Methodology
Every figure here traces back to one public dataset. Here is how it is built.
The source
Prices come from the National Database of Childcare Prices, U.S. Department of Labor, Women's Bureau, the most comprehensive federal source of childcare prices, reported at the county level by care setting (center-based and family or home-based) and by child age. It is public and free. We use each state's latest available year of data, which spans 2020 to 2022 across states.
From counties to states
The database prices are county-level medians. For each state we take its most recent year of data and combine the counties that have a center-based infant price that year into one state figure, weighting each county by its population so that larger metros count for more. In most states that is every county. In Missouri (7 of 115 counties), Alaska (8 of 30), Illinois (58 of 102), Florida (53 of 67), Hawaii (4 of 5), Arkansas (68 of 75), Wyoming (21 of 23), Colorado (62 of 64) and North Carolina (99 of 100) it is only some of them, so those state figures describe the priced counties, and each state page says so. The national figures use the same counties. The federal data reports weekly prices; we multiply by 52 to show an annual cost, and divide by 12 for a monthly one.
County tables on state pages
Each state page lists the counties behind its figure, from the National Database of Childcare Prices 2008-2022 county file (NDCP2022.xlsx), the newest county-level release from the Department of Labor. Every state uses its latest year with a center-based infant price: 2022 for most states, 2021 for Arkansas and Vermont, and 2020 for Missouri and Pennsylvania. Counties with identical prices, which usually reflect regional rate zones in a state's survey, are grouped into one row. Every county row is free to download in the county dataset (CSV).
The Women's Bureau also publishes state-level estimates for 2018 and 2023. Those re-express prices from the 2016 to 2018 survey cycle in 2023 dollars, so they are not newer price data, and the ranking does not use them.
Where prices are modelled
Not every price in the federal file comes straight from a survey. States run market rate surveys every two or three years, and some publish only statewide figures, so the Department of Labor fills the gaps and records each estimate in an imputation flag. We count a county price as estimated when it was projected from the state's surveys in other years, modelled from statewide data, derived from a different price percentile, or taken from a neighboring age group. A plain conversion to a weekly price does not count. California, North Carolina and Virginia are a special case: their latest prices were extrapolated from 2018 survey data using price changes in similar counties elsewhere.
In 36 of 49states, most center-based infant county prices in the latest year are estimates, so the year shown for a state is its latest year of data, not always a new survey. Those states carry a † in the ranking. Source: National Database of Childcare Prices Technical Report (Women's Bureau, September 2024).
| State | Year | Estimated | How |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 2022 | 67 of 67 | other survey years |
| Alaska | 2022 | 8 of 8 | other survey years |
| Arizona | 2022 | 0 of 15 | none flagged |
| Arkansas | 2021 | 68 of 68 | other survey years |
| California | 2022 | 58 of 58 | extrapolated from 2018 |
| Colorado | 2022 | 1 of 62 | other percentile |
| Connecticut | 2022 | 0 of 8 | none flagged |
| Delaware | 2022 | 3 of 3 | other survey years, other percentile |
| District of Columbia | 2022 | 0 of 1 | none flagged |
| Florida | 2022 | 1 of 53 | other survey years |
| Georgia | 2022 | 159 of 159 | other survey years |
| Hawaii | 2022 | 0 of 4 | none flagged |
| Idaho | 2022 | 44 of 44 | other survey years |
| Illinois | 2022 | 58 of 58 | other survey years |
| Iowa | 2022 | 99 of 99 | other percentile |
| Kansas | 2022 | 105 of 105 | other survey years |
| Kentucky | 2022 | 120 of 120 | other survey years, other percentile |
| Louisiana | 2022 | 64 of 64 | other survey years |
| Maine | 2022 | 16 of 16 | other survey years |
| Maryland | 2022 | 24 of 24 | other survey years, other percentile |
| Massachusetts | 2022 | 0 of 14 | none flagged |
| Michigan | 2022 | 83 of 83 | other survey years |
| Minnesota | 2022 | 87 of 87 | other survey years |
| Mississippi | 2022 | 82 of 82 | other survey years |
| Missouri | 2020 | 7 of 7 | other survey years, other percentile |
| Montana | 2022 | 56 of 56 | other survey years, other percentile |
| Nebraska | 2022 | 93 of 93 | other survey years |
| Nevada | 2022 | 17 of 17 | other percentile |
| New Hampshire | 2022 | 10 of 10 | other survey years, statewide model |
| New Jersey | 2022 | 21 of 21 | other survey years, statewide model |
| New York | 2022 | 0 of 62 | none flagged |
| North Carolina | 2022 | 99 of 99 | extrapolated from 2018 |
| North Dakota | 2022 | 53 of 53 | other survey years, statewide model |
| Ohio | 2022 | 0 of 88 | none flagged |
| Oklahoma | 2022 | 77 of 77 | other survey years, statewide model |
| Oregon | 2022 | 0 of 36 | none flagged |
| Pennsylvania | 2020 | 67 of 67 | other survey years |
| Rhode Island | 2022 | 5 of 5 | other survey years, statewide model |
| South Carolina | 2022 | 46 of 46 | other survey years, other percentile |
| South Dakota | 2022 | 0 of 66 | none flagged |
| Tennessee | 2022 | 95 of 95 | other survey years |
| Texas | 2022 | 0 of 254 | none flagged |
| Utah | 2022 | 29 of 29 | other survey years |
| Vermont | 2021 | 14 of 14 | other survey years, statewide model |
| Virginia | 2022 | 133 of 133 | extrapolated from 2018 |
| Washington | 2022 | 39 of 39 | other survey years |
| West Virginia | 2022 | 55 of 55 | other survey years, other percentile |
| Wisconsin | 2022 | 0 of 72 | none flagged |
| Wyoming | 2022 | 21 of 21 | other percentile |
Adjusting to 2026 dollars
Federal survey prices are from 2020 to 2022. To compare states surveyed in different years and to estimate today's prices, we scale each state's price by the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index for day care and preschool (series CUUR0000SEEB03), from that state's survey-year annual average to the August 2026 index. This is an estimate of what the same care would cost now, not a quote. The ranking is ordered by this estimate.
The index values we use are the average of the 12 monthly values for each survey year (2020: 311.888, 2021: 317.746, 2022: 330.305) and 403.749 for August 2026. Because states were surveyed in different years, the national 2026 figure (about $16,304a year for center-based infant care) is not the national survey figure times one factor: it scales the national figure by a weighted average of the state factors, where each state counts in proportion to its survey price times its population (U.S. Census Bureau state population estimates for that state's survey year). The CPI is a national measure, so the adjustment does not capture price changes specific to one state. Share of income is always the survey-year price over the survey-year income, so it is not affected.
Share of income, and the 7% line
The share-of-income figure is the annual price divided by that state's median family income, as a percent: share = annual price ÷ median family income × 100. Median family income comes from the same NDCP file, which draws it from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey. The file has no national median family income, so the national share is the average of the state shares, each state counting in proportion to its population (the same Census Bureau estimates as above).
The 7% line is the benchmark the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) used for affordable child care. Its 2024 Child Care and Development Fund rule required state co-payments to stay at or below 7% of family income; a final rule published May 12, 2026 and effective July 13, 2026 rescinded that requirement, so the 7% figure is now a reference point rather than a federal rule. We still report how far each price clears it: multiple = share ÷ 7. Nationally, center-based infant care takes about 14.1% of the median family income, roughly 2.0 times the 7% line, and no state with data comes in under it. Both figures are included in the downloadable dataset.
Limits
These are estimates, not quotes. Real prices vary by provider, quality, hours and neighborhood, and can be higher than a county median in expensive areas. The federal file has no center-based infant price for Indiana or New Mexico, so those states are shown as no data. Figures reflect each state's latest year of data, which for many states is a Department of Labor estimate (see where prices are modelled, above); 2026 figures are adjusted with the day care and preschool CPI, as described above. We cover 49 states plus, where present, the District of Columbia.
Independent project, not affiliated with the U.S. Department of Labor. Content is made with the help of AI tools and reviewed by a person before publishing.