Mapped: Daycare Costs by State

Key Takeaways:

📊 National average daycare cost: $1,039/month or $12,472/year

💸 Most expensive states:

• Washington D.C. – $1,912/month
• Massachusetts – $1,727/month
• Minnesota – $1,500/month

💰 Least expensive states:

• Mississippi – $568/month
• South Dakota – $624/month
• Alabama – $637/month

Methodology

FinanceBuzz analyzed annual child care costs in each U.S. state using data from Child Care Aware® of America and the U.S. Department of Labor’s National Database of Childcare Prices. These sources provided annual reports and cost data, which were averaged to calculate a general “child care cost” for each state.

To determine the national inflation rate, FinanceBuzz used the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ CPI Inflation Calculator.