Average Allowances
for Kids and Teens

Are you trying to figure out how much kids' allowance to give? Looking at average allowances for kids of all ages can help.

Average Allowances - Shortcomings

The challenge with any average is that they take everyone and put them in a big pool. That can mean that the average amounts just don't apply to you or your kids that much.

With average allowance amounts you can't tell you the difference between a New York and Kansas youth allowance - or what the rest of the family budget looks like.

How Much Allowance - A Better Method

A better method might be to informally poll other families in your area to find out what the average allowance for kids is (it's sort of like figuring out how much the tooth fairy pays).

But, having a view of the overall averages is a starting point. Here are the weekly average allowances by age from Fact Monster:

Thinking About Average Allowances

This chart is helpful in confirming what you probably already know:

• Older kids need a higher youth allowance. But it's not a straight path as they get older because their expenses change so much.
• The average allowance amounts for teens can get pretty steep, pretty fast. This is especially true for the 17 and 18 year old groups. It is not noted whether these teens are earning their own money elsewhere. And that brings up another question: At what point do you stop paying an allowance?
• Allowances have a good amount of wiggle room in them. The average 10 year old gets nearly $2 more per week than the average 9 year old. The same change happens between ages 11 and 12.

But don't give up on figuring out the best allowance for your kids and your family. No kids' allowance amount is going to be perfect. The key is to starting and keeping an allowance program going - and having it be a meaningful enough amount to teach basic money management without making your kids rich in the process.