Money Matters - Child Care Costs by State

With both parents employed in roughly two-thirds of families with children, the personal-finance company WalletHub has released its latest report on Child Care Costs by State highlighting where child care places the greatest financial burden on Americans.

To determine which states face the highest and lowest costs, the report compares prices for both family-based and center-based care, adjusting them relative to median household income.
 

Highest % of Income Spent (Married Couples)	Lowest % of Income Spent (Married Couples)
1. Nebraska	42. Iowa
2. California	43. Kansas
3. New York	44. Idaho
4. Oregon	45. South Carolina
5. Washington	46. Louisiana
6. Wisconsin	47. Alaska
7. Montana	48. Georgia
8. Massachusetts	49. Alabama
9. New Mexico	50. South Dakota
10. Hawaii	51. Mississippi

 

Highest % of Income Spent (Single Parents)	Lowest % of Income Spent (Single Parents)
1. District of Columbia	42. Arkansas
2. Massachusetts	43. Kansas
3. New York	44. South Carolina
4. Washington	45. Nevada
5. California	46. Georgia
6. Oregon	47. Mississippi
7. Illinois	48. Utah
8. Nebraska	49. Idaho
9. Wisconsin	50. Alaska
10. Rhode Island	51. South Dakota

 
Key Stats

• Oregon has the highest cost of family-based child care for a married-couple family, which is two times more than in South Dakota, the state with the lowest.
   
• Hawaii has the highest cost of center-based child care for a married-couple family, which is two times more than in Mississippi, the state with the lowest.
   
• The District of Columbia has the highest cost of family-based child care for a single-parent family, which is three times more than in South Dakota, the state with the lowest.
   
• The District of Columbia has the highest cost of center-based child care for a single-parent family, which is 2.7 times more than in Alaska, the state with the lowest. 

Note: All costs are as a share of income.
 
To view the full report and your state’s rank, please visit:
https://wallethub.com/edu/child-care-costs-by-state/151929

“It costs a lot of money to take care of a child’s needs, and many parents are left with the dilemma of whether to forgo one salary to do their own child care for the first few years or to shell out a significant chunk of their income for child care services. Married parents who both work can expect to spend as much as 14% of what they earn on child care, while single parents’ costs can amount to an astounding 59%.”
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“Nebraska has the highest child care costs, at 13.6% to 10.7% of the median income for married couples. Interestingly, Nebraska has the fifth-most expensive family child care and the third-costliest child care centers, with child care centers only marginally more expensive than family care. Single parents in Nebraska spend 32.2% to 41% of the median income on child care, depending on the type.”

- Chip Lupo, WalletHub Analyst

 
More From WalletHub

• States With the Best & Worst Early Education Systems
• Best & Worst States for Children’s Health Care
• Best & Worst States to Raise a Family
• Best & Worst States to Have a Baby
• Best & Worst States for Working Dads
• Best & Worst States for Working Moms
• States With the Best & Worst Budgeters
• Changes in Inflation by City
• States Where People Have the Highest Income