What should you charge for cat sitting?
Charge at least what a visit is worth where you work: local wages for your time, plus travel, driving and the costs an employer would cover. For a 30-minute cat visit near Ashburn, VA, that's $24, with extra cats and medication priced on top. Enter your ZIP code to see yours.
Example: Ashburn, VA · 30-minute visit
Don't charge less than $24
$22–$27 across local wages
- Your areaWashington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV
- $24
- VirginiaStatewide wages
- $22
- United StatesNationwide wages
- $22
That's $35 for each hour of your time, travel included.
Change the assumptions
No government data measures these, so they are our assumptions. Some of a sitter's working time goes on messages, invoices and gaps between visits, so we count about three in four working hours as paid. Driving is at the IRS rate of 76 cents a mile.
Turn your price into a price sheet you can print.
A flyer, a price sheet, a service agreement and an intake form, with your business name and prices in. Free for your email address.
Get the free starter kitHow is this price worked out?
We start from what employers near you pay animal caretakers an hour (BLS, May 2025): the 25th percentile, the median and the 75th percentile. We multiply by 1.30 for the payroll taxes, paid leave and insurance an employer pays on top of wages (BLS, June 2026), and add driving at the IRS rate of 76 cents a mile. Three figures are our assumptions, which you can change under Change the assumptions: 10 minutes of travel and 3 miles of driving a visit, and about three in four working hours paid. That gives a floor worked out from wages. We have no survey of what sitters charge.
Sources: BLS wages, May 2025 · BLS employer costs, June 2026 · Census ZIP code areas · IRS mileage rate
Photo: Galina Kondratenko on Unsplash
Will $24 a visit pay you? Check your week
Your 30-minute cat visit starts at your area's floor, $24. Change it to what you charge, then put in the income you want, your hours, extra cats and medication.
What do you charge for each cat visit?
Most cat sitting is drop-in visits: food, water, the litter box and some company. Clients compare sitters visit by visit, so a price far above what sitters near you ask is hard to sell. Put in what you charge for each visit, extra cat and medication, and how many you can book in a week.
That's 8 services, the most the calculator takes.
The cat visit the same length as your ZIP lookup starts at your area's floor; the other prices are examples. Change any of them to what you charge. An extra cat or a medication is an add-on, done at a visit you already make, so it adds its minutes but no travel or miles. If you offer overnights, add one as an Overnight, priced per night, at most 7 a week.
Between visits I travel minutes and drive miles, at $ a mile. Insurance costs me $ a year, and supplies and the rest $ a month.
Your week earns $45,188 a year before income tax, in 27.5 of your 35 hours a week.
How do you close the gap to the income you need?
One price set far above what sitters near you charge is hard to hold, so close the gap by selling more of your week: more visits, longer visits, a set fee for each extra cat or medication, a modest raise, a tighter route, or a helper. Below, each change is sized to your numbers.
Plan with , paid $ a visit, taking more visits a week from new clients.
The helper's pay starts as an example: set what you'd pay. Whether a helper is an employee or a contractor depends on how much you direct and control the work. Read the IRS guidance on contractors and employees and your state's rules before you hire.
You're $4,812 a year short. Each of these closes or narrows it, sized to your numbers:
- 30-minute cat visit: 5 more a weekAdds $5,213 a year.
- Extra cat: 21 more a week at $5Adds $5,040 a year.
- Medication or insulin: 13 more a week at $8Adds $4,992 a year.
- 30-minute cat visit to 45-minute cat visit: switch 13 a weekAdds $4,992 a year.
- 30-minute cat visit: raise from $24 to $27Adds $4,032 a year, if $27 is still within what sitters near you charge.
- Travel between visits: cut from 10 to 5 minutesBooking clients close together frees 3 hours a week. Filled with 30-minute cat visit, 5 more a week, that adds $5,213 a year.
Why is my area's price different from the US?
Because wages are. In May 2025 the median animal caretaker earned $17 an hour across the US, from $12.97 in Mississippi to $21.25 in DC. The floor follows the wage, so the least to charge for a 30-minute visit runs from $18 in Mississippi to $27 in DC.
The least to charge in each state and DC
| State | Median wage an hour | 30-minute visit |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | $13.62 | $19 |
| Alaska | $17.61 | $23 |
| Arizona | $18.35 | $24 |
| Arkansas | $14.54 | $20 |
| California | $18.60 | $24 |
| Colorado | $18 | $24 |
| Connecticut | $17.94 | $23 |
| Delaware | $16.30 | $22 |
| District of Columbia | $21.25 | $27 |
| Florida | $16.42 | $22 |
| Georgia | $14.36 | $19 |
| Hawaii | $19.29 | $25 |
| Idaho | $15.47 | $21 |
| Illinois | $17.10 | $23 |
| Indiana | $14.42 | $19 |
| Iowa | $14.46 | $19 |
| Kansas | $14.34 | $19 |
| Kentucky | $14.77 | $20 |
| Louisiana | $13.42 | $18 |
| Maine | $17.90 | $23 |
| Maryland | $17.68 | $23 |
| Massachusetts | $19.06 | $25 |
| Michigan | $14.58 | $20 |
| Minnesota | $17.51 | $23 |
| Mississippi | $12.97 | $18 |
| Missouri | $15.02 | $20 |
| Montana | $16.45 | $22 |
| Nebraska | $15.23 | $20 |
| Nevada | $14.58 | $20 |
| New Hampshire | $16.73 | $22 |
| New Jersey | $17.24 | $23 |
| New Mexico | $16.14 | $21 |
| New York | $18.19 | $24 |
| North Carolina | $14.84 | $20 |
| North Dakota | $16.37 | $22 |
| Ohio | $14.57 | $20 |
| Oklahoma | $13.92 | $19 |
| Oregon | $17.59 | $23 |
| Pennsylvania | $15.08 | $20 |
| Rhode Island | $17.85 | $23 |
| South Carolina | $15.04 | $20 |
| South Dakota | $14.61 | $20 |
| Tennessee | $14.69 | $20 |
| Texas | $15.74 | $21 |
| Utah | $16.71 | $22 |
| Vermont | $17.35 | $23 |
| Virginia | $16.53 | $22 |
| Washington | $19.51 | $25 |
| West Virginia | $13.73 | $19 |
| Wisconsin | $14.50 | $20 |
| Wyoming | $13.98 | $19 |
How do sitters set cat sitting rates?
Start from the floor: what a visit's time is worth where you work, plus travel, driving and the costs an employer would cover. Price each visit length on its own, then add a set fee for each extra cat and each medication. What sitters near you charge shows how far above the floor you can go.
- Visits by length: a 30-minute and a 45-minute visit are separate prices
- A set extra amount for each extra cat in the home
- A set extra amount for medication, with insulin priced on its own if it has to be given at a set time
- A set extra amount for holidays and short-notice bookings
Is this what cat sitters near me charge?
No. The figures come from what employers near you pay animal caretakers, plus your travel, your driving and the costs an employer pays on top of wages. They show the least a visit should cost. Sitters near you may charge more, so look at a few local listings before you set your price above the floor.
How much should I charge for an extra cat?
Set one amount for each extra cat in the home, per visit, and put it on your price sheet. Check what sitters near you add. In the calculator, add it as an add-on: it counts toward your week and adds its minutes, but no trip.
Should I charge more for giving medication or insulin?
Price it as a set add-on per visit, because it takes time and care and you carry the responsibility. Insulin often has to be given at a set time, which limits when you can book your other visits, so it can be worth pricing above a pill. Say on your price sheet what's included.
Should I offer overnight cat sitting?
Cat sitting is mostly drop-in visits, since the cat stays in its own home. If clients ask for overnights, price them by the night as their own service. In the calculator, add a row with the type Overnight: it counts as a trip and its care minutes, at most 7 nights a week.
Does the floor cover self-employment tax?
Partly. The ×1.30 comes from what private employers pay for service jobs on top of wages, per hour worked (BLS, June 2026). It includes the employer's half of Social Security and Medicare, which you pay yourself as self-employment tax, plus paid leave and insurance. Your income tax isn't in the floor.
Where to go from here
Sit for dogs too? The dog sitting rate calculator works out a floor for a night as well as a visit.
Book drop-ins, cat visits and overnights in one week? The pet sitting rate calculator plans the whole mix.
Walk dogs too? The dog walking rate calculator plans a week of walks the same way.
Charging more on holidays? The holiday fee calculator works out a holiday rate from your own price.
Going out on your own? The guide to starting your own business covers registering, taxes, insurance and finding clients.
When clients start booking, Reeve keeps the schedule, invoices and texts in one place.
$49 a month, flat. We never take a percentage of your bookings.
15 days free · Card required, your plan starts on day 16 · Cancel anytime · We move your clients for you
Checked on
- BLS: Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, Animal Caretakers (39-2021), released May 15, 2026
- BLS: Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2025 (news release and technical note)
- BLS: OEWS area definitions, May 2025 (county to wage area)
- BLS: Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, June 2026, Table 4 (service occupations), released September 9, 2026
- Census: 2020 ZIP code tabulation area to county relationship file
- Census: 2022 Connecticut county subdivision to ZIP code tabulation area file
- IRS: Standard mileage rates
- IRS: Internal Revenue Bulletin 2026-29 (Announcement 2026-11, rates from July 1, 2026)
- IRS: Self-employed individuals tax center
- IRS: Independent contractor (self-employed) or employee?