Is childcare more than rent?

For many families, yes. This calculator compares your estimated annual childcare cost to a sample local housing benchmark (median gross rent x12) and shows the percent difference so you can see how the two stack up.

How is this calculated?

For center or family child care, we add each child's age-band rate for your state. Nanny care is priced flat per household. We then divide by your household income for the percent of income, compare against a housing benchmark, and estimate the career trade-off of leaving work versus staying and paying for care. All dollar figures shown are sample values pending live Child Care Aware of America ingest.

Childcare Cost Calculator

See what childcare really costs you — in dollars, and in the paycheck it eats.

Free · no email needed

The 2025 U.S. average price of child care was about $13,184 per child per year — with infant-care prices ranging widely by state — from about $7,700 in Mississippi to over $22,000 in California (Child Care Aware of America, 2024–2025).

Your family

How many kids are in care? (1–5)

How old is each child?

Where do you live?

Sample subset of states with sourced figures.

What kind of care?

Household income (optional, annual pre-tax)

We use this only to show the % of your income — nothing is saved.

The parent who'd leave work earns (for the career-penalty estimate)

Pre-filled from your state's sample median full-time earnings for women — edit for your situation.

Built on public data from Child Care Aware of America — 2025 Price & Supply (sample figures). Nothing you enter is stored.