Childcare Cost Calculator
Childcare cost calculator: estimate daycare, home daycare and nanny costs by age, hours and state, plus tax credit. Free, no sign-up, and it runs in your browser.
Dedicated page: /en/childcare-cost-calculator
State factor from infant center rates: DC $2,700 a month, Massachusetts $2,400, New York $2,200, California $1,923, Mississippi $650, against a $1,439 national average. Applied to all ages as an estimate.
Full-time is about 40 hours. Part-time is priced per hour below.
Default checked 10 Nov 2026: Care.com 2026 Cost of Care Report (3,000 parents, surveyed November 2025): daycare center infant $332 a week, toddler $308, preschool $271; home daycare infant $323, toddler $301; nanny $870 a week. Check the current value here.
Many centers give 5% to 10% off a second child. Set 0 if yours does not.
The US Department of Health and Human Services calls childcare affordable at 7% of family income.
Simplified estimate: 20% of up to $3,000 of costs for one child, or $6,000 for two or more, a year. The real rate is 20% to 35% by income. Check IRS rules for 2026.
Estimate only, not financial advice. Context: Child Care Aware of America puts the national average price of childcare at $13,184 a year for 2025 (2025 Price and Supply report, published May 2026), blending infants and 4-year-olds across centers and home daycares. Infant center care alone averages $15,636 a year in the same report. Prices vary sharply by state, city and provider: get a quote from your provider before you budget.
Quick answer
A childcare cost calculator estimates what daycare, home daycare or a nanny costs for your children. Enter the ages, the type of care, your state, hours and weeks, and it shows the weekly, monthly and yearly cost, the share of your income, a tax credit estimate and a side by side comparison of the three types of care.
About this Childcare Cost Calculator
Childcare cost calculator: estimate daycare, home daycare and nanny costs by age, hours and state, plus tax credit. It is one of the Food, Kitchen and Everyday on ToolUstad, and like every tool here it runs entirely in your browser: nothing you type, paste or open is uploaded to a server, and there is no sign-up or usage limit.
What a childcare cost calculator does
A childcare cost calculator turns the ages of your children, the type of care and your state into a weekly, monthly and yearly price. Childcare is one of the biggest costs of raising a child in the United States, and the price varies enormously: an infant in a daycare center costs 332 dollars a week on the national average, 624.16 dollars a week in the District of Columbia, and about 150 dollars a week in Mississippi. A nanny costs 870 dollars a week. The calculator shows the cost, the share of your household income, a simplified tax credit estimate and a comparison of center, home daycare and nanny, so the options can be compared on the same terms.
The figures come from the Care.com 2026 Cost of Care Report, based on a survey of 3,000 parents in November 2025, and from Child Care Aware of America, which publishes state prices each year. Both are named on the page, so the numbers can be checked.
What childcare costs in 2026
Care.com puts the average weekly cost of a daycare center at 332 dollars for an infant, 308 for a toddler and 271 for a preschooler. Home daycare, also called family child care, is slightly cheaper: 323 dollars for an infant, 301 for a toddler and 222 for a preschooler. A nanny costs 870 dollars a week, with a starting rate of 21.62 dollars an hour. School-age care is the cheapest: about 154 dollars a week in a center and 125 in home daycare, because the hours are shorter and the ratios are higher. Child Care Aware of America, in its Child Care in America 2025 Price and Supply report, puts the national average annual price at 13,184 dollars, with full-time infant center care averaging 15,636 dollars a year and 4-year-old center care 12,555 dollars. The two sources measure different things: Care.com reports center prices, while Child Care Aware blends centers and other settings, which is why their monthly figures differ.
Why the state matters so much
Childcare prices are set locally, and the range is wide. The District of Columbia averages about 2,700 dollars a month for infant center care, Massachusetts 2,400, New York 2,200 and California 1,923, while Mississippi averages about 650 dollars a month. The national average for infant center care is 1,439 dollars a month. The calculator turns those state prices into a multiplier on the national rate: the District of Columbia is 1.88, Massachusetts 1.67, New York 1.53, California 1.34 and Mississippi 0.45. Pick your state and the weekly rate, the monthly cost and the income share all move. The multipliers come from infant center prices, and they are applied to all ages and all types of care as an approximation, because state data by age and type is not published in the same detail everywhere.
Learn: how to use the Childcare Cost Calculator
- Enter the number of children by age: infant, toddler, preschool and school-age.
- Pick the type of care: daycare center, home daycare or nanny.
- Pick your state, or the US average.
- Enter the hours per week and the weeks per year.
- Add a custom weekly rate if you have a real quote.
- Enter your monthly household income and read the cost, the credit estimate and the income share.
Features
- Three types of care: center, home daycare and nanny.
- Rates by age, from infant to school-age, from Care.com 2026 data.
- State multipliers for all 50 states and DC, from Child Care Aware 2025.
- Sibling discount of 10 percent on the second and later children.
- Hours and weeks adjust the cost, for part-time and school-year care.
- Simplified Child and Dependent Care Credit estimate.
- Income share check against the 7 percent affordable benchmark.
- Side by side comparison of center, home daycare and nanny.
- Cost by child table, so you can see which child costs the most.
Worked example
One infant in a daycare center, 40 hours a week for 52 weeks, costs 332 dollars a week, 1,438.67 dollars a month and 17,264 dollars a year on the US average. That is 18 percent of an 8,000 dollar monthly household income, well above the 7 percent benchmark for affordable care. A simplified Child and Dependent Care Credit estimate of 600 dollars a year brings the net cost to about 16,664 dollars. In the District of Columbia the same care costs 624.16 dollars a week, and a nanny costs 870 dollars a week.
Frequently asked questions
How much does daycare cost per week?
For an infant in a daycare center, the US average is 332 dollars a week, or 1,438.67 dollars a month and 17,264 dollars a year, from the Care.com 2026 Cost of Care Report.
How much does a nanny cost?
A nanny costs about 870 dollars a week on the US average, or 3,770 dollars a month and 45,240 dollars a year, from the Care.com 2026 report. The starting hourly rate is 21.62 dollars.
Why is infant care the most expensive?
Because the staff ratio is lowest for babies. An infant room needs one carer for every 3 or 4 babies, while a preschool room can have one carer for 10 children.
Which state has the most expensive childcare?
The District of Columbia, at about 2,700 dollars a month for infant center care, followed by Massachusetts at 2,400 and New York at 2,200. California averages about 1,923 dollars a month.
What is the Child and Dependent Care Credit?
The Child and Dependent Care Credit is a federal tax credit for childcare costs while you work.
What percentage of income should childcare be?
The benchmark used by the Department of Health and Human Services is 7 percent of family income. At the defaults, one infant in a center costs 18 percent of an 8,000 dollar monthly income, which is well above the benchmark.
Does a sibling discount help?
Yes. Most centers give a 10 percent discount on the second and later children.
Is home daycare cheaper than a center?
Slightly. Home daycare, also called family child care, costs 323 dollars a week for an infant against 332 in a center, and 301 against 308 for a toddler.
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