Let’s give a round of applause to all the parents surviving summer. A recent Scoop poll informed me that summer camp competition is fierce, and full-time coverage will run you about five-figures, especially if you have more than one kid.
The data: Roughly 44% of Charlotte parents are spending $5K-$20K+ on summer camps.
- The largest share spend less than $2,500, but many of those families do not have full-time care and may have one parent staying home or working part time.
Yes and: Overnight camps are a different ballgame. Top North Carolina summer camps like Falling Creek, Rockmont, Camp Greystone and Illahee cost $9,212.50 on average for main camp (4 weeks).
Notable replies, by price tag:
$2.5K-$5K: “Just one kiddo and it ranges from 2,800-3,500 each summer. The fact that we have to have the entire summer planned out on January 8 is so hard…… plus by the time we get to July is the kiddo still interested in the same camps we signed up for 6 months ago?”
$5K-$10K: “Amazing that this is normal.”
$10K-$15K: “Including airfare and equipment/clothes.”
$15K-$20K: “2 kids, one 2-week sleep-away camp for each, mixed in weekly camps for the remainder…”
$20k+: “Sleep-away camp (4 weeks for 1 child) and summer ballet intensive (5 weeks for 1 child) put us over $20K.”
As one respondent put it: “These poll categories alone are giving me sticker shock!”
