This guide is sponsored by Greenlight. Its prepaid card for kids gives busy parents a digital way to assign chores, pay allowances and teach children the importance of earning, saving and giving.
Giving your kid responsibility and a source of income, such as an allowance tied to chores, is a great way to help teach your child about proper money management and jumpstart their savings so that they can meet their goals. But how much you should pay your child for completing a chore may vary depending on where you live and how old your child is. Use this calculator to determine how much you should pay your child based on the chore, their age and your state.
Calculate how much to pay your kids for completing their chores by selecting your state, child's age, child's savings goal, and chore.
Which days will this chore be completed on?
| Chore | S | M | T | W | T | F | S | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Add chores to work out weekly total | ||||||||
| Weekly total | $0 | |||||||
Your child is 0% toward their weekly savings goal of $0.
Chore rates are based on suggestions from experts. See our methodology.
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun |
|---|
If you complete all of your chores each week, you’ll make $0. This is 0% of your weekly savings goal!
Estimate how much your kid stands to earn per chore using these steps:
Our chore calculator is based on suggested costs per chore and age range submitted by four external financial and parenting experts and two Finder banking experts:
We asked each expert to submit suggested costs for 15 chores across four student age groups:
We averaged suggested reported costs to result in a baseline average for each chore and each age group within it. If an expert chose not to suggest a cost for a particular chore or age group, we averaged the suggestions from experts who did while accounting for the current 2022 inflation rate of 8.5%.
We then used these baseline averages to calculate state averages, relying on the state cost-of-living index compiled by the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center. These adjusted state averages make up the data in our calculator.
When establishing a chore system, give your child specific instructions about what you expect them to do. Consider your child’s age, maturity level, physical capabilities and whether you live in the city or suburbs.
We’ve compiled a few age-appropriate chore ideas to get the ball rolling. But keep in mind, you know your child’s ability the best.
| Age group | Chore activities |
|---|---|
| 4- to 5-year-olds |
|
| 6- to 9-year-olds | Everything 4- to 5-year-olds can do, plus:
|
| 10- to 13-year-olds | Everything 6- to 9-year-olds can do, plus:
|
| 14- to 17-year-olds | Everything 10- to 13-year-olds can do, plus:
|
| Age group | Chore activities |
|---|---|
| 4- to 5-year-olds |
|
| 6- to 9-year-olds | Everything 4- to 5-year-olds can do, plus:
|
| 10- to 13-year-olds | Everything 6- to 9-year-olds can do, plus:
|
| 14- to 17-year-olds | Everything 10- to 13-year-olds can do, plus:
|
| Age group | Chore activities |
|---|---|
| 4- to 5-year-olds |
|
| 6- to 9-year-olds | Everything 4- to 5-year-olds can do, plus:
|
| 10- to 13-year-olds | Everything 6- to 9-year-olds can do, plus:
|
| 14- to 17-year-olds | Everything 10- to 13-year-olds can do, plus:
|
| Age group | Chore activities |
|---|---|
| 4- to 5-year-olds | If you live in the city:
If you live in the suburbs, consider adding the following task:
|
| 6- to 9-year-olds | Everything 4- to 5-year-olds can do, plus: If you live in the city:
If you live in the suburbs, add:
|
| 10- to 13-year-olds | Everything 6- to 9-year-olds can do, plus:
|
| 14- to 17-year-olds | Everything 10- to 13-year-olds can do, plus:
|
| Age group | Chore activities |
|---|---|
| 4- to 5-year-olds |
|
| 6- to 9-year-olds | Everything 4- to 5-year-olds can do, plus:
|
| 10- to 13-year-olds | Everything 6- to 9-year-olds can do, plus:
|
| 14- to 17-year-olds | Everything 10- to 13-year-olds can do, plus:
|
Our top pick: Greenlight
Teach your child to spend, save and invest all in one app. Get 5+ financial literacy tools, including chores and allowances. All with powerful parental controls to decide where your child can spend and how much. Includes up to 5% savings rewards.
It depends on your family’s situation. Paying your kids for chores has merits and disadvantages and is ultimately your decision and what works best for your kids.
While most parents say they pay their child an allowance (68%), about a third (32%) say they don’t give their kids any money.
There’s no right or wrong answer to whether you should pay your kids for doing chores. If you decide to reward your children for completing household tasks, consider a kid’s debit card with chore tracking capabilities and automatic allowance payments to make the entire process easier.
GoHenry is now Acorns Early. If you’re looking for a GoHenry alternative, try Greenlight, Step, Current, Modak Makers or Chase First.
Modak has no monthly fee, but it’s slim on features. Greenlight starts at $5.99 but is a value for big families.
Modak is a no-frills, free debit card for kids and teens that comes with a virtual or physical card and the ability to set up direct deposit.
Some of the best free debit cards for kids that don’t charge any monthly fees include Step, Current, Cash App, Axos, Chase, Revolut and more.
Kachinga is a kids’ prepaid card with chores and allowance features, but it comes at a cost.
Step banking accounts help kids and teens learn to manage their money while building their credit scores.
Teach your child financial responsibility with this reloadable debit card that comes equipped with parental controls.
Compare the best kids’ prepaid and debit cards designed for ages 13 and under.
See our first-hand review of the Greenlight card to see if the $5.99 monthly fee makes sense for your family.
Our list of the best credit cards for teens includes Step, Greenlight, Capital One Quicksilver and more. See the full list here.
