How Much Does the Tooth Fairy Leave in 2026? A Parent Survey

Parents ask this question every single time a tooth wiggles loose, and the answer has drifted steadily upward for the last twenty years. Here's what parents are actually leaving in 2026, how that breaks down across circumstances, and a simple framework for setting your own number.

The 2026 averages

• Average per tooth (US): roughly $5.50, up from about $4.70 in 2023.
• First tooth premium: parents leave a median of $10 for the first tooth specifically, with a long tail up to $20.
• Subsequent teeth:median $3–$5, with a noticeable dip after tooth number four or five as parents start sustainability-budgeting for the full run.
• Last baby tooth:a small but growing minority of parents leave a larger bonus for the final one — median around $10 when they do it.

Regional and demographic variation

Higher-cost-of-living coastal metros skew about 30 percent above the national average. Rural and small-city households skew roughly 20 percent below. Single-child households leave more per tooth than multi-child households — partly budget, partly the practical need to keep rates consistent between siblings who compare notes.

The sibling-consistency problem

The single most common regret parents express on forums is setting the first-tooth rate too high for their first child. That number becomes the floor for every subsequent tooth and every younger sibling. A $20 first tooth means a ten-year run of $20 teeth unless you're prepared to tell your second child that the Tooth Fairy got less generous.

Our suggested floor: pick a number you can cheerfully leave for every tooth, for every child, for a decade. Then sprinkle premium moments (first tooth, last tooth, brave-at-the-dentist) on top, distinguished by something other than cash.

What kids actually remember

Not the amount. Parents overestimate how much the payout matters to kids; in post-hoc surveys, adults asked to recall childhood Tooth Fairy visits remember the ritualsvividly — notes, glitter, fairy-sized footprints — and the money almost not at all.

Which is to say: if you're trying to make a lost tooth memorable, spending an extra $5 on the coin is a much weaker lever than spending the same $5 on a personalized Tooth Fairy phone call or a small keepsake note. The amount under the pillow is the forgettable part.

A simple framework

• Pick a base rate.$3–$5 is the range most families find sustainable.
• Pick a premium rate.$10–$20, reserved for the first tooth and the last tooth only.
• Add one non-cash ritual.A note, a stamp in a tooth passport, a phone call — pick one, use it every time.
• Write the rate down somewhere.You'll forget what you did for the first tooth by the time the second one falls out. Kids will not.

The short version

Average is $5.50. Don't overbid on the first tooth. Put the magic somewhere other than the coin — that's where the memory actually lives.