What a nanny costs in Denver in 2026.

The hourly rate

You pay your nanny directly, at an hourly rate you agree on together. Our fees cover the vetting, matching and coordination only, and we charge none of the nanny’s pay.

Sitters and nannies in Denver usually earn $25 to $35 an hour.

The rest of this page uses the two ends of the nanny’s range, so you can see what the same job costs at each.

A full-time year, worked

The example assumes a 40-hour week for 52 weeks, which is 2,080 hours, paid at $25 an hour and at $35 an hour. Your family is the nanny’s employer, and an employer owes taxes on top of the pay. Here are the ones with a published federal or Colorado rate, and where each comes from.

Social Security and Medicare tax applies once you pay a household employee $3,000 or more in cash wages in a year, and the employer’s share is 7.65%. Both examples are over that.

FUTA, the federal unemployment tax, applies once you pay household employees $1,000 or more in a calendar quarter. It is 6.0% of the first $7,000 of pay, less a credit of up to 5.4% for state unemployment contributions, which leaves 0.6%. The sheets use that net rate.

Colorado’s FAMLI premium is 0.88% of wages, 0.44% paid by the employer and 0.44% by the employee. A household with nine or fewer employees sends the state the employee’s half, which comes out of the nanny’s pay, and owes no employer half.

Colorado also asks a household to pay unemployment insurance once it pays $1,000 or more in wages in a calendar quarter. The state’s Unemployment Insurance Division sets each employer’s rate every year, so we give no number for it and the total leaves it out.

Colorado’s Division of Workers’ Compensation requires all employers operating in the state to carry workers’ compensation insurance, with a few limited exceptions, and lists a nanny who works less than 40 hours a week and less than five days a week as one who may be exempt. We give no figure for it.

Denver’s occupational privilege tax reaches a household too: the city’s tax guide says a household that employs domestic help withholds the employee’s $5.75 a month from a nanny who earns $500 or more a month for work in Denver and sends it to the city, and does not owe the business tax.

Overtime, a bonus or benefits you agree on would be on top of these totals.

This is a worked example, not tax advice. For your own household, read IRS Publication 926 or ask a payroll service. We introduce families to HomePay by Care.com.

A part-time year, worked

Part-time here is 25 hours a week, the most our part-time fee covers, for the same 52 weeks: 1,300 hours, at the same two rates. The rows are the same.

Both examples are over the $3,000 a year for Social Security and Medicare, over $1,000 in a calendar quarter for FUTA, and over $1,000 in a quarter for Colorado unemployment insurance, so the same rows apply.

A nanny share, and daycare

Two compatible families share one nanny, and each pays part of the hourly rate. How shares work.

Our fee for a share is below. You and the other family pay the nanny, and we give no figure for what that comes to.

For daycare, Child Care Aware of America’s table of 2024 average annual prices, from its January 2025 survey of Child Care Resource and Referral State Networks, gives full-time, center-based infant care in Colorado as $20,978. That is one infant in one setting, so it is not a like-for-like figure with the examples above.

What the agency charges

A placement fee is a percentage of the nanny’s annual pay, plus an intake fee that starts the search. This is every placement fee, as it is on our prices page.

Worked on the pay in the examples above:

The trial period is included: two weeks part-time, three full-time.

A payment plan is available: up to three installments for a $200 admin fee.

Your nanny’s pay is separate. You agree it with your nanny and pay it yourself.

Sources

Every outside figure above, with the words it comes from. Each page was read on October 8, 2026.

1. IRS Publication 926 (2026), Household Employer’s Tax Guide

   https://www.irs.gov/publications/p926

   Read October 8, 2026

   • Cash wages in a year that make a household employer owe Social Security and Medicare tax (2026)“Pay cash wages of $3,000 or more in 2026 to any one household employee.”
   • Employer share of Social Security and Medicare tax“Your share is 7.65% (6.2% for social security tax and 1.45% for Medicare tax) of the employee’s social security and Medicare wages.”
   • Cash wages in any calendar quarter that make a household employer owe FUTA“Pay total cash wages of $1,000 or more in any calendar quarter of 2025 or 2026 to household employees.”
   • FUTA rate before the state credit; Largest FUTA credit for state unemployment contributions; FUTA rate after the full credit“The FUTA tax is 6.0% of your employee’s FUTA wages. However, you may be able to take a credit of up to 5.4% against the FUTA tax, resulting in a net tax rate of 0.6%.”
   • Cash wages per household employee on which FUTA is figured (2026)“the first $7,000 of cash wages you pay to each household employee in 2026 are FUTA wages.”

2. Colorado FAMLI Division, Employers

   https://famli.colorado.gov/employers

   Read October 8, 2026

   • Colorado FAMLI premium, as a share of wages; Colorado FAMLI premium, each side’s half“The premiums are set to 0.88% of the employee’s wage, with 0.44% paid by the employer and 0.44% paid by the employee.”
   • Most employees an employer can have and owe no employer share of the FAMLI premium“Businesses with nine or fewer employees should submit wage reports and send in 0.44% of their employees wages each quarter.”

3. Colorado FAMLI Division, article for nannies and other domestic workers, and those who employ them (February 8, 2023)

   https://famli.colorado.gov/news-article/5-things-nannies-and-other-domestic-workers-and-those-who-employ-them-should-know

   Read October 8, 2026

   • A household with fewer than ten employees sends no employer premium, even for one employee“Though employers with fewer than 10 employees aren’t responsible for sending employer premiums, they are still required to deduct and remit the employee’s share of the premiums to the FAMLI Division every quarter even if they have just one employee.”

4. Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, Unemployment Insurance Premiums

   https://cdle.colorado.gov/employers/unemployment-insurance-premiums

   Read October 8, 2026

   • Colorado assigns each employer’s unemployment insurance rate“The UI Division determines employer premium rates annually based on a number of factors, such as the amount of premiums previously paid by the employer and any unemployment benefit payments made by the Division to former employees.”

5. Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, Employer Liability Chart

   https://cdle.colorado.gov/employers/unemployment-insurance-premiums/employer-liability-chart

   Read October 8, 2026

   • Wages in a calendar quarter that make a household liable for Colorado unemployment insurance“The employer paid $1,000 or more in wages to one or more workers in a private home during a calendar quarter.”

6. Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, Division of Workers’ Compensation, Independent Contractors and Coverage Exemptions

   https://cdle.colorado.gov/dwc/employers/independent-contractors-and-coverage-exemptions

   Read October 8, 2026

   • Hours a week below which a nanny who also works fewer than five days a week may be exempt from workers’ compensation coverage“Domestic workers (including nannies and au pairs) who work less than 40 hours per week and less than five days a week.”
   • Workers’ compensation is required of Colorado employers, with exceptions“Workers’ compensation insurance is required for all employers operating in Colorado, with a few limited exceptions.”
   • Some nannies may be exempt“In certain circumstances, the following types of workers may be exempt from needing workers' compensation coverage.”

7. City and County of Denver, Tax Guide Topic 61, Occupational Privilege Taxes (revised January 2021)

   https://www.denvergov.org/files/assets/public/v/2/finance/documents/treasury/tax-guides/taxguidetopic61_occupationalprivilegetaxes.pdf

   Read October 8, 2026

   • A household that employs domestic help withholds and remits the employee occupational privilege tax“Individuals or households that employ domestic help (domestics) are employers as defined in DRMC Section 53-202(a)(2) and are required to withhold and remit the Employee OPT from the domestics they employ.”
   • The household does not owe the business occupational privilege tax“Even though the individuals or households meet the definition of employer they are not subject to the Business OPT because they are not engaged in business in the City.”

8. City and County of Denver, Business Tax FAQ

   https://www.denvergov.org/Government/Agencies-Departments-Offices/Agencies-Departments-Offices-Directory/Department-of-Finance/Our-Divisions/Treasury/Business-Tax-Information/Business-Tax-FAQ

   Read October 8, 2026

   • Denver employee occupational privilege tax, a month, withheld by the employer“Each taxable employee is liable for the employee OPT, which is withheld by the employer at a rate of $5.75 per month.”
   • Pay in a calendar month, for services in Denver, at which the employee occupational privilege tax applies“The tax is imposed on businesses operating in the City and on individuals who perform sufficient services within Denver to receive as compensation from an employer at least five hundred dollars ($500) for a calendar month.”

9. Child Care Aware of America, Child Care in America: 2024 Affordability Analysis, Table I

   https://info.childcareaware.org/hubfs/Affordability_Analysis_Updated_2024.pdf

   Read October 8, 2026

   • Average annual price of full-time, center-based infant care in Colorado, in the table of 2024 average annual prices“Colorado $20,978”
   • The table the daycare figure is in“2024 Average Annual Price of Full-Time Center-Based Child Care by State”
   • Where the table’s prices come from“Source of Child Care Prices: Child Care Aware® of America’s January 2025 survey of Child Care Resource and Referral State Networks.”