51 jurisdictions, one 2024 survey, zero guesses
What daycare actually costs where you live.
A free, sourced calculator built from Child Care Aware of America's 2024 Price of Care survey and Census income data. Center-based infant care alone ranges from $7,696 to $26,343 a year depending on the state; the median is $15,080. No affiliate steering the number, and every figure links to its source.
Quick childcare cost check
Center-based, full-time, annual. Open the full explorer →
Jurisdictions priced
50/51
50 states plus DC; New Mexico is the one honest gap
Data vintage
2024survey
Fielded January 2025, published May 2025 by Child Care Aware of America
Guides published
5live
Sourced, dated, editorial-reviewed
Invented numbers
0zero
Every figure links to a named primary source
Start here
The two questions most people land here with
Quick answer
How much does daycare cost per month?
Full-time center-based infant care ranged from $7,696 to $26,343 a year in 2024, roughly $641 to $2,195 a month, depending entirely on your state. There is no honest single national number: check your own state on the state pages.
Quick answer
Is childcare more expensive than college?
In several states, yes: the District of Columbia's 2024 center-based infant price was $26,193 a year against $8,636 for average in-state public college tuition. It is not universal across every state. See the real comparison for your state in the budget calculator.
The tools
Two free tools, one dataset
Cost explorer
Budget calculator
Costs by state
We sell no course, and no provider pays to be listed higher.
This is a reference site, not a lead-gen funnel dressed up as one. Every price on this site traces to a named government or nonprofit source with a date attached, and a state we cannot verify (New Mexico) stays marked "not published" instead of guessed.