Of course everyone wants to know, “How much can an in home daycare provider make per year watching kids from their home?” It isn’t a very simple answer. Now if you want to just say I charge X amount and have X amount of kids that I watch and that equals your pay, than great! But, I want to add in the cost of food, rent/utilities, etc. into your revenue as well. So, than you can truly see if what you take home is worth starting this business. This business is not easy in any shape or form. It is hard and it takes dedication to keep it up. You also need tough skin to deal with issues that can arise.

Here in Ohio the average income is anywhere from $19,132 – $29,399 and with the top earners making $60,189.

There is some factors that come into play with how much a provider can make. Some of these factors are: Location, Experience, Ages of Children/Number of Children, and Expenses.

Location Of Your Home Daycare

Location does play a huge factor when parents decide where to send their children. They aren’t going to want their children attending a home off a busy street because that could cause accidents possibly in the future. It is also easier to enroll and charge well if you live in a popular area. Easy access for parents to get to and from work. If you live in a rural area and parents have to drive far, than they are spending money to drive to you and back to work.

How Much Experience As A Provider Do You Have?

Someone who is brand new to the daycare world and has no experience or education in this area, more than likely won’t be able to charge as much as someone who has 10-15 years or more experience. That is the nice thing about owning your own business that when you do build a clientele and gain experience your prices can go up.

What Ages of Children Will You Watch/Your Own Children

As a provider you can charge a flat rate per day or per week for the children they watch. Then there are other providers that do break is down by age of the child. Infants being the most and school age being the least expensive. Also, here in Ohio if your own children are under 6 years old they do count in your ratio. You can only watch up to 6 children at one time. So, if you have a 4 year old and a 5 year old that means you can only watch four other children.

How Much Is Your In Home Daycare Expenses?

You do have expenses when it comes to running a home business. So you may have 6 kids and charge $200 a week which equals out to $1200 a week. But, you have to take out the cost of food (if your are providing food), supplies, extra usage for utilities, and if you are charging yourself rent.

So, the best thing to do is write out a budget. Make sure you know how much you need to make to live confrontable and then find out what you need to charge each child you watch. Also, remember that families come and go and you may have to disenroll. So you may have a time where you only have 3-4 kids you are watching and you have to find a few more. The last thing you want to do is hand out deals to everyone and then have to struggle and have that hard conversation that you need to raise their tuition $50-$100 more.

Head over to my blog to find out about more information when it comes to opening up your own daycare at home. I have put together a quick guide for here in Ohio.