Average Childcare Cost by State (2026)

2026 State Rankings: Infant Daycare and Nanny Costs

The table ranks every state where we track at least one major metro by the average annual price of full-time, center-based infant care, the most expensive age group. Fourteen sit above the national average of $17,260 a year (Care.com's 2026 Cost of Care Report) and fourteen below. The last column shows what a full-time nanny costs in the same places, before employer payroll taxes. Click a state for its metro-by-metro breakdown, subsidy program and tax benefits.

Each state figure is the simple average of the metros we track there, so a single-metro state reflects that city: Washington is Seattle, Colorado is Denver and Georgia is Atlanta. Daycare figures scale Care.com's 2026 national rates to each metro's local price level (U.S. Department of Labor National Database of Childcare Prices and the Economic Policy Institute), checked against state market-rate surveys. Nanny figures are Care.com's October 2026 average local rates × 40 hours × 52 weeks. States with identical averages are listed in the same order as the rankings on their state pages. Full methodology.

Regional Patterns in Childcare Costs

Grouping the 44 metros we track by U.S. Census region shows a clear split: the West and Northeast are expensive, the South is not, and the Midwest lands almost exactly on the national average. Each region also contains big exceptions.

Why Childcare Costs Vary So Much by State

The gap between Texas and Washington isn't random. Four factors explain most of it:

1. Caregiver pay and local wage floors. Childcare is labor-intensive and payroll is the largest cost of running a center, so prices follow local wages. Washington's statewide minimum wage is $17.13 an hour in 2026 (Seattle's is higher), while the $7.25 federal minimum is the floor in Texas, Georgia and Tennessee. Rent for center space widens the gap in expensive metros.
2. Licensing ratios. Each state decides how many children one caregiver may look after. Massachusetts allows one educator for every three infants, in groups of no more than seven; Georgia allows one for every six, in groups of up to twelve. Needing twice the infant-room staff for the same number of babies is one reason infant daycare in Boston ($27,380) costs about twice what it does in Atlanta ($13,250).
3. Free public pre-K. Georgia's lottery-funded Pre-K is free for every 4-year-old for a 6.5-hour day, 180 days a year; Oklahoma has offered free pre-K to all 4-year-olds since 1998; Florida's VPK provides 540 free hours over the school year, roughly three hours a day. These programs cut what families pay in the year before kindergarten, but they don't lower infant or toddler prices, and part-day programs still need before- and after-care.
4. Which cities the average covers. Our state figures average the major metros we track. Washington's figure is Seattle alone, while Texas averages four large metros that are all below the national average. A state represented by one high-cost city can rank higher than a statewide average that included its smaller towns would.

For the cost pressures every provider faces, wherever it operates, see why childcare is so expensive.

Nanny or Daycare? The Answer Depends on Your State

Nanny pay varies far less from place to place than daycare prices do. Across the 44 metros we track, the most expensive daycare market (Seattle, $32,840 for an infant) costs 2.8 times the cheapest (San Antonio, $11,580). For a full-time nanny, the most expensive market (the San Francisco Bay Area, $65,400) costs 1.7 times the cheapest (Oklahoma City, $38,750). Care.com's average nanny rate is $27.88 an hour in Seattle and $20.88 in Dallas–Fort Worth, a 34% difference, while infant daycare in Seattle costs 2.7 times as much as in Dallas–Fort Worth.

So in states where daycare is expensive, a nanny is a much closer call, especially with two children. Here is an infant plus a preschooler in three metros from the top, middle and bottom of the state rankings:

Two daycare spots = each metro's infant plus preschool center rate, before any sibling discount. Nanny = Care.com's average local rate × 40 hours × 52 weeks, plus about 10.25% for the employer's Social Security, Medicare and unemployment taxes, the same estimate our calculator uses. Dependent Care FSA money can be used for either.

A nanny share, where two families split one nanny and each pays about two-thirds of the solo rate, brings the Seattle cost to about $38,660 a year per family before taxes. See daycare vs. nanny for the trade-offs beyond cost, and the nanny share calculator to run the numbers for your own family.

Costs Can Vary as Much Within a State as Between States

A state average can hide a wide range. In the nine states where we track more than one metro, the gap between the cheapest and the most expensive metro runs from 4% to 82%:

New York City's infant daycare ($29,170) costs 82% more than Buffalo's ($16,070), and the San Francisco Bay Area ($30,960) costs 63% more than Sacramento ($19,050), gaps as large as those between many entire states. In Tennessee and Missouri, by contrast, the two metros we track are within 4% of each other. Outside the big metros, prices are often lower than the figures here, though not always. For county-level prices, the U.S. Department of Labor's National Database of Childcare Prices reports median prices by county and care setting, and the costs by city page compares all 44 metros side by side.

Statewide Averages (Child Care Aware of America 2025)

The rankings above cover only the states where we track a major metro. For every state, here is a different measure: Child Care Aware of America's statewide average price of full-time infant care in licensed centers and family child care homes, from its 2025 Price & Supply survey (state data as of December 2025), raised 3.2% to 2026 prices. Because these are statewide averages, including small towns, they usually sit below our metro figures, so don't compare a number in this table with one in the rankings above.

For states where we don't track a metro, we publish statewide-average pages with prices by age, county-level variation, subsidy and tax-credit details: currently Alabama, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana and New Jersey.

Source: Child Care Aware of America, Child Care in America: 2025 Price & Supply (state data), used with credit to Child Care Aware of America; 2026 prices via the BLS CPI for day care and preschool (CUUR0000SEEB03, +3.2%). Rank 1 = most expensive of the 47 states with data. Multiply by 12 for a yearly price. The national average was $15,460 a year in 2025 ($1,330 a month in 2026 prices). Colorado, District of Columbia, New Mexico and South Carolina have no current statewide price survey (they set subsidy rates with cost models or alternative methods), so they are not listed. Some states' figures carry forward an older survey adjusted for inflation; the state pages flag these.

State Help: Subsidies and Tax Credits

Every state runs a childcare subsidy program funded by the federal Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF). Federal rules let states help children under 13 whose parents are working or in school or job training, in families earning up to 85% of the state median income. Within that ceiling, each state sets its own income limit, copayments and provider rates, which is why the same family can qualify in one state and not in the next.

• Copayment caps are back in state hands. A 2024 federal rule limiting family copayments to 7% of income was rescinded by a final rule published May 12, 2026 and effective July 13, 2026. States must still charge on an income-based sliding scale, but whether to cap copayments is now up to each state.
• Funding is limited. When money runs short, states can freeze enrollment or keep waiting lists, so apply as soon as you know you'll need care.
• Not every provider participates. Confirm that a center or home daycare accepts subsidy payments before you enroll.

Check your likely eligibility with the childcare subsidy eligibility calculator, then follow the steps in how to find childcare subsidies. Each state page names its program.

Tax benefits are the same everywhere at the federal level. For 2026 you can set aside up to $7,500 per household in a Dependent Care FSA, and the Child and Dependent Care Credit is worth 20% to 50% of up to $3,000 in care costs for one child or $6,000 for two or more; money run through the FSA reduces the costs that count toward the credit. State add-ons differ widely. California adds a nonrefundable credit of 34% to 50% of a federal-style credit for families with AGI of $100,000 or less. New York's refundable credit switches to a new state formula in 2026. Florida, Nevada, Tennessee, Texas and Washington have no wage income tax, so there is no state credit to claim. Estimate your federal credit with the child care tax credit calculator and see childcare tax benefits for how the federal and state pieces stack.

How to Use the State Pages

Each metro-based state page breaks its average down by metro (daycare, full-time nanny, nanny share and au pair) and summarizes the state's subsidy program and tax benefits. Statewide-average pages show prices by age, how prices vary across the state, and the state's subsidy, tax-credit and pre-K rules. To turn those figures into a budget:

1. Find your state's rank in the table above and note how far it sits from the $17,260 national average.
2. Open the state page and pick the closest metro. For a full breakdown by age and care type, including in-home daycare, follow the link to that city's page.
3. Adjust for your child's age. In the metros we track, toddler care costs 3% to 7% less than infant care and preschool 14% to 20% less. Before- and after-school care for school-age children costs far less than full-day care.
4. Compare care types. Licensed in-home (family) daycare averages about 21% less than a center nationally, a full-time nanny costs 1.8 to 3.6 times infant daycare depending on the state, and an au pair costs about $22,000 a year regardless of location or number of children.
5. Subtract the help you qualify for. Check the subsidy and tax sections of your state page, then run the childcare cost calculator with your zip code for an estimate that includes Dependent Care FSA and tax-credit savings. For national figures by age, see the average cost of daycare.

Frequently Asked Questions