Average allowance is $37 a week, and the median just $20

$37 a week was the average allowance U.S. parents reported in a 2025 Wells Fargo survey of kids ages 5 to 17, but the median was $20.

The average allowance by age climbed from $31.50 a week for ages 5 to 8 to $44.88 for ages 15 to 17, while the medians moved only from $15 to $25. A median is the middle answer. The reported median is lower than the reported average in every age band. Neither figure is a recommended amount for any one child.

Average allowance by age in the 2025 Wells Fargo survey

Weekly averages ran from $31.50 for the youngest band to $44.88 for the oldest, and weekly medians ran from $15 to $25. Ipsos ran the survey for Wells Fargo from April 28 to May 8, 2025, and published the age-band table in its findings report dated May 28, 2025.

Ipsos interviewed 1,587 parents online, all with a child between 5 and 17 living at home. Of those parents, 71% said they gave an allowance, 43% regularly and 28% occasionally. Only those parents were asked the amount question, which read, "How much do you give your kid for allowance each week?"

That wording shapes how the table is read. Every figure is a weekly amount, and every figure comes from parents who already give an allowance, so families who give nothing are not pulling the numbers down. After exclusions, 1,073 answers were used, and Ipsos filtered out the top 4% of amounts as outliers before calculating the averages and medians.

Wells Fargo rounded the overall average to $37 in its news release of July 2, 2025, and that rounded number is the one most headlines repeat. The detailed Ipsos table gives $37.19.

Wells Fargo published a newer study in May 2026, fielded April 2 to 15, 2026, among 1,500 parents and guardians of children ages 6 to 17. That study covered money given as a reward, and its release reports no average or median allowance. As of October 2026, the 2025 table above is still the Wells Fargo source for allowance amounts.

Why the average and the median sit so far apart

A small number of large allowances can pull an average up, while a median only looks at the answer in the middle. The survey report gives both numbers but does not explain the gap, so the explanation here covers only how averages and medians behave.

A made-up example shows the effect. Picture five families paying $10, $15, $20, $25, and $100 a week. The median is $20, the third answer in line. The average is $34, because the single $100 answer adds more to the total than the other four combined.

The 2025 survey shows the same pattern in every age band, even after Ipsos removed the top 4% of amounts. The average is roughly $14 to $20 higher than the median in each band, and the widest gap is in the 15 to 17 group, where the average is $44.88 and the median is $25. For the youngest kids, the average of $31.50 is more than twice the median of $15.

The survey does not say which families give the larger amounts or what those allowances pay for. One possibility is that some households fold regular costs, such as lunches or a phone bill, into the allowance, which would raise the amount without raising the spending money. The questionnaire didn't ask, so that can't be confirmed from these data.

For a parent comparing their family's allowance with the survey, the median is the more useful reference. It answers the question most parents are asking, which is what a family in the middle gives. The average answers a different question: if every allowance in the sample were added up and split evenly, how much each kid would get.

What the allowance has to cover changes the number

A $20 allowance that must also pay for school lunches is not the same as $20 of spending money. The Wells Fargo question asked only for a weekly amount, and the published wording did not specify what the money had to cover. The survey figures therefore do not distinguish between the two kinds of allowance.

That makes the survey hard to use as a direct comparison. A teen whose $40 allowance has to cover $15 a week of lunches has $25 left to spend, which is the same as the median for ages 15 to 17. A family's allowance would appear lower in the survey if it paid for lunches separately and gave $25, even though the child gets the same spending money. Both numbers in that example are made up to show the arithmetic.

Before comparing, it helps to list what you already pay for on your child's behalf in a typical week. Common items include lunch money, bus fare, snacks after school, a streaming or phone bill, clothing beyond the basics, and birthday gifts for friends. Each item you move into the allowance raises the number without changing how much the child has for free spending.

Timing changes the number too. The survey asked about weekly amounts, and some families pay monthly. A weekly amount times 52, divided by 12, gives the monthly equivalent, so $20 a week works out to a calculated monthly equivalent of about $87. Comparing a monthly allowance with a weekly survey figure, without converting first, makes the family's number look 52/12 times, or about 4.3 times, larger than it is.

Holiday and birthday money usually sits outside the weekly allowance, and many families handle gifts as a separate budget line. Our guide to holiday gift spending per child walks through how that budget is usually set.

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How other surveys compare with Wells Fargo

Other allowance figures differ from Wells Fargo's mostly because they measure different people in different ways. Read each number with its year, who was asked, and how the answers were collected.

Greenlight publishes averages from the families who use its service. Its page reports $13.15 a week for kids ages 5 to 19 in 2025, and its 2024 table runs from $6.05 at age 5 and $11.57 at age 13 to $20.87 at age 17. The page does not state the analysis period, how many users were counted, or how the averages were calculated.

The Wells Fargo survey was built differently. Ipsos drew the sample from its own online panel, partner panels, and "river" sampling, then weighted the results on age, gender, region, and household income. Ipsos describes it as not relying on a population frame in the traditional sense, so it is a weighted online sample drawn from those panel sources.

With those differences, the two sources can't be averaged together or read as the same measure. Users of one company's service are a specific group, and without the method, the reason their figures run lower than Wells Fargo's can't be pinned down from the published pages.

The 2022 T. Rowe Price survey asked a different question altogether: whether parents gave an allowance at all. Among 2,138 parents surveyed from January 7 to February 3, 2022, 64% said they gave an allowance the child had to earn, 16% gave one that didn't have to be earned, and 21% gave none. The survey describes how families structure an allowance but provides no dollar figure.

When an allowance number appears without a year, a sample size, or a method next to it, it's hard to tell what it measures. Treat it as a loose reference until you can find those three details.

How to pick a number for your kid

None of the public sources behind this article sets a correct allowance amount, and the survey figures describe only what parents reported. A workable number usually comes from deciding what the money covers and what money skills the child is meant to practice, then checking the result against the survey medians.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) treats an allowance as a family choice. Its Money as You Grow page for school-age kids says, "You might decide to give your child an allowance," and adds that for a child's development, "the most important part of an allowance is talking with you about his plans for the money." For ages 6 to 12, the CFPB suggests telling kids they can earn money through an allowance or by doing jobs for the family or others.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) takes a similar line on chores. In a consumer article, it says there are many approaches to giving an allowance, including whether to tie it to work such as household chores, "so each family will need to decide what is best for them." Its guide for parents of kids in grades 6 to 8 suggests creating chances for a teen to earn through chores, an allowance, or a small business.

A few decisions shape the number more than the survey does:

• What the allowance has to cover, beyond spending money
• Whether it is paid weekly or monthly
• Whether any part depends on chores or extra jobs
• How much of it the child is expected to save

The chores question is the one many families spend the most time debating. Our companion guide lays out common ways families handle chores and pay, and how to write a rule that fits your household.

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Both agencies publish free material for these conversations. The CFPB's Money as You Grow groups its activities into young children, school-age children to preteens, and teens to young adults. The FDIC's Money Smart Parent/Caregiver Guides are organized by grade and include modules on earning money, along with activities and conversation starters. The survey figures in this article are national, and costs where you live may push a sensible amount up or down.

Once you have a figure in mind, the 2025 medians are a reasonable outside check. A number far above the median for your child's age band is not wrong, and it often means the allowance covers more. Sitting down with last week's receipts and marking which ones your child could have paid for is a practical place to start.