Kids who lose their teeth aren’t raking in the dough the way they used to. According The Original Tooth Fairy Poll conducted by Delta Dental, for the second year in a row the Tooth Fairy has been tightening its belt, with kids getting an average of $3.70 per tooth in 2018, down 43-cents from last year.
Of course, that’s just the national average, with some parents saying the Tooth Fairy has actually been quite generous. In fact, 37% of parent say they give their child at least $5 or more. And if it’s a first tooth, well, that brings more dough too, with the average amount for a first tooth being $4.96, $1.26 over the average lost tooth.
And a child’s gift does vary depending on location. It seems the Tooth Fairy is most generous in the West, paying an average of $4.19 which is actually 66-cents less than last year, followed by the South at $3.91 cents a tooth, the Northeast at $3.75 a tooth and the Midwest, at $2.97 a tooth.