sitter (18+): $10-$12. Includes light household duties and possible transportation.

Middle-school or high-school sitter:

$5 to $10. Higher rates for sitters with a drivers license.

Preteen mother's helper: $2 to $7.

At least one parent is still home with the children.

The YMCA is one of many local organizations that offer instructional classes to beginning sitters. For $30, YMCA members ages 11 to 16 can learn essential baby-sitting skills, including how to market oneself as a good sitter. Participants also have a group discussion about current pay rates.

"When they leave the class they know it's easy to make $5 an hour," said Dickenson-Boldrey. "Parents are very hungry for someone that is trained."

Jody Samson, former board president of Pixie Hill Preschool on Mercer Island, said she considers four variables when paying a sitter: the sitter's age, her children's ages, job responsibilities entailed and the number of children at home. As a mother of two children, ages seven and four, Samson said she usually pays an experienced sitter $10 an hour. That fee includes very light — if any — household duties.

"That's tax-free, cash in hand," she said. "That's good money, especially if the kids are well behaved."

High-school students without cars or cooking experience rank slightly lower on the pay scale than college-age kids. The typical teenage baby-sitter in Laurelhurst makes between $5 and $10 per hour, said Bonnie Zinn, an administrator of the Laurelhurst baby-sitting network and member of her neighborhood community club.

Zinn came up with the idea for a formal sitters network several years ago as a means for helping Laurelhurst kids gain some sitting experience. They send their contact information and qualifications to Zinn, who posts it online for mothers and fathers to read. A number of the sitters in her network aren't yet old enough to stay home alone with another child, so they work as mother's helpers, keeping an eye on the children while the mom is in the house. They earn between $2 and $7 per hour.

"As baby-sitters get older and have more earning power elsewhere, the prices go up," said Zinn. "The fee is a reflection of their level of maturity, ability and responsibility they're able to take on."

Lara Bain: larabain@yahoo.com