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Guide · Pet sitters

How much to charge for pet sitting

Most new sitters copy the cheapest price they can find nearby. That fills the calendar but often leaves you earning less than minimum wage once driving is counted. Here's what the market looks like in 2026, then a simple method to build a price that actually pays you.

What pet sitters charge in 2026

Two kinds of numbers get quoted, and they differ a lot. Professional sitters (insured, with a business, often members of a trade group) charge more than people listing themselves on sitter marketplaces.

Service	Professional average (US)	Typical marketplace listing
Drop-in visit, 15 min	$20.64	–
Drop-in visit, 30 min	$28.39	about $20 ($16–$30)
Drop-in visit, 60 min	$46.26	–
Dog walk, 30 min	$28.43	about $20 ($15–$25)
Overnight in the owner's home	$110.43 / night	about $50 ($30–$75)
Live-in / 24-hour care	$167.62 / day	–

Sources: Pet Sitters International 2026 member survey (professional averages); Sittsy 2026 analysis of sitter-set marketplace prices. Local prices vary widely, so treat these as reference points, not targets.

Two details from the same survey are worth knowing. The 30-minute visit is by far the most requested length. And most overnight sitters (62%) do not include a midday visit in the overnight rate; it's billed separately. If you've been throwing in a free lunchtime visit, that's money left on the table.

Why copying a competitor's price is risky

The number on someone else's website doesn't tell you their travel time, their costs, or whether they're actually making a living. A 30-minute visit is never 30 minutes of work. You also drive there and back, text the owner, write the visit report, and handle booking and payment. Price the whole job.

A simple pricing method: 4 steps

1. Choose the hourly pay you want

Pick a pay rate for every working minute, including driving and admin. Self-employed people pay their own taxes and have no paid time off, so set this above what you'd accept as an hourly employee. The example below uses $35/hour.

2. Count the real minutes per visit

On-site time + round-trip travel + about 5 minutes of admin (messages, the visit report, scheduling).

3. Add per-visit costs

Mileage is the big one. Multiply round-trip miles by a per-mile cost. Many people use the current IRS standard mileage rate as a stand-in for fuel and wear (check the current figure; the example uses $0.70/mile). Add anything else you use per visit, such as poop bags, wipes or booking-app fees.

4. Calculate, then round

Price = (total minutes ÷ 60 × hourly pay) + per-visit costs

Worked example: same visit, two clients

	Client A (across town)	Client B (on your route)
On-site time	30 min	30 min
Round-trip travel	20 min	10 min
Admin	5 min	5 min
Pay at $35/hour	55 min = $32.08	45 min = $26.25
Mileage at $0.70	6 mi = $4.20	3 mi = $2.10
Break-even price	$36.28	$28.35

Client B fits right at the professional average. Client A costs you about $8 more per visit for the same service. You have three honest options: add a travel fee for addresses outside your core area, group far clients onto the same day, or decline areas that don't pay. What you shouldn't do is quietly absorb it. At $28 a visit, Client A pays you about $26/hour before mileage, and less after it.

Add-ons and surcharges sitters commonly charge

• Additional pets: a smaller fee per extra pet rather than a second full price (often around $5–$10 per visit).
• Holidays: a holiday rate on major holidays and peak weeks. Many sitters add 25–50%, and require a deposit to hold the dates.
• Medication: oral meds are often included; injections such as insulin usually carry a fee because of the skill and responsibility involved.
• Last-minute bookings: a same-day or next-day fee.
• Early/late visits: anything outside your normal window.
• Key pickup and the meet and greet: some sitters charge, some include it. Either way, decide deliberately.

How to raise prices without losing good clients

• Give 30 days' notice in writing, with the new rate and the date it starts.
• Apply new rates to new clients first; that tells you whether the market accepts them.
• Raise once a year rather than in small, frequent steps.
• Point to what's included: visit reports, photos, insurance, reliability. Owners pay for peace of mind, and a written report after every visit is visible proof of it.

Know your numbers after the first month

After a few weeks, check what you actually earned per hour, including driving. Look for clients who are consistently late to pay or who sit far off your route. The point of pricing isn't to be the cheapest. It's to be booked by clients you can serve well at a rate you can keep up for years.

Frequently asked questions

Should I charge per visit or per hour?

Per visit, priced by length (15, 30, 45 or 60 minutes), is the norm and is easiest for owners to understand. Behind the scenes, use the hourly method above to check that each visit length pays you properly.

Is it normal to charge less than the averages when starting out?

A small introductory discount is fine, but put an end date on it. Clients anchor to the first price they pay, and it's much harder to double a rate later than to start near the market.

How should I price overnights?

Treat an overnight as a set window (for example 7 pm to 7 am) and price it as one service. Bill extra visits during the day separately, and charge for additional pets.

Going further

The Pet Sitter Business Tracker (Excel + Google Sheets) logs bookings, payments, unpaid balances and mileage, so you can see your real income per month without doing this arithmetic by hand.

Disclosure: the templates linked here are made and sold by this site's shop. Rates quoted are published averages for reference only; this isn't financial or tax advice.