Tooth Fairy Paying a Lot More This Year

The days of finding a quarter under your pillow are long gone: The Tooth Fairy no longer leaves loose change. Kids this year are getting an average of $3.70 per lost tooth, a 23% jump over last year's rate of $3 a tooth, according to a new survey by payment processor Visa Inc., released today. That's a 42% spike from the $2.60 per tooth that the Tooth Fairy gave in 2011.

How much kids are getting from the Tooth Fairy depends on where they live. Kids in the Northeast are getting the most, according to the Visa study, at $4.10 per tooth. In the West and South, kids received $3.70 and $3.60 per tooth, respectively. Midwestern kids received the least, at $3.30 a tooth. (More tooth fairy stories.)