The Insider's Guide · Pay

Do You Get Paid for Camp America? Real 2026 Figures

The pocket-money figure is the number every agency leads with. It's not a lie — it's just the top line of an account with a lot of lines underneath it. Here's the honest version.

The stipend

At a general camp you're paid a fixed seasonal stipend rather than by the hour:

• $2,250 — the common first-timer minimum (Camp America quotes "up to" this; Camp Leaders and Camp USA guarantee it).
• $2,500 — if you go as an activity specialist, which is how a soccer coach applies.
• $2,750 — if you're a returner going back to the same camp.

Two things that shrink it

Tax. Your stipend is pre-tax. The good news: as a J-1 visa holder you're generally exempt from Social Security, Medicare and federal unemployment tax — the big US payroll deductions. The catch: you still owe federal and often state income tax, so a chunk comes off. Expect to actually see something like $1,900–$2,100 of a $2,250 stipend.

Deductions. The most consistent complaint in the reviews is take-home landing below the advertised figure. One coach on Sitejabber described earning around $4,500 but keeping about $1,500 after the agency's deductions. Ask, in writing, exactly what comes out before you sign.

The bit that makes it stretch

Here's the counterweight the moaning misses: at camp your food and accommodation are free for the whole summer. No rent, no weekly shop. So even a modest stipend is close to pure profit while you're on site. The money problem isn't camp — it's the travelling afterwards, which you can't legally work to fund.

Will you come home up or down?

Here's the honest bottom line most agencies won't do for you. Once you add flights and the travelling most people do after camp — which you can't legally work to fund — an agency camper tends to come home somewhere between roughly even and a few hundred pounds down, and counts it worth every penny. A touring soccer coach, with no placement fee to have paid and free board all summer, can actually come home a bit up if the weekly pay lands well. Either way, nobody's getting rich. Go for the experience and the pay can't disappoint you.

Returners earn more

One more thing worth knowing: the money improves if you go back. Returners to the same camp get a higher published minimum ($2,750), and second-year coaches at the touring companies are worth more and get first pick of placements. A modest first summer is really an investment in a better-paid second one.

What about the coaching companies?

If you go as a touring soccer coach rather than a camp counsellor, you're paid differently — by the week or hour. A live 2025/26 Challenger listing advertised $400–$500 a week for full days; UK International Soccer aggregates to around $25.82 an hour on Indeed. Board and lodging with host families are free, so a low weekly number stretches further than it looks.

The honest headline across all of it: you don't do this for the money. The pay is modest; the value is the summer.

All figures are for 2026 and change year to year. Stipends are set by camps and vary; always check the current programme pages and don't treat any figure here as a guarantee.

Keep reading

• How much does Camp America really cost in 2026?
• Is Camp America worth it? An honest answer
• ← Back to the book