Allowance by Age 2026 (US): what parents actually pay and how to set it up

Allowance

“How much allowance do other kids get?” is the question, and the honest answer is that there is no official number, but there is good data. Greenlight, one of the largest kids’ debit card apps in the US, publishes the average weekly allowance its users receive, broken down by single year of age. This guide walks through the 2025 figures, the $1-per-year rule, the chores debate, what changes when your teen brings home a first paycheck, and how a custodial Roth IRA turns that paycheck into a head start.

Average allowance by age (2025 data) 🐷

The figures below are Greenlight’s 2025 averages for weekly allowance, published in its Learning Center. They reflect families who already use a money app for their kids, so treat them as a reference point rather than a rule.

Source: Greenlight, 2025 data (weekly averages among Greenlight users). Monthly column is the weekly figure multiplied by 4.33 and rounded, added for convenience.

Across all ages 5 to 19 the average came to $13.15 a week; ages 5 to 8 averaged $6.66, ages 9 to 11 $8.58 and ages 12 to 19 $18.11. Notice the shape: the amount roughly doubles between 10 and 15, and doubles again by 18. That tracks real life: middle school brings phones and lunch money, high school brings gas, dates and concert tickets.

The $1-per-year-of-age rule

The oldest rule of thumb is one dollar per week for each year of age: an 8-year-old gets $8 a week, a 14-year-old $14. Greenlight’s data shows real families pay a little less than that for younger kids and a little more for teens, but the rule has one big advantage: it is predictable. Your child knows the raise is coming on their birthday, and you never have to negotiate.

Chores or no chores? 🧹

This is where families split. Some pay allowance only for completed chores, some never link the two, and most land somewhere in between. A useful fact from Greenlight’s 2025 Family Trends Report: 90% of kids say they want to earn money, not just receive it. Our compromise at home:

• Family jobs are unpaid. Setting the table, cleaning your room: we are a household, not an employer.
• A small base allowance is unconditional, so there is always something to manage and budget.
• Extra jobs are paid: mowing, washing the car, babysitting siblings. That is earned income, and it is where teens learn that money is time.

In summer 2026 my three daughters (13, 15 and 17) and I sat at the kitchen table for an hour a day talking about money. Allowance was the way in. My 15-year-old added up her snack spending and got to over $400 a year. She now packs a sandwich. Voluntarily.

How to set it up

1. Pay weekly under 10, monthly from middle school. A week is a horizon a young child can hold; a month forces a teen to actually budget. Expect the first two months to go wrong. Do not top up.
2. Move from cash to a card around 10 to 12. A kids’ debit card or a teen checking account opened with you, no overdraft, transfers on autopay. Sit down together with the first statement: card payments weigh nothing, and that is the lesson.
3. Split into three buckets: spend, save, give (or spend, save, invest for older teens). A goal with a picture beats any lecture on compound interest.
4. Add budget money from about 13: a fixed monthly amount your teen manages for agreed categories like clothes or their phone plan. This is where budgeting is really learned.
5. Review once a year, on their birthday, table in hand. For the conversations that go with each stage, see How to Teach Teens About Money: a 12-week plan.

The first paycheck: W-4, FICA and what is actually taken out

Federal rules under the FLSA set 14 as the minimum age for most non-farm jobs. At 14 and 15 your teen can work no more than 3 hours on a school day, 18 hours in a school week, 8 hours on a non-school day and 40 hours in a non-school week, between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. (9 p.m. from June 1 through Labor Day). At 16 and 17 there are no federal hour limits outside hazardous jobs (DOL Fact Sheet #43). Many states are stricter, so check yours. The federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour (DOL); most states set a higher one.

Then comes the paperwork, and it is the best money lesson of the year:

• Form W-4. Your teen fills this out on day one to tell the employer how much federal income tax to withhold. A teen with a small summer job can usually write Exempt: the 2026 form allows it if they had no federal income tax liability in 2025 and expect none in 2026 (IRS Form W-4). For 2026 the standard deduction for a single filer is $16,100 (IRS), so a teen earning less than that owes no federal income tax; if tax was withheld anyway, they get it back by filing a return, which is itself a great exercise.
• FICA. There is no exemption from Social Security and Medicare: 6.2% plus 1.45% of every paycheck goes out, and the employer pays the same again (IRS Topic 751). Show your teen that line on the stub and explain where it goes. “Gross is not net” is the sentence they will remember.

Custodial accounts and the teen Roth IRA

Once your teen has earned income, a door opens that allowance never could: a custodial Roth IRA. You open it as custodian, your teen can contribute up to the smaller of their taxable compensation or the annual limit, which is $7,500 for 2026 (IRS), and the money grows tax-free for decades. A 16-year-old who puts in $1,000 from a summer job and never touches it has done something most adults never manage: started early. Many parents “match” contributions to make it attractive. For money that is not earned (gifts, grandparents), a custodial brokerage account (UTMA/UGMA) does the same job without the earned-income requirement, and a regular savings account is protected by the FDIC up to $250,000 per depositor per bank (FDIC). If you are curious how British families handle the same questions, see Pocket Money Guide 2026 (UK).

How Novara helps

Novara is the money course I built for my daughters over that summer: 16 chapters from allowance through interest, subscriptions and the first paycheck to credit and tax, a quiz after every chapter, five calculators (savings goal, compound interest, budget and more) and a parent dashboard so you can see where your child is. It is free to download, the first three chapters are free, and one purchase unlocks all 16 for the whole family. No ads, no subscription, no payment card. Rated 9+.

FAQ

How much allowance should a 12-year-old get?

Greenlight’s 2025 data puts the average at $10.37 a week for 12-year-olds, close to the $1-per-year rule. Adjust for what your child is expected to cover: a 12-year-old paying for their own lunches and games needs more than one whose allowance is purely for treats.

Should allowance be tied to chores?

Keep a small unconditional base so there is always money to manage, keep ordinary family jobs unpaid, and pay for genuine extra work. That way your child learns both budgeting and earning without every household task becoming a negotiation.

Does my teen have to file a tax return for a summer job?

If their total income is below the standard deduction ($16,100 for a single filer in 2026) they generally owe no federal income tax, but filing is worth it if any tax was withheld, because they get it refunded. FICA is withheld regardless and is not refunded. State rules vary.

Sources

• Greenlight, Average allowance by age (2025 data): greenlight.com; 2025 Family Trends Report: greenlight.com/annualfamilytrendsreport
• U.S. Department of Labor, Fact Sheet #43 (child labor, non-agriculture): dol.gov; federal minimum wage: dol.gov
• IRS, Form W-4 (2026): irs.gov; tax year 2026 inflation adjustments: irs.gov; Topic 751 (FICA): irs.gov; IRA contribution limits: irs.gov
• FDIC, deposit insurance: fdic.gov