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Child care prices by county

The file lists 3,221 counties for 2022, the latest year it covers, and 522 of them publish no price for any series. Each county is ranked on four measures, and every state has a page listing its counties.

The nation, 2022

$174 a week over 2,661 counties that publish one
Median center-based infant price
2022
A national median is withheld when fewer than 11 counties publish a price.
3,221 522 publish no price
Counties in the file
2022
A county with no published price is listed as not published.
About these figures
Median center-based infant price
A national median is withheld when fewer than 11 counties publish a price.
Counties in the file
A county with no published price is listed as not published.

What stands out

Five findings. Figures from the 2022 file and its trend.

  • The median center-based infant price was $174 a week in 2022, over the 2,661 counties that published one. The nation →

  • The national median center-based infant price was $121 in 2008 and $174 in 2022, in each year’s own dollars. The nation →

  • San Francisco County, CA, had the highest published center-based infant price in 2022, at $607 a week. San Francisco County, CA →

  • Santa Cruz County, CA, had the highest published infant price in a family child care home in 2022, at $408 a week. Santa Cruz County, CA →

  • 522 of 3,221 counties published no child care price of any kind in 2022, and none is filled in. Counties with no price →

What changed in this release

This is the hub’s first release, retrieved on November 7, 2026: $174 a week, the median county price of center-based infant care in 2022.

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Over time

The median center-based infant price was $120.64 in 2008 and $173.55 in 2022, in each year’s dollars

The national median of the county center-based infant prices in each study year, in that year’s own dollars. A price is what a surveyed provider charges, not what a family pays.

Each year is over the counties that published a price that year, which change from year to year, so a change in the median is partly a change in which counties are counted.

Prices are as surveyed and are not adjusted for inflation.

Source: The Department of Labor’s Women’s Bureau

About this chart

The figures

The median center-based infant price was $120.64 in 2008 and $173.55 in 2022, in each year’s dollars. The national median of the county center-based infant prices in each study year, in that year’s own dollars. A price is what a surveyed provider charges, not what a family pays.
Study yearMedian weekly priceCounties over which it is taken
2008$120.641,424
2009$120.641,901
2010$124.301,992
2011$129.251,994
2012$130.902,054
2013$133.782,076
2014$134.472,391
2015$137.292,614
2016$138.502,745
2017$144.822,798
2018$149.732,797
2019$154.482,779
2020$157.702,780
2021$160.622,447
2022$173.552,661

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Prices by series, nation, 2022

A national median is taken across the counties that publish a price, and it is withheld when fewer than 11 do. The count is printed beside each median.

1 more column on a wider screen

Median weekly full-time price by care type and age group, nation, 2022
SeriesMedianCounties publishing
Center-based, infant$173.552,661
Center-based, toddler$153.462,663
Center-based, preschool$144.272,670
Center-based, school age$119.522,646
Family child care home, infant$143.222,584
Family child care home, toddler$131.752,580
Family child care home, preschool$131.002,586
Family child care home, school age$117.502,556

Rankings of counties

Counties are ranked on each measure, highest price first, among the counties that publish a value for it. A ranking is of counties, never of states.

States

The Technical Report says that the state-level metrics, “especially the median prices for childcare, should be used with significant caution.”

Each state page lists its counties, ranked where they publish a price, and names the counties that publish none. The methodology explains why no state median is shown.

How this hub reads its source: the methodology. The publisher’s page for the dataset is the Women’s Bureau’s National Database of Childcare Prices. The Technical Report is linked here. This site is not affiliated with the U.S. Department of Labor and is not endorsed by it. The Department’s Women’s Bureau is the publisher of the data.

Everything in this hub

Every page in this topic, by kind.

Rankings of counties4

The counties ranked nationally on each measure, highest price first, among the counties that publish a value for it.

States52

Each state and the District of Columbia, with its counties: ranked where they publish a price, and the ones that publish none named.

Counties ranked within each state177

Each state’s counties ranked on each measure, highest price first. Counties are ranked within their state, never states against each other.

Sources

Compiled automatically from National Database of Childcare Prices and National Database of Childcare Prices, Technical Report by a checked SQL query · Editor: Kian O'Connor · How this site is built

How to cite this page

Cite the page’s address and the date printed on it, and name U.S. Department of Labor, Women’s Bureau as the source of the figures.

American Factbook. “Childcare costs.” Updated November 7, 2026. https://americanfactbook.org/childcare-costs. Source: National Database of Childcare Prices, https://www.dol.gov/agencies/wb/topics/featured-childcare.

Data retrieved