Average Child Care Costs In Each State — Where’s Yours On This List?
Photo Credit: Veer
Looks like college isn’t the only thing parents should save for. Child Care Aware of America (CCAA) recently reported that the cost of child care has increased to the point where some families simply can’t afford it.
CCAA reported the cost of child care for infants, four-year-olds and school-age children, and found some unsettling statistics. In 40 states and the District of Columbia, center-based infant care cost more than 10 percent of the state’s average income for a two-parent family. Imagine the damage that does on a single parent’s paycheck.
From a price-only perspective, the cost of full time care for an infant was over $10,000 per year in 20 states. Here’s the breakdown:
- District of Columbia^ ($20,178)
- Massachusetts ($14,980)
- New York ($14,009)
- Minnesota ($13,579)
- Maryland ($12,878)
- Hawaii ($12,876)
- Connecticut ($12,844)
- Colorado ($12, 621)
- Illinois ($12,199)
- New Hampshire ^^ ($11,995)
- Rhode Island ($11,830)
- California ^^ ($11,823)
- New Jersey ($11,135)
- Oregon ^ ($11,079)
- Kansas ($11,023)
- Washington ($10,920)
- Wisconsin ($10,775)
- Virginia ($10,670)
- Pennsylvania^ ($10,504)
- Michigan ($10,114)
- Indiana ($9,880)
- Delaware ($9,620)
- Vermont^ ($9,612)
- Alaska ($9,336)
- Nevada ($9,413)
- Maine ($9,256)
- North Carolina^ ($9,185)
- Arizona ($8,546)
- Iowa^ ($8,859)
- Missouri ($8,580)
- Texas ($8,323)
- Montana ($8,307)
- Florida ($8,009)
- Ohio ($7,889)
- Utah ($7,848)
- Wyoming ($7,727)
- Tennessee ($7,748)
- North Dakota ($7,705)
- Nebraska ($7,639)
- Oklahoma ($7,288)
- Georgia ($7,030)
- West Virginia ($6,932)
- New Mexico ($6,843)
- Kentucky ($6,594)
- South Dakota ($5,947)
- Louisiana ($5,901)
- South Carolina ($5,855)
- Idaho ($5,834)
- Arkansas ($5,437)
- Alabama ($5,356)
- Mississippi ($4,591)
^= 2010 data, adjusted for inflation
^^= 2009 data, adjusted for inflation
Wow! At some of these prices, I’m wondering if the babies should be learning a foreign language and mastering the violin in between naps!
How does your actual day care cost compare to your state’s average cost? Was price a consideration when you were choosing a day care?
Plus more from The Bump:
Some Moms Can’t Afford to Go Back to Work
Should Parents Be Anti-Day Care?
The Knot Blog
The Nest Blog
I don’t know how we found this place but we pay $130/week for our 7 month old. We live in NC and most places were between $160 and $220 in our area. The daycare we use has been in business over 30 years and came highly recommended. It is through a local church and most of the ladies there have been there for 20+ years. I wish they did a few things differently like gave me a daily activity sheet but I’ve trained dh to ask the questions like how she napped, if she had a dirty diaper, etc., when he picks her up.
Just the after school care alone has been costing me $800 / month for two kids. For only a couple hours a day! (When you work in the school breaks and minimum days it makes more sense).
I work at a child care center in Indiana. Parents pay about $14,600 a year (for infants). In my opinion, the price is ridiculous. It’s an extremely nice facility, but geeze. Haha. I don’t even make enough money to send my child there, and I work there!
Our family is in California and our day care costs are about $1,800 shy of the average. I guess we’re lucky to have a great affordable day care. We’re only on baby #1, but how the hell do we afford baby #2? Some people just don’t have the family or support systems for day care and have to pay full price…talk about struggle.
We live in San Francisco and pay nearly $2,000 a month. I wish we could find decent child care for the $11,823 this article suggests we Californians pay!
I was going to say the same thing! I live in the Bay Area as well, and will pay over 25k this year for daycare for one baby. I expected California to be the most expensive! I wonder where this average came from? I would love to pay half what I am paying now.:)
This is way off for Massachusetts. I’m not sure which daycare centers were included in the research, but in the greater Boston area and metro west it is upwards of $20K to $30K for full time infant care.
I live in Mississippi and luckily the daycare I send my 8 month old to costs $90 a week. That’s still really expensive for my husband and me but somehow we always manage. I don’t know how people with more than 1 child do it. We would love to have another but we just simply can’t afford daycare for more than 1 child.
I’m in Indiana and our daycare cost would have been roughly $11,000 for the first year of our son’s life (it gets cheaper the older they get). We decided that spending that much and not actually getting to be with him was ridiculous and opted for me to stay home instead. Since being at home I have found ways to stretch our budget and when you consider the “cost of working”-(ie. gas, clothes, take out food, etc) we actually come out ahead over 2 incomes plus daycare. I guess single-parents have no choice but to choose cheaper places that may not have the same security as the higher priced ones…which is a shame.
Yes this is obviously an average…we pay $300 a week in Dallas!
The $13,000 I pay for my 1 year old here in Pennsylvania (Philadelphia area) is worth every penny to me! I was a little reluctant to place her in a daycare at first, but seeing how she has grown because of the educational program (yes, they have a curriculim for infants!) and social interaction at this place makes me feel fortuante to have found this place. It’s not the cheapest we found, but by far not the most expensive. My daughter is growing into an independent, loving, smart little lady because of this place – something I don’t think I would have done as well with on my own if I had kept her at home as SAHM as I had wanted to do. That being said, there’s no way I could afford a second!!
In San Diego, CA we are paying $15,000 per year per child at a daycare center. We have 2 kids at the same daycare center so we get a break on the second one but not much. Our total bill for 2 kids is over $27,000 per year on daycare.
Nevada: we live in Vegas/Henderson. KinderCare was close to $780 a month for 5 hours a day including meals. We ended up putting out child in the Goddard school which had better care in our opinion, for Half time at $777 including snacks. They have a great educational program and offered us more flexibility than other day cares. They’re highly recommended in our area by many parents. I don’t know of anyone who pays the average state amount for full time care in Vegas.
Nannies are even more. Inexperienced nannies run $10/hr. experienced nannies are $15/hr to $20/hr.
These rates are for one child.
I work at daycare in Alaska that is more on the high end. The average seems about right.Parents at our center pay 800 a month for full time nursery care. I didn’t think I would be able to send my own child there, but if you work there you pay half-priceand they accept the childcare assistance program in our state so I am basically watching my own child and get payed to do it!
I live right outside Chicago and ours rakes in at almost 18,500 for the year, for one child. Thankfully I work in the building so I get a 50% discount (or our son wouldn’t be here) but everything you would feel safe sending your child to in this area costs that much. The central and downstate prices must bring down the averages. It’s so bad, we won’t be able tyo afford another child until my son is in K!
[…] is close to the national average for childcare costs…somewhere around $10k a year per child (2). That’s not including the gas to get to the day care, then to work, and then back and forth […]