What should you charge for pet sitting?
Charge at least what the 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 drop-in near Ashburn, VA, that's $24. 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.
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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. A night adds a fourth: a night in the client's home counts as 90 minutes of evening and morning care and one trip, and we leave the night itself out, so a night's figure is the least for the care alone. 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: Andrey Novik on Unsplash
Will $24 a visit pay you? Check your week
Your 30-minute drop-in starts at your area's floor, $24. Change it to what you charge, then put in the income you want, your hours and your other services.
What do you charge for each visit?
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 drop-ins, cat visits and overnights, and how many of each you can book in a week. The drop-in from your ZIP lookup starts at your area's floor. The calculator works out your year from there.
That's 8 services, the most the calculator takes.
The drop-in 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 overnight is priced per night, at most 7 a week. Its minutes are the evening and morning care you count as work, 90 as on the card; the night itself isn't counted against your hours. An add-on, such as an extra pet, is done at a visit you already make, so it adds no travel or miles. A daycare day is priced per dog. Its $30 is only an example, so put in your own price and the days you book. Its minutes are the day's hours of care, counted once however many dogs come, and it adds no travel or miles because clients drop their dogs off.
Between visits I travel minutes and drive miles, at $ a mile. Insurance costs me $ a year, and supplies and the rest $ a month. On a daycare day I watch dogs at once.
Your week earns $44,338 a year before income tax, in 26.5 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: another overnight, longer visits, extras such as a second pet, 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 $5,662 a year short. Each of these closes or narrows it, sized to your numbers:
- Overnight stay: 2 more a weekAdds $7,941 a year.
- Cat visit to 30-minute drop-in: switch 8 a weekAdds $768 a year.
- 30-minute drop-in: raise from $24 to $27Adds $2,880 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 2.9 hours a week. Filled with Overnight stay, 1 more a week, that adds $3,971 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 pet sitters set their 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. What sitters near you charge for the same visit shows how far above the floor you can go. Price overnights, holidays and extra pets as their own lines, so you quote the same every time, and look at your prices again once a year.
- Drop-ins by length: a 30-minute and a 60-minute visit are separate prices
- Overnights by the night, saying whether daytime visits are included
- A set extra amount for holidays and short-notice bookings
- A set extra amount for each extra pet from the same home
- Daycare by the day, per dog
Is this what other 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.
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.
Why count only three in four working hours as paid?
Replying to clients, meeting new ones, sending invoices and the gaps between visits all take time no client pays for. No government source measures how much, so three in four is our assumption. If your week runs differently, change it under Change the assumptions.
How should I price an overnight stay?
Price it by the night, as its own service. Pick Per night on the card for a night in the client's home: it counts 90 minutes of evening and morning care and one trip there, and leaves the night itself out, so the figure is the least for the care alone. A night ties you to one home from the evening to the morning, so charge more than that. Say on your price sheet whether daytime visits during the stay are included or charged on top.
Why is there no minimum for daycare?
We don't give one, because a floor built from local wages comes out far above what clients pay for daycare. Daycare prices assume the sitter is home anyway with several dogs at once, and a full day of wages split across a few dogs can't match that. Put your own daycare price and days in the planner to see whether your week works. Rules on how many dogs you can keep at home vary, so check your city and state rules.
What about boarding at my home?
The card's night is for staying in the client's home. Boarding, where the dog stays with you, is priced differently, often with several dogs at once, so we don't give a minimum for it. Add it to the planner as its own service, at your own price, to see what your week earns.
Should cat visits cost less than dog visits?
Price a visit by the time and care it takes. A cat visit for food, water and the litter box is often shorter than a dog visit with a walk, so it can be its own, shorter service. A cat that needs medication or a longer stay is priced like any visit of that length.
How much should I charge for an extra pet?
Set one amount for each extra pet from the same home on the same visit, and put it on your price sheet. Check what sitters near you add for a second pet. In the calculator, add it as an add-on: it counts toward your week without adding a trip.
How often should I raise my rates?
Look at your prices once a year, and when your costs change or your week is full. Give clients a month's notice in writing. Driving costs move too: the IRS mileage rate went from 72.5 to 76 cents a mile on July 1, 2026.
Where to go from here
Walk dogs too? The dog walking rate calculator plans a week of walks the same way.
Going out on your own? The guide to starting a pet sitting business covers registering, taxes, insurance and finding clients.
Charging more on holidays? The holiday fee calculator works out a holiday rate from your own price.
Mostly dogs? The dog sitting rate calculator works out a floor for a night as well as a visit.
Mostly cats? The cat sitting rate calculator prices cat visits, extra cats and medication.
On Rover now? The Rover fee calculator shows what Rover keeps from each booking.
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.
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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?