The Tooth Fairy going rate in the UK

4 November 2026

There is no official rate, but UK surveys put the Tooth Fairy's average at about £2 a tooth. A RIFT survey of 6,673 UK parents, published in November 2023, found an average of £1.96. A Dental Phobia survey of 5,000 parents in early 2023 put it at £1.90. The most common amounts are a £1 or £2 coin.

How much does the Tooth Fairy leave per tooth in the UK?

No single body tracks this. The best guide comes from a handful of surveys that asked parents what they actually leave. They differ in method and sample, but they land in a similar place:

So a £1 or £2 coin is right in the middle of what UK families do. The YouGov figure is lower because it asked what people thought was fair, not what parents actually put under the pillow, and it is older.

What do most parents actually leave?

Averages hide a wide spread. The Dental Phobia survey broke the answers down like this:

• Under £1: 14% of parents
• £1: 27%
• £2: 25%
• £5: 12%
• £10: 9%
• More than £10: around 5%

The same survey found that 8% of children never got a visit from the Tooth Fairy at all. In other words, more than half of parents leave a single £1 or £2 coin, and a generous minority leave a note.

Does the going rate change across the UK?

Yes, and the surveys don't agree on who is most generous:

• RIFT (2023): Northern Ireland was highest at £2.93 a tooth, and the East of England lowest at £1.65.
• Dental Phobia (2023): London was highest at £2.30, and Newcastle lowest at 90p.
• YouGov (2017): Scotland thought the Tooth Fairy should pay £1, while the Midlands and Wales said 80p.

Treat regional figures lightly. They come from smaller slices of each sample, and they can move a lot from one survey to the next. What matters more is what your child's friends are getting, because children do compare notes. A MoneySuperMarket survey run by Censuswide in April 2025 found that one in four children compare payouts with their friends.

Has the Tooth Fairy put her prices up?

Over a generation, yes. RIFT asked parents what they received as children and got an average of 98p, about half of today's £1.96. Over the last few years, though, the trend is flat or even down: Dental Phobia's average fell from £2.10 in 2018 to £1.90 in 2023, which it put down to the cost of living.

Children lose 20 baby teeth in total, so at about £2 a tooth the whole set comes to roughly £40, spread over six or seven years. Most children start losing teeth at around six and lose the last one at around 12 (more in our guide to the first lost tooth).

Should the first tooth be worth more?

Many families make the first tooth special, and it is a nice way to mark a real milestone. If you do, decide now what the "normal" rate will be afterwards, so that the second tooth isn't a let-down. Some good ways to do it:

• Leave the usual coin plus a small keepsake: a certificate, a letter or a tiny tooth box.
• Leave a slightly larger coin or note for the first tooth only, with a note explaining it's a "first tooth bonus".
• Keep the money the same but make the visit bigger, with fairy dust or a letter from the Tooth Fairy.

The letter is often what children keep. Coins get spent; a note with their name on it goes in a memory box.

How to choose the right amount for your family

1. Pick a rate you can keep up for 20 teeth. Whatever you leave for the first tooth sets expectations. A rate you're happy to repeat beats a big opening offer.
2. Be consistent between siblings. Brothers and sisters will notice. In the 2025 Censuswide survey, four in ten parents said the amount changes with every visit, which is exactly what leads to awkward questions.
3. Have the right coins in the house. One in five parents in the same survey said the Tooth Fairy had overpaid because she didn't have the right change. Keep a few £1 or £2 coins somewhere safe.
4. Think about your local playground. If everyone at school gets £1, a £10 note can cause trouble for other parents, and the reverse can disappoint your child.
5. Decide on special cases now. Teeth that are lost at school, swallowed or pulled out by a dentist all still count, in most families. A note explaining "the Tooth Fairy knows" saves tears.

Does the Tooth Fairy pay by card now?

Some do. The 2025 Censuswide survey for MoneySuperMarket found that around one in ten UK children now get their tooth money digitally, for example into a children's banking app. It is handy if you never have cash, but most children still prefer something they can hold, so a short note under the pillow saying the money is "in your account" keeps the magic going.