# How much does child care cost in each state?

Source: https://backpr.com/resources/child-care-cost-by-state. Last updated: 2026-11-08.

Child care prices vary a lot by county. This page shows what the U.S. Department of Labor's National Database of Childcare Prices reports for 48 states and DC: the median weekly price for infants, toddlers, preschool and school-age children, in child care centers and in family child care homes, and what that price is as a share of the county's median family income. A state's typical county is the middle one when its counties are ranked by price. Open a state to see every county.

To cite this page: BackPR (2026). Child care cost by state and county, from the U.S. Department of Labor Women's Bureau National Database of Childcare Prices (2022 data). https://backpr.com/data/child-care-cost-by-state.json. CC BY 4.0. Page: https://backpr.com/resources/child-care-cost-by-state

## Key facts
- $205 a week: Infant care in a center: the middle of the 48 states and DC figures (about $10,660 a year)
- 13.1%: Infant center care as a share of median family income, the same middle figure
- $490 a week: Infant center care in District of Columbia, the highest typical county (DC is a single area)
- $96 a week: Infant center care in Kansas, the lowest typical county

## Median weekly price in a typical county, by state
| State | Data year | Counties | Infant, center | Toddler, center | Preschool, center | School age, center | Infant, family home | Infant center, % of median family income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Alabama](https://backpr.com/resources/child-care-cost/alabama) | 2022 | 67 | $135 | $132 | $125 | $113 | $129 | 10.3% |
| [Alaska](https://backpr.com/resources/child-care-cost/alaska) | 2022 | 8 | $296 | $255 | $250 | $162 | $251 | 14.7% |
| [Arizona](https://backpr.com/resources/child-care-cost/arizona) | 2022 | 15 | $215 | $162 | $162 | $165 | $175 | 15.7% |
| [Arkansas](https://backpr.com/resources/child-care-cost/arkansas) | 2021 | 68 | $103 | $104 | $93 | $83 | $93 | 9.8% |
| [California](https://backpr.com/resources/child-care-cost/california) | 2022 | 58 | $353 | $217 | $190 | $110 | $246 | 18.1% |
| [Colorado](https://backpr.com/resources/child-care-cost/colorado) | 2022 | 62 | $235 | $215 | $202 | $149 | $187 | 13.9% |
| [Connecticut](https://backpr.com/resources/child-care-cost/connecticut) | 2022 | 8 | $320 | $320 | $253 | $120 | $245 | 14.8% |
| [Delaware](https://backpr.com/resources/child-care-cost/delaware) | 2022 | 3 | $182 | $139 | $145 | $111 | $156 | 11.5% |
| [District of Columbia](https://backpr.com/resources/child-care-cost/district-of-columbia) | 2022 | 1 | $490 | $451 | $393 | – | $400 | 17.9% |
| [Florida](https://backpr.com/resources/child-care-cost/florida) | 2022 | 58 | $200 | $167 | $155 | $115 | $166 | 13.4% |
| [Georgia](https://backpr.com/resources/child-care-cost/georgia) | 2022 | 159 | $109 | $102 | $102 | $55 | $103 | 9.3% |
| [Hawaii](https://backpr.com/resources/child-care-cost/hawaii) | 2022 | 5 | $306 | $190 | $190 | $44 | $173 | 15.1% |
| [Idaho](https://backpr.com/resources/child-care-cost/idaho) | 2022 | 44 | $127 | $122 | $113 | $108 | $109 | 9.8% |
| [Illinois](https://backpr.com/resources/child-care-cost/illinois) | 2022 | 89 | $234 | $205 | $172 | $42 | $158 | 13.9% |
| [Indiana](https://backpr.com/resources/child-care-cost/indiana) | - | 0 | no county prices in the database | | | | | |
| [Iowa](https://backpr.com/resources/child-care-cost/iowa) | 2022 | 99 | $160 | $138 | $138 | $110 | $106 | 9.8% |
| [Kansas](https://backpr.com/resources/child-care-cost/kansas) | 2022 | 105 | $96 | $98 | $98 | $82 | $98 | 6.7% |
| [Kentucky](https://backpr.com/resources/child-care-cost/kentucky) | 2022 | 120 | $128 | $120 | $120 | $120 | $119 | 10.4% |
| [Louisiana](https://backpr.com/resources/child-care-cost/louisiana) | 2022 | 64 | $143 | $140 | $137 | $126 | $133 | 11.2% |
| [Maine](https://backpr.com/resources/child-care-cost/maine) | 2022 | 16 | $225 | $203 | $188 | $140 | $163 | 14.2% |
| [Maryland](https://backpr.com/resources/child-care-cost/maryland) | 2022 | 24 | $254 | $175 | $175 | $163 | $177 | 13.1% |
| [Massachusetts](https://backpr.com/resources/child-care-cost/massachusetts) | 2022 | 14 | $352 | $320 | $270 | $210 | $263 | 17.9% |
| [Michigan](https://backpr.com/resources/child-care-cost/michigan) | 2022 | 83 | $136 | $145 | $135 | $120 | $160 | 9.6% |
| [Minnesota](https://backpr.com/resources/child-care-cost/minnesota) | 2022 | 87 | $211 | $197 | $182 | $163 | $143 | 12.2% |
| [Mississippi](https://backpr.com/resources/child-care-cost/mississippi) | 2022 | 82 | $118 | $107 | $107 | $102 | – | 10.9% |
| [Missouri](https://backpr.com/resources/child-care-cost/missouri) | 2020 | 7 | $215 | $169 | $169 | $142 | $153 | 14.0% |
| [Montana](https://backpr.com/resources/child-care-cost/montana) | 2022 | 56 | $218 | $227 | $195 | $195 | $174 | 14.8% |
| [Nebraska](https://backpr.com/resources/child-care-cost/nebraska) | 2022 | 93 | $187 | $178 | $163 | $158 | $108 | 12.3% |
| [Nevada](https://backpr.com/resources/child-care-cost/nevada) | 2022 | 17 | $184 | $159 | $150 | $146 | $129 | 10.7% |
| [New Hampshire](https://backpr.com/resources/child-care-cost/new-hampshire) | 2022 | 10 | $286 | $272 | $238 | $213 | $197 | 14.8% |
| [New Jersey](https://backpr.com/resources/child-care-cost/new-jersey) | 2022 | 21 | $304 | $296 | $296 | $143 | $192 | 13.1% |
| [New Mexico](https://backpr.com/resources/child-care-cost/new-mexico) | - | 0 | no county prices in the database | | | | | |
| [New York](https://backpr.com/resources/child-care-cost/new-york) | 2022 | 62 | $247 | $230 | $200 | $194 | $190 | 15.6% |
| [North Carolina](https://backpr.com/resources/child-care-cost/north-carolina) | 2022 | 99 | $181 | $142 | $123 | $73 | $151 | 12.9% |
| [North Dakota](https://backpr.com/resources/child-care-cost/north-dakota) | 2022 | 53 | $209 | $190 | $177 | $172 | $153 | 11.6% |
| [Ohio](https://backpr.com/resources/child-care-cost/ohio) | 2022 | 88 | $222 | $200 | $175 | $126 | $170 | 14.2% |
| [Oklahoma](https://backpr.com/resources/child-care-cost/oklahoma) | 2022 | 77 | $205 | $177 | $177 | $116 | $149 | 15.3% |
| [Oregon](https://backpr.com/resources/child-care-cost/oregon) | 2022 | 36 | $197 | $181 | $150 | $62 | $173 | 15.2% |
| [Pennsylvania](https://backpr.com/resources/child-care-cost/pennsylvania) | 2020 | 67 | $185 | $178 | $165 | $153 | $148 | 13.1% |
| [Rhode Island](https://backpr.com/resources/child-care-cost/rhode-island) | 2022 | 5 | $293 | $283 | $248 | $65 | $260 | 12.4% |
| [South Carolina](https://backpr.com/resources/child-care-cost/south-carolina) | 2022 | 46 | $117 | $117 | $127 | $134 | $134 | 10.8% |
| [South Dakota](https://backpr.com/resources/child-care-cost/south-dakota) | 2022 | 66 | $120 | $120 | $114 | $115 | $100 | 8.1% |
| [Tennessee](https://backpr.com/resources/child-care-cost/tennessee) | 2022 | 95 | $131 | $110 | $110 | $50 | $91 | 10.8% |
| [Texas](https://backpr.com/resources/child-care-cost/texas) | 2022 | 254 | $144 | $136 | $133 | $126 | $131 | 9.9% |
| [Utah](https://backpr.com/resources/child-care-cost/utah) | 2022 | 29 | $226 | $184 | $168 | $164 | $168 | 13.8% |
| [Vermont](https://backpr.com/resources/child-care-cost/vermont) | 2021 | 14 | $309 | $293 | $302 | $224 | $203 | 18.7% |
| [Virginia](https://backpr.com/resources/child-care-cost/virginia) | 2022 | 133 | $191 | $147 | $141 | $142 | $158 | 11.3% |
| [Washington](https://backpr.com/resources/child-care-cost/washington) | 2022 | 39 | $328 | $249 | $249 | $192 | $246 | 17.3% |
| [West Virginia](https://backpr.com/resources/child-care-cost/west-virginia) | 2022 | 55 | $173 | $165 | $166 | $150 | $156 | 13.6% |
| [Wisconsin](https://backpr.com/resources/child-care-cost/wisconsin) | 2022 | 72 | $210 | $190 | $190 | $164 | $155 | 12.9% |
| [Wyoming](https://backpr.com/resources/child-care-cost/wyoming) | 2022 | 22 | $159 | $138 | $139 | $125 | $147 | 9.1% |

## Notes
- Prices come from the U.S. Department of Labor Women's Bureau National Database of Childcare Prices (NDCP). The Women's Bureau built it from state market rate surveys of regulated providers, with a contractor standardizing every price to a full-time weekly rate. Most states are shown for 2022, the newest year in the database; where a state has no 2022 prices, we show its latest year and say so.
- Prices are not adjusted for inflation: each is in the dollars of its study year. A state shown for 2020 or 2021 can't be compared dollar for dollar with one shown for 2022.
- The Women's Bureau estimated some values: prices for years between state surveys were filled in with a straight-line trend, prices stated per hour, day or month were converted to weekly, and some counties carry a statewide or regional price, so many neighboring counties show exactly the same figure. The Women's Bureau's technical report (September 2024) lists the adjustments state by state, and it advises using the data at the county level.
- Age groups are approximate: infants are about 0 to 23 months, toddlers 24 to 35 months and preschool 36 to 54 months, plus the school-age price each state reports. States define the groups differently.
- Center means a child care facility with classrooms. Family child care home means a regulated provider who cares for a small group of children in their own home. Prices are meant as full-time weekly rates for one child, and what a family pays can differ with the provider, the hours and any subsidy. School-age prices in some states reflect before- and after-school care, so they may not match a full-time rate.
- Cost as a share of income is our calculation: the weekly price times 52 weeks, divided by the county's yearly median family income from the American Community Survey for the same year. The income is for all families in the county, not only those with young children, and families with lower incomes pay a larger share.
- A state's typical county is the middle one when you rank its counties by median price, with every county counted equally. It is not a statewide average and does not weight counties by their number of children. Where only a few counties have a price, the figure says little about the whole state.
- The federal government has long used 7% of family income as its benchmark for affordable child care. Each state page says how many of its counties are above it. This is a comparison, not advice or an eligibility rule.
- Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Women's Bureau, National Database of Childcare Prices (NDCP), county-level file 2008-2022, https://www.dol.gov/agencies/wb/topics/childcare (data file https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WB/NDCP2022.xlsx; technical report https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WB/National-Database-of-Childcare-Prices-Technical-Report.pdf).
- Download: https://backpr.com/data/child-care-cost-by-state.csv, https://backpr.com/data/child-care-cost-by-state.json, https://backpr.com/data/child-care-cost-by-county.csv and https://backpr.com/data/child-care-cost-by-county.json (CC BY 4.0).

## Common questions
### How much does child care cost per week?
Ranking the 48 states and DC here, the middle state's typical county pays $205 a week for infant care in a child care center, about $10,660 a year. It ranges from $96 in Kansas to $490 in District of Columbia. Prices for older children are usually lower. Use a state page for your county.

### Where does the data come from?
The U.S. Department of Labor Women's Bureau National Database of Childcare Prices. It combines the prices in states' market rate surveys of regulated providers with county data from the American Community Survey. We republished the county prices (2022 for most states) and added the share-of-income calculation.

### How big is child care's cost next to income?
In the middle state's typical county, a year of infant care in a center equals 13.1% of median family income. The federal government has long used 7% of family income as its benchmark for affordable child care. This data shows prices, not why they are what they are.

### Is family child care cheaper than a center?
In most states shown, yes, but not in all of them. In Michigan and South Carolina, for example, the typical county's family home price for infants is higher than the center price. The state pages list both prices for every county. A family child care home is a regulated provider who cares for a small group of children in their own home.

### Why are some states missing or shown for an earlier year?
The database only has prices for states whose market rate surveys it could use. Indiana and New Mexico have no county prices in it. Arkansas (2021), Missouri (2020), Pennsylvania (2020) and Vermont (2021) are shown for their latest available year instead of 2022.

### Can I use this data?
Yes. The dataset is free under CC BY 4.0. Download the state or county CSV or JSON from this page and credit BackPR with a link. The underlying prices are from the Department of Labor.