To nanny for a rich family or a celebrity, you need several years of experience caring for children in private homes, references those families can call, a clean background check, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and first aid training, and a record of keeping your employers' lives private. Placement agencies are a common way in, and you should expect to sign a nondisclosure agreement (NDA) before you start. Pay is negotiated family by family. The International Nanny Association's 2022 salary survey put the median nanny rate at $25 an hour in 2022.
As a household employee you have pay and labor law rights, and there are limits on what an NDA can make you keep quiet about. Figures checked on November 6, 2026.
What Wealthy Families Expect From a Nanny
The daily care covers meals, naps, school runs, homework and bedtime, as in any family, but the household around it is bigger. A high-income household may have a house manager, a driver, a housekeeper, a chef, an assistant and sometimes security staff. You are one member of that team, and you need to know who handles what and who you report to.
Expect these differences from a typical nanny job:
- More than one home. You may split the year between a city apartment, a weekend house and a vacation property, each with its own routines.
- Travel. Families who travel often want a nanny who can come along, which means a valid passport and a schedule that can move on short notice.
- Rotations or long days. Some families hire two nannies who alternate weeks or weekends. Others want one person on call for long stretches.
- Written rules. Screen time, food, allergies, security protocols, who may pick up the children and what you may say to anyone outside the house.
- Extra duties tied to the children: packing for trips, managing their wardrobe, booking classes, coordinating tutors and keeping the family calendar.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) describes the base job this way: nannies work in the homes of the families whose children they care for, most often full time for one family, may drive children to school and activities, and some live in the family's home. Full-time nannies may work more than 40 hours a week.
Skills That Set You Apart in High-Income Homes
Discretion comes first, and it is mostly habit. You do not name your employers to friends, you do not post the house, the car or the children, and you do not answer questions from neighbors, other nannies at the park or anyone with a camera.
Communication comes next. Busy parents want short, reliable updates: what the children ate, how they slept, what went wrong and what you did about it. Agree early on the channel (text, an app, a written log) and the times. If you work alongside a second nanny or a house manager, keep notes so anyone can pick up where you left off.
The rest is practical:
- Routines on paper. Keep each child's schedule, allergies, medications, activities and preferences written down, so a last-minute flight or a new house does not throw the day off.
- Calm under schedule changes. Plans in these homes change often. Ask questions about special requests instead of guessing.
- Teaching skills. Some families want reading, a second language, music practice or homework help built into the day.
- Respect for the family's culture and customs. Learn their holidays, food rules and traditions, and follow them without comment.
- Dressing to the household's standard. Some families give you a uniform or a dress code. Our guide to what nannies wear to work covers the usual expectations.
Keep the personal connection with the children warm while you keep the line with the parents professional. You can be close to the kids and still not take part in family arguments or share opinions about the parents' choices. Settle privacy, communication and how involved you should be in family matters at the start, then raise problems early instead of letting them build. Our article on boundaries and professionalism goes deeper.
Qualifications and Certifications
The BLS notes that states do not regulate educational requirements for nannies, though some employers prefer formal instruction in early childhood education or a related field, particularly for full-time nannies. To compete for jobs with wealthy families, these help:
- Several years of nanny experience with references from private families, ideally with infants, toddlers and school-age children.
- Current infant and child CPR and first aid training. Keep your card current.
- Coursework or a degree in early childhood education or child development.
- Newborn care training if you want infant jobs. The same International Nanny Association survey put the median rate for newborn care specialists at $35 an hour in 2022.
- A clean driving record and comfort driving the family's car, plus a valid passport.
- A second language, swimming ability or skill in a sport or instrument the family values.
For the full path into the work, see how to become a nanny in 10 steps and the top skills every nanny needs.
Pay, Perks and the Legal Side of the Job
What it pays
There is no government figure for nanny pay. The BLS lists a median of $16.82 an hour ($34,980 a year) for childcare workers in May 2025, but that figure leaves out workers in private households, because its survey does not include household workers. It mostly reflects pay at daycares and other businesses.
The closest guide is the International Nanny Association's 2022 Salary and Benefits Survey, which found a median of $25 an hour for nannies, up from $19 in 2017, and that 72% of nannies were paid for overtime. That survey is a few years old and covers all nannies, not only those in wealthy homes. Treat it as a starting point, and ask the agency what similar jobs in your city pay.
Perks to ask about
Pay is only part of the package. These are worth negotiating and writing into your contract:
| Item | What to settle in writing |
|---|---|
| Hours and overtime | Weekly hours, the overtime rate, and how on-call time is paid |
| Paid time off | Vacation days, holidays and sick days, and who picks the vacation dates |
| Travel | Pay for travel days, your own room, meals, and time off during trips |
| Housing | For live-in jobs: private room and bath, when you are off duty, and guest rules |
| Health insurance | Whether the family pays all or part of a plan |
| Car | Use of a family car, or mileage pay if you drive your own |
| Bonus and raises | Year-end bonus and when your pay is reviewed |
Household employee or contractor?
If a family offers to pay you as an independent contractor or off the books, know the rule first. Under Internal Revenue Service (IRS) rules, you are the family's employee if they can control not only what work is done, but how it is done, and it does not matter whether you were found through an agency. IRS Publication 926 lists nannies and babysitters as examples of household workers. The exception is an agency that provides you and controls your work itself, in which case you are not the family's employee.
If a family pays you $3,000 or more in cash wages in 2026, Social Security and Medicare taxes apply: 6.2% and 1.45% each from you and from the employer, and the family gives you a Form W-2. The family also owes federal unemployment tax once it pays $1,000 or more in cash wages to household employees in any calendar quarter (IRS Publication 926). A W-2 also gives you proof of income when you rent an apartment or apply for a loan.
Minimum wage and overtime
Federal wage law covers nannies by name: the Labor Department's rules list nannies and babysitters as domestic service employees. Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), a family must pay a nanny who lives out time and a half for hours over 40 in a workweek.
Live-in nannies are different under federal law. They are entitled to minimum wage for all hours worked, but the FLSA exempts them from overtime. You and the family may agree to leave sleep time, meal time and other off-duty time out of your hours, but if they call you to duty during that time, it counts as work (29 CFR 552.102).
States can give you more. New York's Domestic Workers' Bill of Rights requires overtime at time and a half after 40 hours a week, or 44 hours for workers who live in the employer's home, a 24-hour day of rest every seven days (or overtime pay if you agree to work it), and three paid days of rest each year after one year with the same employer. Check your own state's labor department before you agree to a pay structure.
Living in or out
Live-in jobs are common with wealthy families, especially those who travel or keep several homes. You save on rent and commuting, but your workplace becomes your home, and the line between on duty and off duty blurs. Live-out jobs give you a place of your own after work. Either way, write down your hours and days off, and for a live-in job, write down what counts as free time.
Privacy, NDAs and Confidentiality
Expect to sign an NDA, often before your first trial day. A typical one bars you from sharing anything about the family: names, addresses, schedules, photos, the children, the house, guests, health and money. Many last after the job ends. Read it before you sign, and ask the agency or a lawyer about anything unclear, such as whether it limits naming the family as a reference or listing the job on your resume.
An NDA has limits. The federal Speak Out Act, signed on December 7, 2022, says that in a sexual assault or sexual harassment dispute, no nondisclosure or nondisparagement clause agreed to before the dispute arises can be enforced in court when the conduct is alleged to break federal, tribal or state law. It also lets states enforce their own laws that protect workers at least as much.
Day to day, confidentiality looks like this:
- Never talk to reporters or post anything from work without the family's approval.
- Turn off location tagging, and keep your own social accounts private.
- Do not name past employers in public profiles. Let the agency confirm references instead.
- Follow the security team's rules on photos, visitors and routes, even when they seem excessive.
Working With Nanny Agencies
High-end placement agencies are a common door into these households. The International Nanny Association's 2022 survey found nannies were landing jobs through local placement agencies more often than through online recruiting sites. Agencies screen candidates, check references and set up trial days. When an employer gets a background report on you from a screening company, federal law requires it to tell you in writing and get your written permission first. If it plans to turn you down because of the report, it must first give you a copy of the report and a summary of your rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
Ask every agency who pays its fee. Some states cap placement fees. In New York, an agency that charges you a fee for placing you in a domestic or household job cannot charge more than 10% of the first full month's wages when no meals or lodging come with the job, rising to 18% when three meals and lodging are provided. Fees the family pays are set by agreement when you are not charged.
To get on an agency's short list:
- Write a resume that lists each family by role, not name ("two children, ages 3 and 6, live-in, frequent international travel"), with dates, duties and the length of each job.
- Gather written references and the phone numbers of parents willing to talk.
- Have your CPR and first aid cards, driver's license, passport and any coursework ready to share.
- Register with two or three agencies that place nannies with private families in your city, and say clearly if you are open to live-in work or travel.
- Treat the trial day as the real interview. Follow the house rules exactly.
Stay long enough in each job to show commitment. A string of short jobs is hard to explain to an agency.
The Reality of Being a Celebrity Nanny
Celebrity households add a layer most nannies never deal with. Photographers may follow the family, which means you may be photographed too, and your face can end up online next to the children. Security staff may plan your routes, and you may not choose the park or the cafe yourself. Schedules follow film shoots, tours and seasons, so you can spend weeks in a hotel in another country with little notice.
The work can also be lonely. You often cannot tell friends where you work or post about your life on the job, and your days off may fall in a city where you know nobody. Before you accept, ask how long trips usually run, how days off work while traveling, and who you can call when something goes wrong.
Keep learning while you are in the role. Refresh your CPR and first aid training before it lapses, and add child development or newborn care courses between jobs.
FAQ: Nannying for a Rich Family
Q:How much does a nanny for a rich family make?
There is no official figure for it. The International Nanny Association's 2022 survey found a median of $25 an hour for all nannies. Ask the agency what experience, travel and live-in work add in your city. The BLS childcare worker median of $16.82 an hour leaves out private household workers, so it does not describe nanny pay.
Q:Will I work set hours or be on call?
It depends on the family. Many want flexibility for travel and late nights. Ask about it in the interview and put the weekly hours, overtime rate and on-call pay in your contract. A live-out nanny is owed time and a half over 40 hours a week under federal law. Live-ins are exempt from federal overtime, but some states still require it. New York requires it after 44 hours a week.
Q:Can a wealthy family pay me as a 1099 contractor?
Usually not. The IRS treats a nanny as the family's household employee when the family controls what work is done and how. Once cash wages reach $3,000 in 2026, the family owes Social Security and Medicare taxes and must give you a Form W-2.
Q:Do I need a certification to nanny for a celebrity?
Not by law: states do not set education rules for nannies. Agencies and families still look for current CPR and first aid training, years of private-family experience with strong references, a clean background check and, often, early childhood coursework.
Q:Is a nanny NDA enforceable?
Treat it as a binding contract, with limits. One federal limit: under the Speak Out Act, an NDA signed before a sexual assault or sexual harassment dispute cannot be enforced in court when the conduct is alleged to break federal, tribal or state law. Have a lawyer read any NDA you are unsure about.