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Au Pair True Cost Calculator

An au pair is never just the weekly stipend. The "$200 a week" figure leaves out the agency program fee, the required education allowance, and the cost of feeding, driving, and housing another adult — this calculator adds every line back in and shows the real annual, weekly, and hourly cost.

What does an au pair really cost?

Enter your stipend, fee, and household costs — the stack below splits your annual total into its five parts, so you can see exactly where the money goes.

Program type

Standard · up to 45 hrs/weekEduCare · up to 30 hrs/week

Federal minimum stipend is $195.75/week on standard and $146.81/week on EduCare. EduCare au pairs also get a $1,000 education allowance instead of $500.

Weekly stipend $

What the au pair actually receives each week. You may pay more — never less than the federal floor.

Children in care

The au pair costs the same for one child or four — this is what makes the per-child math interesting.

Agency program fee $/yr

The sponsor agency's annual program fee — typically $9,000–$12,500. Paid up front or in installments.

Childcare hours / week

Used for the effective hourly rate. Federal cap: 45 hrs/week (30 for EduCare) — overtime is prohibited entirely.

Education allowance used $/yr

Host families must contribute up to $500 toward coursework ($1,000 on EduCare).

Extra living costs $/mo

Extra groceries, utilities, cell line, car insurance, and gas from having another adult in the house.

One-time costs $

SEVIS fee, arrival travel, phone, bedroom setup — anything that does not repeat monthly.

Alternative care $/mo per child

Your daycare or nanny quote, per child per month — for the apples-to-apples verdict. Enter 0 to skip.

Try:

Your true annual au pair cost$24,879True cost $478/week · $10.63/hr of care · $239/week per child with 2 children

Weekly stipend × 52Biggest slice$10,179

Agency program fee$9,500

Extra living costs × 12$4,200

Education allowance$500

One-time costs$500

The stipend is the line everyone quotes — the bar shows it is barely the biggest slice. Watch which slice moves when you change the stipend or the living costs.

$478/wkTrue weekly cost

$10.63/hrEffective hourly rate of care

$239/wkPer child, per week (2 children)

+$283/wkMore than the stipend quote alone

Your au pair cost picture

Weekly stipend × 52 weeks$195.75/wk × 52 = $10,179

Agency program fee (annual)$9,500

Extra living costs × 12 months$350/mo × 12 = $4,200

Education allowance (annual)$500

One-time costs$500

True annual cost$24,879

True monthly cost$2,073

True weekly cost$478

Effective hourly rate of care$10.63

Effective cost per child per week$239

Bottom lineTrue cost $478/week all-in vs $195.75/week stipend

The stipend is only 41% of the bill: $478/week all-in.

It is not a $195.75-a-week au pair — it is a $478-a-week one. The stipend you are quoted is only 41% of the real total; the agency fee and the cost of feeding, driving, and housing another adult make up the rest. That is still only $10.63 an hour for 45 hours of flexible, in-home childcare a week — roughly half what a nanny costs.

Against your alternative at $1,500/month per child, the au pair saves about $927/month ($11,121/year). This is the flat-rate effect: with 2 children, every extra child makes the au pair cheaper per kid while daycare and nannies scale linearly.

Year two is cheaper: extension agency fees run much lower than a first-year placement, so keeping the same au pair typically cuts the fee side of the stack roughly in half. And remember the hard limit — no overtime, ever, even with extra pay. See the full rules in our au pair true-cost guide, and compare the other options in the childcare cost comparison calculator.

How it works: annual cost = (weekly stipend × 52) + agency program fee + education allowance + (extra living costs × 12) + one-time costs. True weekly cost = annual ÷ 52. Effective hourly rate = annual ÷ (weekly hours × 52). Per-child cost = annual ÷ children ÷ 52 — the same total whether you have one child or four.

How au pair costs are calculated

The au pair program is regulated by the U.S. Department of State under the J-1 visa exchange rules, and every required cost is fixed in writing — which makes it one of the most predictable childcare budgets you can build. The true annual cost has five parts: the weekly stipend (set by federal regulation), the sponsor agency's program fee, the education allowance, the extra living costs of hosting another adult, and the one-time setup costs. Add them all, then divide by the hours to get the number that actually lets you compare options.

The formulas

annual cost = (weekly stipend × 52) + agency fee + education allowance + (living costs × 12) + one-time costs · true weekly = annual ÷ 52 · effective hourly = annual ÷ (weekly hours × 52)

The federal stipend formula is public: federal minimum wage ($7.25) × 45 hours, minus a 40% credit for room and board = $195.75/week. EduCare uses the same formula at 75% of the standard amount: $146.81/week for up to 30 hours. Agencies may set higher minimums, and you may always pay more — but never less.

Worked example: the minimum-stipend family

Weekly stipend: $195.75 × 52 = $10,179. Agency program fee: $9,500. Education allowance: $500. Extra living costs: $350 × 12 = $4,200. One-time costs: $500. Total: $24,879 a year — $478 a week, $2,073 a month. The "$200 a week" quote captured only $10,179 of a $24,879 reality — the stipend is just 41% of the bill.

Where this comes in handy

Comparing one child vs three: daycare and nanny prices multiply per child; an au pair's cost does not. With two children at $1,500/month of daycare each, the minimum-stipend au pair saves roughly $927 a month.
Budgeting the first year: agency fees, arrival travel, the phone, and the bedroom setup all hit in month one. The stack above shows which slices are recurring and which are one-time.
Deciding on the metro premium: families in expensive cities often pay $250–$300/week instead of the minimum. Run both stipends and see exactly what the premium buys.
Year-two decisions: keeping the same au pair for a second year uses a much cheaper extension fee, so the fee slice shrinks and the per-hour rate drops with it.

Au Pair True Cost Calculator — frequently asked questions

Why is an au pair not really $195.75 a week?

Because $195.75 is only the stipend — the au pair's paycheck. The host family also pays the sponsor agency's program fee (typically $9,000–$12,500), the required education allowance ($500, or $1,000 on EduCare), the extra groceries, utilities, car insurance, phone line, and gas that come with another adult in the house, plus one-time costs like the SEVIS fee and arrival travel. On a minimum-stipend budget those extras roughly double the annual outlay. The calculator adds every line back in.

Can I pay my au pair extra to work more than 45 hours in a busy week?

No — federal J-1 rules prohibit overtime entirely, even if the au pair agrees and you offer extra pay. An au pair may not be scheduled for extra childcare hours to earn extra money, may not take outside employment, and unused hours cannot be banked into a future week. The cap is 45 hours a week and 10 hours a day (30 hours a week on EduCare). Plan backup care for genuinely busy weeks instead.

Do overnights count as working hours?

If the au pair is responsible for the children, yes — even if the children are asleep. Any time an au pair is actively or passively responsible for the children and not free to do something of her own choosing is on-duty time, and overnight shifts must still fit inside the 10-hour daily limit.

Does my state's minimum wage override the $195.75 federal stipend?

It can. The federal stipend is a floor, not a ceiling, and some states treat au pairs as domestic workers subject to state minimum-wage and overtime laws — which is why lawsuits in California and Massachusetts changed what sponsors recommend in those states. Check your state's wage-and-hour rules before budgeting, and note that a proposed federal rule would add overtime past 40 hours and cut the weekly maximum to 40.

What about infants — are there extra rules and costs?

Yes. An au pair may not care for children under 3 months old unless a parent is at home, and for children aged 3 months to 2 years the au pair must hold an infant specialization — at least 200 hours of documented infant experience — which some agencies charge a higher program fee for. Infant specialization does not change the weekly stipend.

Is the second year really cheaper?

Usually, substantially. Both the family and the au pair confirm an extension with the agency, and the extension program fee is far lower than a first-year placement (one host family's published breakdown shows roughly $8,860 for year one versus about $6,857 for the extension, before stipend). The au pair must also show completed coursework and monthly counselor contact to qualify.

Can I run au pair costs through a dependent care FSA or the tax credit?

The stipend for care that lets you work generally qualifies for the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit and, through your employer, the Dependent Care FSA — au pairs are a recognized qualifying provider. Many FSA administrators, however, exclude agency placement fees as ineligible, and the credit is subject to income limits and caps. Because au pairs are typically J-1 nonresident aliens, they are also exempt from Social Security and Medicare taxes, so you do not owe the FICA share you would owe a nanny — one genuine structural tax advantage of the program. Confirm the details with your FSA plan and a tax advisor.

What do I get for the agency fee?

Recruiting and vetting au pairs, the matching process, background checks, the Form DS-2019 paperwork for the J-1 visa, international airfare to the U.S. (domestic travel from the training academy to your home is sometimes extra), and a local counselor who checks in monthly. Most agencies also offer payment plans over 4–6 months, though those usually add a few hundred dollars to the total fee.

Learn the method: the free how to calculate the true cost of an au pair guide walks through the full formula, the worked example, the overtime ban, the second-year discount, and the tax picture — step by step.