Summary: Child care is one of the largest line items in a family budget: full-time center-based infant care averages about $13,000 a year nationally, but the range runs from under $7,000 in Mississippi to over $28,000 in the District of Columbia. This calculator estimates your annual and monthly cost from your state, the type of care, and how many children need it. It applies a typical 10 percent sibling discount for each additional child and shows a 5-year total so you can plan across the whole preschool window.
Estimates from state averages and national rate data. Actual quotes vary by provider, neighborhood, and schedule. For planning only.
Three things decide most of your child care bill: where you live, the age of your child, and the setting. Infant care costs the most because required staff-to-child ratios are tightest, often 1 adult to 3 or 4 infants. Centers charge more than family child care homes because they carry licensing, facility, and staffing overhead. A nanny costs roughly two and a half times a center because you are buying one-on-one care in your own home.
Geography is the biggest lever. Labor costs, commercial rents, and state ratio rules move prices more than anything else. That is why the same full-time infant slot costs about four times as much in the most expensive states as in the cheapest ones.
The federal affordability benchmark is 7 percent of family income, a figure HHS uses for child care assistance programs. In practice, parents surveyed by Care.com in 2026 reported spending an average of 20 percent of household income on care, with 78 percent spending at least 10 percent. If your estimate lands well above 10 percent, the paying-for-childcare guide below walks through the tax credit, dependent care FSA, and employer benefits that can bring the net cost down.
Nationally, full-time center-based infant care averages a little over $1,000 a month, but the state range is wide: roughly $570 a month in Mississippi to about $2,360 a month in the District of Columbia. Care.com's 2026 survey puts the average posted weekly center rate at $332 for one infant.
Almost never for one child. A full-time nanny averages about $870 a week nationally per Care.com's 2026 Cost of Care Survey, versus about $332 a week for a center. A nanny can become competitive with two or more children, especially once sibling discounts at centers are factored in.
Yes. Infant rooms carry the tightest staff ratios, so infant care is the most expensive age band. Prices typically step down for toddlers and again for preschoolers as ratios loosen.
HHS introduced 7 percent of family income as an affordability benchmark for child care assistance co-payments. It is a policy yardstick, not a law for private payers, but it is useful context: most families paying privately spend well above it.
Figures: 2026. State averages compiled from Child Care Aware of America 2024 Affordability Analysis and 2026 rate compilations; nanny and weekly rates from the Care.com 2026 Cost of Care Survey. Verify with local providers before budgeting. This page is for planning only.