Mapped: Child Care Costs by State in 2025

Key Takeaways:

• The share of median married-couple income spent on center-based child care ranges from just 6.7% in South Dakota to 13.5% in Hawaii, a gap of nearly 7 percentage points.
• States like Hawaii (13.5%), Vermont (13.2%), Oregon (12.9%) and Washington (12.6%) all exceed 12%, well above the national midpoint.