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How Much is a Mom Really Worth? The Amount May Surprise You.


If stay-at-home moms earned an annual salary for all the jobs they perform on a daily basis, how much would they earn?

Today, we've released the results of our annual Mom Salary Survey – just in time for Mother's Day! We surveyed more than 19,000 moms since the start of the pandemic and have estimated the value of a mother's work by tracking real-time market prices of all the jobs that moms perform. The result? The median annual salary for stay-at-home moms this past year is $184,820 – rising $6,619 above the pre-pandemic median.

And if you factor in pay premiums that companies offer like bonuses, overtime, and hazard pay due to the increased intensity of the work this past year, a stay-at-home mom could earn more than $200,000 annually! I think we can all agree, they are worth every penny.

Moms wear a LOT of hats

We all know that moms are the ultimate multi-taskers, juggling lots of different responsibilities all day, every day but it doesn't really sink in until you see the full list. This year's study gave consideration to traditional roles – like housekeeper, dietitian, and facilities director – and newer roles – like network administrator, social media communications. In the end, the mom role includes more than 20 different positions:

  • Chief Financial Officer
  • Chief Operating Officer
  • Logistics Analyst I
  • Housekeeper
  • Laundry Manager
  • Van Driver
  • Public School Teacher
  • Facilities Manager
  • Meeting/Event Planner I
  • Kitchen Manager
  • Assistant Athletics Director
  • Staff Nurse - RN I
  • Bookkeeper
  • Physical Therapy Supervisor
  • Nutrition Director
  • Consumer Loan Officer I
  • Fast Food Cook
  • Server
  • Conflicts Manager
  • Interior Designer I
  • Fundraising Coordinator

How are moms getting it all done?

Moms are burning the candle on both ends it seems. The survey results show that stay-at-home moms work an astonishing 106 hours per week on average which means they are working 15 hours a day 7 days a week.

And let's not forget all the working moms out there! The data shows that they are spending on average 54 hours per week managing things on the home front in addition to the hours they put in at their job outside the home. When you add it all up, they are spending a total of 107 hours each week split between work and home.

Which roles consume the bulk of mom's time?

Turns out that in the last year moms have spent an average of 20 hours per week in two key roles

  • Chief Financial Officer – manages day-to-day finances and focuses on overall financial well-being
  • Chief Operating Officer – makes sure everyone else is following the plan and that things are getting done

According to Lenna Turner, a senior compensation consultant here at Salary.com, this makes sense - "We saw that mothers spent considerable time managing financial concerns and organizing the schooling of their family during the height of the pandemic."

"Thanks Mom!" might be the understatement of the year, but it's a good place to start.

Salary.com's Mom Salary Survey honors both working and stay-at-home moms who shoulder an immense responsibility and work their hardest day-in and day-out. Their unwavering dedication to their families and other responsibilities does not go unnoticed and we applaud their heroic efforts to guide their families through the pandemic.

We invite moms to calculate their own worth using the Mom Salary Wizard.