How much allowance by age

Allowance by age: a weekly chart

Ranges rather than one right answer, because the right amount depends on what it pays for. The low end follows the common rule of thumb of 50 cents to a dollar a week per year of age. The high end is close to what recent surveys found families actually pay.

Where these numbers come from

• Greenlight, a kids' debit card company, reported an average of about $13 a week across the 5 to 19 year olds using its app in 2025, rising from about $6 at age 5 to about $21 at 17.
• T. Rowe Price's 2022 Parents, Kids & Money survey found 75% of parents gave an allowance, averaging about $19 a week per child.
• A 2025 Wells Fargo survey of 1,587 parents found 71% gave an allowance, averaging $37 a week. An average like that is pulled up by the families whose allowance covers clothes, phones and gas, which is why the ranges above sit well below it.

Greenlight's 2025 averages by age: 5 year olds about $6, 10 year olds about $8.50, 13 year olds about $11.50, 15 year olds about $15, 17 year olds about $21 a week.

Decide what the allowance covers, then the amount

The biggest thing that sets the right amount is not age. It is what the allowance is expected to pay for. $5 a week that only buys treats is generous. $25 a week that has to cover clothes, lunches and a phone is tight. Decide the list first, then the number.

1. Write down what your child already asks you to buy in a typical month.
2. Pick the items you want them to start managing, and move only those into the allowance.
3. Add up what you spend on those now, and set the allowance at about that amount.
4. Review it once a year, on a birthday, and hand over another category when it goes up.

For teenagers, writing this down helps. Our free allowance chart for teens is a one page agreement with a four week tracker.

What actually teaches kids about money

Practice beats lectures

In a US study of 4,182 young adults, those whose parents modeled good money habits and gave them hands-on experience managing money reported better financial behavior and confidence. Parents simply talking about money showed no association on its own. An allowance a child actually manages is the hands-on part. (LeBaron-Black et al., Family Relations, 2023)

The foundations start early

A Cambridge review for the UK's Money Advice Service found the building blocks of later money behavior, like self-control and holding a plan in mind, are typically in place by around age 7. That does not mean habits are fixed by 7, only that it is not too early to start. (Whitebread and Bingham, University of Cambridge, for the Money Advice Service, 2013)

Habits come before knowledge

The US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau describes ages 6 to 12 as when money habits and norms form, and ages 13 to 21 as when financial knowledge and decision making develop. So young kids need routines, like saving part of every allowance, more than they need explanations. (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau)

Let small mistakes happen

In the Wells Fargo survey, 65% of parents said it was hard to step back and let their kids make money mistakes. A $5 toy that breaks in a week is a cheap lesson at 8 and an expensive one at 25. (Wells Fargo and Ipsos, survey of 1,587 US parents, 2025)

Allowance for chores, or not?

There is no research consensus, and families do both. If you want chores rewarded without turning every job into a paycheck, read points vs allowance, which walks through the hybrid many families use.

Questions parents ask about allowance

What age should kids start getting an allowance?

Many families start around 5 or 6, once a child can count coins and wait a few days for something. The CFPB describes 6 to 12 as the years money habits form, which is exactly what an allowance gives practice in. Before that, a savings jar and small choices at the store do the same job.

How much allowance should a 10 year old get?

$5 to $10 a week is typical. Greenlight's 2025 figures put the average 10 year old at about $8.50 a week. Where yours lands depends on what the money has to cover.

How much allowance should a teenager get?

Around $10 to $15 a week at 13 or 14, rising to $15 to $25 by 17, and more if it covers clothes, a phone bill or gas. Greenlight's averages run from about $11.50 at 13 to about $21 at 17.

Should allowance be tied to chores?

Families split on this, and research has not settled it. In T. Rowe Price's survey, 59% of parents who give an allowance agreed it should be earned through chores. A common middle ground is a base allowance for learning to manage money, and extra pay or points for bigger jobs.

Why do surveys give such different averages?

They ask different families and count different things. An app's users, a national poll and a bank's survey will not match, and a few large allowances that cover real expenses pull an average up. That is why this page gives ranges.

Sources

Where this page makes a claim about safety or research, it comes from:

1. Average weekly allowance by age for Greenlight kids and teens. Greenlight, 2025 data.
2. Children's weekly allowance average is approaching $20 (T. Rowe Price Parents, Kids & Money Survey). Local 12 News, reporting T. Rowe Price's 2022 survey.
3. New Wells Fargo Study Shows Parents Give Their Kids an Average Weekly Allowance of $37. Wells Fargo and Ipsos, survey of 1,587 US parents, 2025.
4. Talk is cheap: Parent financial socialization and emerging adult financial well-being. LeBaron-Black et al., Family Relations, 2023.
5. Learn about the building blocks of financial capability. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
6. Habit Formation and Learning in Young Children. Whitebread and Bingham, University of Cambridge, for the Money Advice Service, 2013.