The Tooth Fairy has pretty good job security, but that doesn't mean there isn't the risk of pay cuts. For the first time in five years, the value of a single lost tooth has DECLINED.
The national average is now $5.84 per tooth. That's down 39 cents from $6.23 last year, which was an all-time high. Current prices are still UP nearly two dollars from four years ago, pre-pandemic.
Kids in the West get the biggest payouts at $8.54 per tooth. (Talk about a gold rush!) Kids in the Northeast are next at $6.87 . . . then the South at $5.51 . . . and the Midwest is lower at "just" $3.63 a tooth.
But even with this one-year decline, the overall trend is strong.
Over the past 26 years, the average Tooth Fairy payout has surged 349% from $1.30 to $5.84 per tooth. At that rate, by 2050, the Tooth Fairy will be leaving a whopping $30 under the pillow for a single tooth.
Wicker and Wilde attest that "back in their day" they only got a stinking quarter for a tooth. So even though though there is a slight decline, it's still waaaaaay more than they got! LOL
