How much 10 families spend on child care across the U.S.

It will come as no surprise to families paying for child care that the price keeps going up. It’s always been an expensive service, but the cost increase since 2024 is double the general inflation rate. And you don’t need us to tell you how bad general inflation has been lately.

Costs, of course, vary across the country and depend on the child’s age. And of course it’s more expensive if you have more than one in daycare at a time. In Mississippi, care for a newborn can run as low as $572 per month, while Washington D.C. families with one infant can pay as much as $2,363 per month, according to the Economic Policy Institute. Some reports even put the cost of child care above the cost of public college tuition.

Below we rounded up the monthly child care costs of 10 families from across the country who we featured in The Purse. Their stories highlight how even well-off families are paying well over the 7% of income the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says is the threshold for affordability.

The good news: Day care is an expense that is, generally, temporary. Once kids get old enough and move into public school, parents should be able to move the money they were paying for day care to other goals, whether that’s to start saving for their own retirement, college, or even to buy a second home, as one family featured below did.

How much are you paying for child care? Comment below or send us a note at questions@thepurse.co.

Note: The costs below reflect what families paid at the time their Home Economics profile was published. All of those featured below were published in 2025 or 2026. Costs might be slightly different in the present day.

Location: New Hampshire
Household income: $330,000
Age of child: A one-year old daughter
Child care cost: $2,425 per month

We pay $1,625 for full-time daycare, daily from 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (She can stay as late as 5:00 p.m.) We also spend around $800 per month on babysitters. We have a babysitter come two evenings a week when my husband commutes to Massachusetts. It gives me a chance to catch-up on work or chores/errands, exercise, or meet up with friends. Plus, we usually do one weekend date a month. We have two sitters we work with regularly, and we pay $20–$25 dollars an hour.

Location: Portland, Oregon
Household income: $125,000
Ages of children: A three-year-old and newborn twins
Child care cost: $1,900 per month

We spend $1,900 a month for full-time daycare for the three-year-old. But starting this fall it will be free thanks to Portland’s Preschool for All. My parents are local, so they babysit for us, though we don’t get out much now that there are three kids. Caring for twin babies is very physically taxing, let alone adding a three-year-old to the mix. Sometimes, we’ll do a day date while the three-year-old is at daycare so my mom only has to take care of the twins.

Location: Reno, Nevada
Household income: Variable after a recent layoff
Ages of children: A four-year-old and six-year-old
Child care cost: ~$1,015 per month

We paid $950 for my four-year-old’s preschool. She went Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. My six-year-old is in public school. We hire a babysitter about once every three months; we usually pay about $130 (between $25 and $30 an hour). I like to pay our babysitters well.

Location: Brooklyn, New York
Household income: $685,000
Ages of children: A seven-year-old and four-year-old
Child care cost: $725 per month

We now pay $0 for day care. When we finally had both kids in public school, we were able to pull the trigger on buying a second house. We couldn’t have afforded it in the daycare years. We do pay $725 per month for daily after school care, which covers both kids ’til about 6:00 p.m. We also pay around $1,000 per year for various one-day camps when school is closed but my wife and I have to work.

Location: Boise, Idaho
Household income: $120,000
Age of child: Three-year-old
Child care cost: ~$673 per month

I pay $673 per month for pre-school tuition. My daughter goes to preschool from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. five days a week. I’m so lucky that my retired mom moved here and built a house in my backyard and helps out with child care! It is truly a gift. On days when she doesn’t have preschool, she goes to her old daycare, where I pay a $40-per-day drop-in fee. She has gone four times this year. Otherwise my mom and stepdad cover it all—I truly hit the jackpot!

Location: Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Household income: $96,000
Ages of children: A five-year-old and two-year-old
Child care cost: $1,035 per month

We pay $560 per month for our two-year-old to attend day care two days a week, and $375 per month for our five-year-old to attend preschool five mornings a week. We also spend $100 on a babysitter each month for bimonthly care for our five-year-old (roughly eight hours).

Location: Tucson, Arizona
Household income: ~$180,000
Ages of children: A two-year-old and five-year-old
Child care cost: $1,400 per month

We pay $1,400 for day care for both kids. Our oldest has a scholarship, which saves us about $400 a month. After school, it’s just me and my husband most of the time, and my mom helps out a couple days a week. I am looking forward to public school for my eldest next year! Sadly, our district doesn’t offer free full-day kindergarten, so we’ll have to pay $315 a month for her to go to 3:00 p.m. But that’s much better than preschool costs, so it will ultimately be a win.

Location: Seattle, Washington
Household income: $240,000
Ages of children: A six-year-old and eight-year-old
Child care cost: $1,350 per month during the school year, $1,900 per month for summer camp

Before- and after-school programs cost $1,350 per month. I drop my kids off at 7:45 a.m., and the daycare takes the kids to school and picks them up at the end of the day. I usually pick them up around 5:15 p.m.

I send my kids to a summer day camp at the same place they go for before/after-school. The price goes up to $1,900 per month for both kids during the summer, but they get lunch.

Location: Suburbs of Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Household income: $250,000
Ages of children: A four-year-old and one-and-a-half-year-old
Child care cost: $3,060 per month

We pay $3,060 for both kids to attend day care Monday to Friday, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Our youngest gets snacks and lunch, and our oldest gets two snacks, but we pack his lunch.

Location: Orlando, Florida
Household income: ~$58,000
Ages of children: A five-year-old and seven-year-old
Child care cost: $0

Both of my parents live locally and are retired. Twice a week during the school year (when I need to work on my university’s campus, rather than remotely), my parents drop the kids off to school, pick them up, and care for them until I arrive home. During the summer, my husband and I are both home with the kids. I am incredibly privileged to not have any child care costs. My family would not be able to afford our life with that extra expense.