The price of child care is really the price of a staffing ratio. Infant care averages $1,230 a month and preschool $920, and the gap is not that infants need more attention in some vague and general sense. It is that a state may require one adult for every three or four infants while allowing one adult for every eight or ten preschoolers. The cost per child falls as the ratio widens.
| Service | Typical |
|---|---|
| Center-based child careNational average by age | $770 to $1,230 per month |
Ranges last checked September 2026. They come down automatically when they are due to be rechecked.
Every figure above comes from a named source we can link to, with the date we last checked it. We publish ranges rather than single prices because a range is what a provider will actually give you: the same job moves with what is being worked on, the materials, how hard it is to get at and how busy the trade is locally. Treat these as the order of magnitude to expect before you call, not as a quote.
The figures here are national. Where a source publishes figures state by state, the state pages carry that local figure instead of this one. We do not scale a national number by a multiplier of our own invention.
Every range carries a review date. When that date passes the number comes down until it is rechecked, rather than sitting here undated.
There is no federal child care license. State and territory governments set the minimum health and safety requirements a program must meet to operate legally, and they add their own licensing requirements on top, which vary across the country. Licensing typically covers criminal background checks on staff, ongoing training in areas like CPR, first aid and safe sleep, sanitation, emergency planning and building safety.
The part parents most often do not know is that some programs are legally license-exempt. Public school programs, faith-based programs, military child care and some in-home providers caring for only a few children or only relatives can operate outside the licensing system. Exempt is not the same as unsafe, but it does mean the inspection record a parent might look for may not exist.
Staff-to-child ratio and group size requirements vary by state and by type of program. What exists nationally is a recommendation rather than a rule. The American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Public Health Association and the National Resource Center for Health and Safety in Child Care and Early Education recommend one adult for every three infants under twelve months, one for every four toddlers between thirteen and thirty-five months, one for every seven three-year-olds, and one for every eight four and five-year-olds.
Comparing your state's requirement against that recommendation is a five-minute exercise that tells you something real, and it is more useful than comparing two centers' brochures.
NAEYC Early Learning Program Accreditation is a voluntary national program that has set a national standard for early learning for more than thirty years. It is open only to programs already licensed or registered by their regulatory body, which is the important structural point: it is an addition to licensure rather than an alternative to it.
Ask what the actual ratio is in your child's room, today, and compare it to your state's requirement and to the national recommendation.
Ask whether the program is licensed or license-exempt, and if exempt, on what basis.
Ask to see the most recent inspection or licensing report. A licensed program has one.
Ask what is charged when the center is closed, and how many closure days there are in a year. That number turns a monthly rate into an annual one.
Ask about registration and supply fees before comparing monthly prices, because those are where two similar quotes separate.
On national averages: infants $1,230, toddlers $1,080, preschoolers $920, school-age $770. Home-based providers charge a flat rate of about $970 across ages and a nanny about $2,700.
Because of the staffing ratio. A state may require one adult per three or four infants while allowing one per eight or ten preschoolers, so the cost per child falls as children age.
Enormously. Infant care runs from about $650 a month in Mississippi to $2,400 in the District of Columbia. By region, the Northeast averages $1,820, the Pacific West $1,650 and the South $860.
States and territories. There is no federal child care license. Licensing typically covers background checks, staff training, sanitation, emergency planning and building safety.
No. Public school programs, faith-based programs, military child care and some in-home providers caring for few children or only relatives can be legally license-exempt. Exempt is not unsafe, but the inspection record you might look for may not exist.
The national recommendation, which is not law, is one adult per three infants under twelve months, one per four toddlers, one per seven three-year-olds and one per eight four and five-year-olds. Compare that to your state's requirement.
A voluntary national accreditation that sits on top of state licensure. It is open only to programs already licensed or registered, so it is an addition to a license rather than a substitute for one.