Reviewed by the Penny Time editorial team
Part of our Earning hub.
Jobs for 11 Year Olds: What Pays and What Is Legal
An 11-year-old can't be hired by a store or restaurant, because federal law keeps kids under 14 out of most jobs. They can still earn real money from paid extras at home, pet care for neighbors, mother's helper shifts and yard work. A beginner usually charges $2 to $8 a job, and two or three regular jobs add up to about $15 to $30 a week.
TL;DR: At 11, keep it close to home: your house, family and neighbors you know. Start with one repeat job, like feeding a neighbor's cat, before adding more. Eleven is also the starting age for Red Cross babysitting courses, so it's a good year to begin as a mother's helper.
What jobs can an 11-year-old legally do?
The federal child labor law is the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The US Department of Labor says children under 14 "may not be employed in non-agricultural occupations covered by the FLSA." Some work isn't covered at all, so it's open at any age: delivering newspapers, acting, working in a business owned entirely by a parent, and "minor chores around private homes or casual baby-sitting."
Farm work has a separate rule. A child under 12 can work outside school hours on a farm their parent owns or runs, or with a parent's consent on certain small farms (29 U.S.C. 213(c)(1)(A)).
States can add stricter rules, and the stricter one wins. Neighbor jobs like pet care and raking are informal work, but check your state labor department before your kid takes anything bigger.
Starter price list for 11 year olds
These are the jobs most 11-year-olds actually do, with a beginner rate and where the number comes from. To set prices for jobs at home, use our chore price list by age.
| Job | Starter pay at 11 | Where the number comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Extra jobs at home (wash the car, clean the bathroom, weed) | $2 to $5 a job | Our chore price chart, ages 11 to 14 |
| Pet feeding or plant watering visit | $5 to $8 a visit (typical range) | Set well below Care.com's $16 to $25 adult per-visit range |
| Short dog walk (a calm dog they know) | $5 to $8 a walk (typical range) | Care.com: adult dog walkers start at $16.43 an hour on average |
| Mother's helper (a parent stays home) | $5 to $8 an hour (typical range) | Below Payscale's teen sitter low end of $7.96 |
| Raking, weeding, shoveling | Per job, at least $7.25 x hours | Federal minimum wage as a fair floor |
| Lemonade stand, crafts, outgrown toys | What they sell, minus costs | Your kid's own price list |
| Store, restaurant, fast food | Not yet, most open at 14 | US DOL |
"Typical range" rows are our estimate for an 11-year-old beginner, set below the cited adult and teen rates. Rates vary a lot by town, so ask a neighbor what feels fair.
What an 11-year-old can earn in a month
Here is how those rates add up over four weeks.
| Plan | What they do each week | Monthly total |
|---|---|---|
| Home only | 3 extra jobs at home at $2 to $5 | $24 to $60 |
| Home plus one neighbor | 3 home jobs, plus 2 pet visits or walks at $5 to $8 | $64 to $124 |
| Summer, neighbors on vacation | 2 home jobs, 5 pet visits at $5 to $8, one 2-hour mother's helper shift at $5 to $8 | $156 to $264 |
Even the home-only plan can reach $50 a month, so agree on a savings split before the first payday.
Is your 11-year-old ready for a paying job?
Look at habits more than age. If your kid can do most of these, they're ready for a first job outside the house:
- Does a home job without being reminded twice.
- Can follow a 3-step instruction list, like "food, fresh water, check the litter."
- Keeps track of a time or a date with a phone alarm or calendar.
- Talks to an adult they know and can say a price out loud.
- Tells you when something goes wrong instead of hiding it.
If they can't yet, pay for extra jobs at home for a month and check the list again.
Pet sitting and dog walks
For most 11-year-olds this is the best first neighbor job. Feeding a cat or watering plants while a family travels is simple, repeats every day, and is easy to check. Neighbors already pay adults $16 to $25 a visit on Care.com, so a kid at $5 to $8 is a good deal for them.
Keep dog walks to small, calm dogs your kid already knows. A big dog that pulls can pull a small kid off their feet.
Mother's helper: the step before babysitting
A mother's helper plays with younger kids while a parent is home, working or cooking. It's how most kids start, and 11 is the right age to begin. The Red Cross builds its in-person Babysitter's Training course for ages 11 to 16 and its online Babysitting Basics course for ages 11 and older, so a course this year sets your kid up for solo jobs later.
Pay is lower than babysitting because an adult is in charge. Payscale puts the average teen babysitter at $11.79 an hour, with the bottom 10% at $7.96, so $5 to $8 an hour fits a helper. When your kid moves on to sitting alone, work out a fair hourly rate with our free babysitting rate calculator. It adjusts for age, experience and the number of kids.
Yard work and seasonal jobs
Raking in fall, shoveling in winter and weeding in summer all work at 11. Price by the job: guess the hours with your kid, then use the $7.25 federal minimum wage as a floor. A 2-hour leaf job is worth at least $14.50, so call it $15. Hand tools are fine. Mowers and trimmers wait until an adult says yes and stays nearby.
Selling things: stands, crafts and outgrown toys
Selling teaches the whole loop: costs, prices and profit. A lemonade stand or bracelet table works best on a busy weekend with an adult close by. Have your kid write down what supplies cost, then subtract it from what they took in. That number, not the sales, is what they earned. For outgrown toys or games, list them through your own account and hand over the money.
Safety rules before the first job
- Only families you or another trusted adult already know. No strangers' homes and no jobs from public online posts.
- You know the address, the time and the neighbor's phone number.
- Your kid texts you on arrival and when leaving, or you walk them over.
- The price and payday are agreed before the work starts.
- No power tools, ladders, stoves or pools without an adult there.
What changes at 12 and 13
The legal rules stay the same until 14. What changes is trust: by 12 most kids add short solo babysitting and more clients. See our guides to jobs for 12 year olds and jobs for 13 year olds. For younger kids, read ways for 10 year olds to earn money and our price list of jobs for 9 year olds.
Turn the first earnings into a money lesson
The first money your kid earns is the easiest time to start saving. Agree a split before payday, like half to savings and half to spend, and let them spend their half how they like. A $10 mistake at 11 is cheap. If you also pay an allowance, our middle school allowance guide has the numbers by grade.
Penny Time is a free app built for this age. Your child sees their own balance and takes on money quests on their own phone or tablet. You set an automatic allowance and can add what they earn from a job, with a note, so the money they worked for shows up next to the rest.
Educational only, not legal advice. Child labor rules vary by state; check your state labor department for the rules where you live.
Sources
- US DOL Fact Sheet #43: Child Labor Provisions for Nonagricultural Occupations
- US DOL: State Child Labor Laws
- 29 U.S.C. 213(c)(1)(A): agricultural work under age 12
- US DOL: Federal minimum wage ($7.25)
- Payscale: Teenage Babysitter Hourly Pay (updated February 2026)
- Care.com: How much does a dog walker cost (updated February 2026)
- American Red Cross: Babysitting and Child Care Training, ages 11-16
Frequently Asked Questions
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Not a regular job. Federal law says children under 14 may not be employed in most non-farm work, so stores, restaurants and offices are out. An 11-year-old can still legally do minor chores around private homes, casual babysitting, newspaper delivery, acting, and work in a business owned entirely by a parent. Your state can be stricter.
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The usual first jobs are paid extras at home, feeding a neighbor's pet or watering plants while they travel, short dog walks, mother's helper shifts while a parent is home, raking or weeding, and selling crafts or a lemonade stand with an adult nearby.
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For extra jobs at home, $2 to $5 each is a common rate for ages 11 to 14. For neighbor jobs, $5 to $8 a pet visit or short dog walk is fair for a beginner, well below the average starting rate adult dog walkers post on Care.com ($16.43 an hour). A mother's helper usually earns $5 to $8 an hour.
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Babysitting is exempt from federal child labor rules, and 11 is the starting age for the Red Cross babysitting courses: Babysitter's Training is for ages 11 to 16 and the online Babysitting Basics course is for ages 11 and older. Most 11-year-olds start as a mother's helper with an adult in the house, not alone.
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Summer is vacation season, so pet feeding, plant watering and mail pickup for neighbors who travel are the easiest wins. Add mother's helper shifts for parents working from home, weeding and watering, and a lemonade or craft stand on a busy weekend.
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Very little, and not on their own. Most platforms that pay people set a minimum age in their terms, often 13 or 18. If your kid makes crafts or art, you can sell them through your account and hand over the money, which keeps you in charge of payments and contact with buyers.
Raise kids who understand how money works
Download the app, add your child, and connect their phone or tablet by scanning a code. About a minute, no email needed for kids.
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Put this into practice this week
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