Average allowance by age for kids and teens
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Highlights:
- In 2024, the average weekly allowance for kids ages 5-19 was $12.98 for families who use Greenlight.
- Nearly 80% of U.S. parents give their kids an allowance and 64% require them to earn it by doing chores or other tasks.
- Nationally, $19.39 is the mean weekly allowance, with 35% of parents paying $11-$20 weekly.
- Most families that offer allowance do it to teach the value of earning and managing money.
What is an allowance — and why should kids get an allowance?
An allowance is a recurring amount of money given to kids, typically from their parents or caregivers. Many families use allowance to introduce financial literacy at an early age.
Offering an allowance can be a powerful incentive, too. Beyond just extra spending cash, you can use it to teach the value of hard work and financial responsibility through budgeting, saving, and giving.
For parents, tools like the Greenlight debit card and money app for kids and teens make it much easier. You decide how, when, and why to pay an allowance. You can set it up to pay an allowance based on completing household chores, using an automated schedule, or making one-off payments.
You also decide where the money goes. Automate a savings schedule, direct a portion to charity, or put a few bucks into beginner investing. Whether you give an allowance or not, Greenlight helps parents teach kids to build smart money habits like budgeting and setting savings goals.
Average allowance for kids and teens
How do you decide how much allowance to give your kids? That depends on your family situation — or if you’re offering allowance for a specific purpose, like doing household duties or chores.
The national mean is $19.39. But 35% of parents report paying allowance in the range of $11-$20 a week according to T. Rowe Price’s 14th Annual Parents, Kids & Money Survey.
One popular method is paying by age, offering $1 for each year. So if your child is 7, their weekly allowance would be $7. A 16-year-old would get $16 per week, and so on.
Be a financially smart family!
Things to consider before deciding on an allowance amount
National allowance averages are just that – averages based on a broad range of families. When deciding how much allowance to give, think about your unique family circumstances.
Goals
What do you want to achieve? Do your kids want more spending autonomy, a specific item, or do you want to teach them general financial literacy? Establishing a goal (or goals) helps shape how much, how often, and how you want your child to manage those dollars.
Chores
Some families tie allowance directly to chores. You could assign individual tasks or create an age-appropriate chore schedule. You can pay per task, set up a weekly checklist, or keep allowance separate from household responsibilities altogether.
Incentives
What actually motivates your kids? Some parents offer rewards for achieving certain earning or saving milestones. You can also build in small incentives to encourage consistency and keep them excited about progress.
Budget
Make sure the allowance fits within your family’s overall budget. It doesn’t have to be a big number to be meaningful. A small, consistent amount (even just a few dollars a week) can still teach lessons about saving, spending, and patience.
Age
There’s no perfect age to begin, but many families start giving a basic allowance at age 5 or 6, if they feel their child is ready. As your kids grow, you can increase their allowance or introduce more decision-making responsibility.
Understanding
How well do your kids grasp the idea of allowance and the basics of budgeting? Do they have specific money goals? Their level of understanding (and ability to follow through) can help guide how much freedom you give and support you provide. It's more about purpose than a specific dollar amount.
Greenlight average allowance for kids and teens in 2024
According to Greenlight’s 2024 data, weekly allowance climbed steadily with age. A 5-year-old pocketed just over six dollars a week on average ($6.05), while a 13-year-old earned nearly double at $11.57. Seventeen-year-olds earned an average of $20.87 in weekly allowance — more than three times what the youngest earners got!
Below is the average weekly amount paid by parents to their kids, categorized by age.
Weekly Allowance by Age 2024 - Greenlight Kids & Teens
Age | Allowance |
|---|---|
5 years old | $6.05 |
6 years old | $6.22 |
7 years old | $6.60 |
8 years old | $7.12 |
9 years old | $7.77 |
10 years old | $8.44 |
11 years old | $9.29 |
12 years old | $10.32 |
13 years old | $11.57 |
14 years old | $13.10 |
15 years old | $15.14 |
16 years old | $17.57 |
17 years old | $20.87 |
18 years old | $24.43 |
19 years old | $30.14 |
Greenlight average allowance for kids and teens in 2023
According to data collected in 2023 (YTD as of May 23, 2023), Greenlight found that the average weekly allowance for 5-year-olds was $6.04. Meanwhile, the average weekly allowance for 13-year-olds was $13.01. Lastly, at the top end, the average weekly allowance for 17-year-olds was $23.69.
Below is the average weekly amount paid by parents to their kids, categorized by age.
Weekly Allowance by Age 2023 - Greenlight Kids & Teens
Age | Allowance |
|---|---|
5 years old | $6.05 |
6 years old | $6.69 |
7 years old | $7.11 |
8 years old | $7.73 |
9 years old | $8.37 |
10 years old | $9.27 |
11 years old | $10.32 |
12 years old | $11.64 |
13 years old | $13.01 |
14 years old | $14.96 |
15 years old | $17.09 |
16 years old | $20.54 |
17 years old | $23.69 |
18 years old | $29.69 |
19 years old | $34.57 |
Comparing Greenlight’s 2023 and 2024 allowance data, there’s a noticeable decline in weekly earnings for both kids and teens. In 2023, a 6-year-old received an average of $6.69 per week, while in 2024, that amount dropped to $6.22. Similarly, 13-year-olds saw a decrease from $13.01 in 2023 to $11.57 in 2024. While 5-year-olds maintained a steady $6.05 per week in both years, older teens saw a dip as well, with 17-year-olds earning $23.69 in 2023 compared to $20.87 in 2024.
How do kids and teens spend their allowance?
So, where does all of the allowance go? When families use Greenlight, kids can spend with their own debit card, get cash back (which automatically goes to savings), and even explore investing. This all happens within a platform that gives parents oversight and helps kids build essential money skills.
Greenlight kids have already saved more than $225 million collectively! Families have also invested over $10 million. Greenlight also offers a ‘Give with Greenlight’ feature where kids can donate to the charities of their choice.
Types of chores – 10 ideas to get started
Here are some of the most popular chores for Greenlight families, plus a few creative ideas to help you get started:
Clean your bedroom
Take care of a pet
Take out the trash
Wash the dishes
Read a book
Practice an instrument
Train or practice a sport
Wash the car
Do laundry
Study for a test
Greenlight tip: Don’t be afraid to get creative with chores. We’ve seen some innovative options ranging from “Make tacos” to “Practice magic.”
Use Greenlight to teach kids and teens financial literacy — with chores and allowances
Connecting chores and allowance can go a long way. Like Greenlight kids, your kids will learn the importance of saving and investing early and often. They’ll also learn about budgeting and allocating money by wants vs. needs.
Lastly, if your teens check off chores for dollars, they’ll see that working hard goes a long way. And when the time comes for a new job or managing their own money, they’ll be ready to handle both with confidence.
Are chores separate in your family? That’s OK! With Greenlight, you don’t have to connect allowance to chores. Just pick a day and decide how and when you’d like their allowance to hit. Or, put it on autopilot for an easy, consistent routine. You can pause at any time.
Ready to teach money skills that stick? Try Greenlight, the #1 family finance and safety app, and see how easy it is to automate allowance, set chores, and build lifelong smart money habits.
This blog post is provided "as is" and should not be relied upon as a substitute for professional advice. Some content in this post may have been created using artificial intelligence; however, every blog post is reviewed by at least two human editors.
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