# Child care cost in California

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

Infant care in a California child care center costs $353 a week in a typical county, about $18,356 a year, or 18.1% of the county's median family income. Below is the median weekly price in every county the Department of Labor's National Database of Childcare Prices covers (2022 data), for four age groups in centers and in family child care homes. A typical county is the middle one when counties are ranked by price.

- $353 a week: Infant care in a center, in a typical county (about $18,356 a year)
- $190 a week: Preschool in a center, in a typical county
- 18.1%: Infant center care as a share of the county's median family income, in a typical county
- $246 a week: Infant care in a family child care home, in a typical county

## Every county: median weekly price
| County | Infants, center | Toddlers, center | Preschool, center | School age, center | Infants, family home | Toddlers, family home | Preschool, family home | School age, family home | Infant center, % of median family income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alameda County | $516 | $371 | $408 | $434 | $361 | $311 | $345 | $279 | 17.9% |
| Alpine County | $356 | $186 | $168 | $189 | $202 | $200 | $200 | $162 | 16.1% |
| Amador County | $235 | $186 | $145 | $59 | $216 | $205 | $194 | $191 | 12.7% |
| Butte County | $354 | $216 | $179 | $87 | $291 | $242 | $225 | $194 | 21.4% |
| Calaveras County | $291 | $196 | $162 | $76 | $244 | $219 | $206 | $211 | 17.0% |
| Colusa County | $265 | $185 | $153 | $86 | $240 | $219 | $206 | $208 | 17.1% |
| Contra Costa County | $482 | $346 | $381 | $429 | $319 | $288 | $320 | $264 | 18.0% |
| Del Norte County | $224 | $179 | $148 | $54 | $231 | $210 | $195 | $203 | 15.7% |
| El Dorado County | $450 | $290 | $228 | $117 | $372 | $306 | $287 | $213 | 19.1% |
| Fresno County | $416 | $250 | $203 | $109 | $295 | $251 | $234 | $196 | 28.4% |
| Glenn County | $238 | $182 | $151 | $61 | $211 | $193 | $179 | $178 | 16.4% |
| Humboldt County | $366 | $232 | $192 | $95 | $253 | $220 | $204 | $178 | 23.7% |
| Imperial County | $222 | $175 | $161 | $148 | $190 | $185 | $180 | $180 | 19.0% |
| Inyo County | $361 | $213 | $176 | $91 | $249 | $220 | $204 | $178 | 23.3% |
| Kern County | $353 | $206 | $171 | $91 | $238 | $205 | $191 | $174 | 25.8% |
| Kings County | $261 | $184 | $153 | $86 | $218 | $195 | $181 | $174 | 18.8% |
| Lake County | $261 | $196 | $162 | $78 | $232 | $206 | $195 | $186 | 17.6% |
| Lassen County | $224 | $179 | $148 | $54 | $230 | $210 | $195 | $203 | 16.9% |
| Los Angeles County | $257 | $221 | $225 | $199 | $284 | $230 | $222 | $186 | 14.3% |
| Madera County | $332 | $188 | $156 | $95 | $236 | $210 | $195 | $181 | 21.8% |
| Marin County | $548 | $394 | $433 | $439 | $392 | $367 | $407 | $399 | 15.3% |
| Mariposa County | $254 | $184 | $152 | $56 | $232 | $211 | $196 | $203 | 18.5% |
| Mendocino County | $278 | $203 | $168 | $77 | $240 | $212 | $201 | $176 | 18.2% |
| Merced County | $245 | $199 | $165 | $75 | $231 | $202 | $191 | $182 | 18.0% |
| Modoc County | $224 | $179 | $148 | $54 | $205 | $191 | $177 | $179 | 19.1% |
| Mono County | $370 | $240 | $283 | $245 | $295 | $254 | $260 | $261 | 19.3% |
| Monterey County | $403 | $252 | $198 | $101 | $319 | $271 | $254 | $197 | 21.6% |
| Napa County | $377 | $264 | $238 | $242 | $262 | $251 | $251 | $194 | 16.0% |
| Nevada County | $317 | $213 | $201 | $196 | $218 | $207 | $207 | $221 | 16.3% |
| Orange County | $394 | $282 | $254 | $239 | $300 | $279 | $279 | $196 | 16.5% |
| Placer County | $449 | $297 | $233 | $134 | $389 | $330 | $310 | $238 | 17.8% |
| Plumas County | $224 | $179 | $148 | $54 | $230 | $210 | $195 | $203 | 13.4% |
| Riverside County | $405 | $238 | $189 | $108 | $231 | $215 | $204 | $179 | 22.1% |
| Sacramento County | $347 | $221 | $261 | $217 | $242 | $200 | $205 | $208 | 18.4% |
| San Benito County | $386 | $231 | $254 | $326 | $237 | $213 | $236 | $227 | 17.8% |
| San Bernardino County | $384 | $221 | $173 | $95 | $271 | $239 | $224 | $185 | 23.4% |
| San Diego County | $379 | $269 | $243 | $219 | $251 | $238 | $238 | $180 | 17.6% |
| San Francisco County | $607 | $433 | $477 | $438 | $395 | $369 | $410 | $433 | 19.7% |
| San Joaquin County | $387 | $236 | $185 | $96 | $328 | $276 | $259 | $203 | 22.0% |
| San Luis Obispo County | $361 | $232 | $272 | $232 | $246 | $209 | $214 | $215 | 16.5% |
| San Mateo County | $555 | $397 | $437 | $439 | $375 | $357 | $396 | $363 | 16.4% |
| Santa Barbara County | $453 | $309 | $242 | $115 | $363 | $305 | $286 | $207 | 22.4% |
| Santa Clara County | $527 | $373 | $410 | $438 | $361 | $313 | $347 | $287 | 15.7% |
| Santa Cruz County | $477 | $326 | $256 | $142 | $408 | $335 | $314 | $227 | 19.5% |
| Shasta County | $248 | $182 | $214 | $178 | $209 | $174 | $178 | $200 | 15.1% |
| Sierra County | $224 | $179 | $148 | $54 | $205 | $191 | $177 | $179 | 15.8% |
| Siskiyou County | $265 | $204 | $221 | $169 | $192 | $181 | $194 | $185 | 20.3% |
| Solano County | $424 | $272 | $214 | $119 | $367 | $304 | $285 | $220 | 20.0% |
| Sonoma County | $243 | $200 | $204 | $213 | $286 | $232 | $223 | $196 | 10.6% |
| Stanislaus County | $316 | $218 | $171 | $84 | $304 | $258 | $242 | $195 | 19.6% |
| Sutter County | $307 | $197 | $232 | $188 | $220 | $187 | $191 | $205 | 19.0% |
| Tehama County | $236 | $182 | $150 | $59 | $222 | $197 | $183 | $173 | 16.8% |
| Trinity County | $224 | $179 | $148 | $54 | $243 | $213 | $198 | $202 | 18.9% |
| Tulare County | $240 | $191 | $158 | $72 | $246 | $220 | $206 | $209 | 18.5% |
| Tuolumne County | $269 | $207 | $162 | $78 | $241 | $218 | $207 | $181 | 15.3% |
| Ventura County | $425 | $272 | $299 | $421 | $262 | $236 | $262 | $249 | 18.9% |
| Yolo County | $387 | $265 | $312 | $247 | $260 | $220 | $225 | $223 | 18.1% |
| Yuba County | $365 | $219 | $178 | $112 | $273 | $241 | $225 | $191 | 24.9% |

## Help paying and finding care
- Child care resources for California (ChildCare.gov): https://www.childcare.gov/state-resources/california
- Licensed programs: https://backpr.com/find/california
- State rules: https://backpr.com/resources/states/california

## 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. Checked 2026-11-08.

## Common questions
### How much does child care cost in California?
In 2022, infant care in a child care center had a median price of $353 a week in a typical California county, about $18,356 a year. County medians run from $222 to $607 a week. Preschool in a center is $190 a week in a typical county. Infant care in a family child care home is $246.

### Which California county has the most expensive infant care?
San Francisco County has the highest median price for infant care in a center, $607 a week, or 19.7% of its median family income. Imperial County has the lowest, $222 a week.

### What share of income does child care take in California?
For infant care in a center, the typical California county's price equals 18.1% of median family income. In 58 of 58 counties it is more than 7%, the benchmark the federal government has used for affordable child care. Families with lower incomes than the county median pay a larger share. This is a comparison, not advice.

### Is there help paying for child care in California?
Every state has a child care assistance program for eligible families, funded in part through the federal Child Care and Development Fund. Whether you qualify depends on income and other rules the state sets. ChildCare.gov lists California's program and how to apply.