A teen allowance in the US runs from about $12 a week at 13 to $20 or $35 at 16, and settling on the number will take you ten minutes. The argument that comes back every other week is about something else: what that money is supposed to cover, and what you say the week it is gone.
Averages give you a range, not an answer. Two households can pay exactly the same amount and argue about completely different things, because the list behind the figure is not the same in each.
The short answer: budget roughly $12 to $18 a week at 13 and $20 to $35 at 16. Before you fix the amount, write two columns: what the allowance pays for, and what stays on you. Then decide, in advance, what you will say when your teenager asks for more, because they will.
What teenagers actually receive
Till Financial published figures in 2026 drawn from 9,135 US families who set up an allowance during 2025 and 2026. Their median across all ages is $10 a week, and the ranges climb steeply through the teenage years.
| Age | Per week | Roughly per month |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | $7 to $10 | $35 |
| 13 | $12 to $18 | $60 |
| 16 | $20 to $35 | $110 |
| 18 | $30 to $50 | $160 |
Greenlight's 2025 numbers sit a little lower for the same ages: $10.37 to $13.13 a week for 12 to 14, and $15.26 to $21.47 for 15 to 17. Wells Fargo, surveying 1,587 US parents in early May 2025, reported a much higher average of $37 a week, which shows how far a minority of generous households pull an average up.
Use these as a range check rather than a target. For the full picture from age 4 upwards, including European figures and the chore question, see our guide to how much allowance by age.
Write down what the money is for
A 14-year-old has recurring costs an 8-year-old does not: a movie on Saturday, food after practice, a birthday present for a friend, credit inside a game. Until someone has said which of those belong to them, you end up re-arguing each one at the moment it comes up, usually at the register and usually with no time to think about it.
Take ten minutes and draw two columns on a sheet of paper. The table below is a starting point to adapt to your household.
| Who pays | Examples |
|---|---|
| Them, out of the allowance | Outings with friends, food and drinks outside the house, birthday presents for friends, in-game purchases, the accessories and small extras they choose |
| You | School meals, school supplies, the clothes they need, transport, phone plan, sports fees and kit |
| Decide once, at home | Clothes they want on top of what they need, streaming and app subscriptions, one-off expensive trips |
The second column matters as much as the first, even though it looks obvious. A teenager who believes their shoes come out of the $60 a month they receive stops buying anything at all, and since they still need shoes, you pay for them in the end.
Put the list somewhere they can see it, or send it to them, because a list that lives in your head will not help you the evening you have to decide something.
The week the money runs out
Wells Fargo found that 65% of parents find it difficult to step back and let their children make their own money mistakes, which is easier to know before the request arrives than during it. Decide your answer now, while nobody is standing in front of you asking for anything.
Three answers hold up, and which one you pick matters less than using the same one every time.
- No, we talk again on payday. This is the simplest to hold, on one condition: the expense you turned down has to sit in their column. If you refuse something that belongs in yours, they will read it as arbitrary, and they will be right.
- An advance, taken off the next payment. Write down the amount and the date somewhere you will both see it, because an advance nobody wrote down never gets deducted and quietly turns into a gift.
- A paid job, on top of what they already do at home. Agree the rate before the work, not when you hand over the money. Our responsibility chart guide helps separate what counts as their normal share from what can carry a price.
The one that does not hold is the answer that changes with how tired you are, because a teenager works out very quickly which evenings are the soft ones and learns to wait for them.
What an allowance should never cover
Some costs stay out of their column entirely: what they need to get through a school day, anything to do with their health, and anything that would make them choose between eating and going out with friends, because that is not their trade-off to make.
You add the phone plan because it is expensive, then clothes because they want expensive ones, and without ever deciding it anywhere you have handed them part of the household budget.
If you do want them managing something larger, a yearly clothing budget for instance, pay it separately, with its own amount and its own date, so that the two never mix and you can see which one ran out.
When your card is the back-up
Wakefield Research surveyed 1,000 US teenagers aged 13 to 18 for the MissionSquare Foundation in July 2025. Alongside cash, 21.6% said their parents let them use a parent's credit card, and 12.6% are given a prepaid debit card their parents top up.
Either arrangement can work on its own. Having both at once without a rule does not, because the card ends up covering every shortfall and the amount you set no longer sets a limit.
Two things to settle. First, what the card is for: an agreed list, or a single category such as transport, with everything else coming out of the allowance. Second, what happens when it gets used outside that list, and deducting the difference from the next payment is the version that keeps the arithmetic visible to both of you.
Review the amount, and the list with it
Set a fixed date, a birthday or the start of the school year, and say that the amount is reviewed then. That holds at any age, and more so through the teenage years, when spending changes from one year to the next.
Read the list again at the same time, because a 16-year-old going out on their own on Saturdays no longer has the perimeter they had at 13. Raising the amount without widening the list will bring the same conversation back a term later.
What this will not fix
A teenager who spends everything in three days. That is how the learning happens, provided you do not top them up. Nobody can tell you how many months it takes before they start spreading it out, and it varies from one teenager to the next.
A tight household budget. They will learn more from a small amount paid reliably than from a larger one paid whenever there is some left. If you have to lower it, say so and give the reason, and revise the list in the same conversation.
Behavior problems. Withdrawing the allowance as a punishment removes the one regular reference point they had, and leaves them nothing to practice on. If the disagreement is actually about chores, handle those on their own terms: see our chore chart by age.
Key takeaways
- Write two columns before you set the amount: what they pay for, what you pay for. A figure with no list attached gets re-argued at every purchase.
- Budget $12 to $18 a week at 13 and $20 to $35 at 16, on Till Financial's 2026 ranges. Their median across all ages is $10 a week.
- Decide your answer to the mid-month request before it arrives: no until payday, a written advance deducted next time, or a paid job priced in advance. Use the same answer every time.
- Keep school meals, school supplies and the clothes they need out of their column entirely. If you want them running a clothing budget, pay it separately with its own date.
- If your teenager can use your card or a prepaid card, write down what it is for. Otherwise the card covers every shortfall and the amount you set no longer sets a limit.
In Harmonia, your teenager sees their own balance on their own screen, and payments follow the schedule you set rather than your memory. Allowance management is part of Harmonia+, and the app works without a mandatory subscription for everything else.
Sources
- Till Financial, The Average Allowance for Kids and Teenagers in 2026 (9,135 US families, 2025 to 2026)
- Greenlight, Average weekly allowance by age for kids and teens, 2025 figures
- Wells Fargo, New Wells Fargo Study Shows Parents Give Their Kids an Average Weekly Allowance of $37, survey of 1,587 US parents, 28 April to 8 May 2025
- MissionSquare Foundation and Wakefield Research, Financial Futures for U.S. Teens: How Teens Manage Money, July 2025 (1,000 US teenagers aged 13 to 18)
Frequently asked questions
How much allowance should a 13-year-old get?
Till Financial's 2026 ranges put 13-year-olds at $12 to $18 a week, or around $60 a month. Greenlight's 2025 figures for 12 to 14 sit slightly lower, at $10.37 to $13.13 a week. Settle the list of what the money has to cover first, and the figure follows from it.
Should a teen allowance be paid weekly or monthly?
Till reports that 72% of families pay weekly. Monthly asks your teenager to spread spending across four weeks, which is the skill worth building at this age. Weekly limits the damage when it all goes on day one. Many families switch to monthly around 13 or 14.
What should I do when my teenager runs out of money mid-month?
Decide the answer once, before the request comes: refuse until payday, advance a written amount deducted from the next payment, or offer a paid job at a rate agreed in advance. You lose most of the benefit by answering differently depending on the evening.
Should a teen allowance pay for their phone plan?
A phone plan is a fixed cost your teenager can neither cancel nor postpone, so carrying it teaches them very little. Keep it on your side. Out-of-plan charges and in-app purchases sit naturally in their column, because they decide to make those themselves.
My teenager has a part-time job. Should I reduce their allowance?
No. Cutting the payment the moment they start earning taxes the effort, and they will stop. What can change is the perimeter: it becomes reasonable for them to fund larger items, as long as you agree it first and update the list.
Can I take the allowance away as a punishment?
It is the one regular reference point they have for learning to plan their spending, and removing it stops that learning without addressing whatever caused the problem. Handle the consequence on its own terms and leave the payment out of it.
How does Harmonia handle a teenager's allowance?
Your teenager sees their own balance on their own screen, and payments follow the schedule you set rather than your memory. You can adjust the amount as they grow. Allowance management is part of Harmonia+, and the rest of the app works without a mandatory subscription.
