State rankings
Child Care Cost by State
District of Columbia has the highest Annual Child Care Cost for Infant in 2025 ($28,356), followed by Massachusetts ($26,709) and Minnesota ($22,569). Mississippi has the lowest ($6,868).
Year 202551 of 51 states
Cost-of-living adjustmentConverts wages and incomes to what they would buy at average US prices, so $100k in a cheap state and $100k in an expensive one are not treated as equal.More in the glossary →
Annual Child Care Cost for Infant, 2025
Green is better, red is worse (lower is better). Click a place to highlight it.
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All 51 ranked
Best first.
Distribution Median and middle halfThe median is the middle value: half of places are above it, half below. The middle half is the range holding the central 50% of places.More in the glossary →
Each dot is one state; the lines mark the median and the middle half.
Median
$14,106
Middle half $11,109 – $17,760
Average
$14,802
51 states
Lowest (best)
$6,868
Mississippi
Highest (worst)
$28,356
District of Columbia
Data
Click a column to sort, a row to highlight that place on the charts.
51 states · # = rank by Annual Child Care Cost for Infant
| # | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Mississippi | $6,868 | $6,251 | $68,774 | 10.0% | 45.5% |
| 2 |  Alabama | $7,871 | $7,268 | $80,065 | 9.8% | 52.2% |
| 3 |  South Dakota | $8,680 | $7,893 | $92,382 | 9.4% | 36.3% |
| 4 |  Kentucky | $8,756 | $7,778 | $76,985 | 11.4% | 58.1% |
| 5 |  Louisiana | $8,873 | $8,153 | $84,171 | 10.5% | 58.8% |
| 5 |  Arkansas | $8,873 | $7,670 | $76,985 | 11.5% | 38.8% |
| 7 |  Kansas | $9,105 | $7,963 | $90,329 | 10.1% | 60.4% |
| 8 |  Wyoming | $9,327 | $9,006 | $84,171 | 11.1% | 61.8% |
| 9 |  Iowa | $9,605 | $8,276 | $94,435 | 10.2% | 63.7% |
| 10 |  Idaho | $9,630 | $8,117 | $85,197 | 11.3% | 63.9% |
| 11 |  West Virginia | $9,692 | $9,540 | $71,853 | 13.5% | 53.3% |
| 12 |  Michigan | $10,023 | $9,007 | $91,725 | 10.9% | 45.6% |
| 13 |  Texas | $10,706 | $9,664 | $92,382 | 11.6% | 71.0% |
| 14 |  South Carolina | $11,512 | $10,481 | $84,171 | 13.7% | 76.3% |
| 15 |  North Carolina | $11,720 | $7,744 | $91,356 | 12.8% | 77.7% |
| 16 |  Georgia | $11,863 | $10,359 | $91,356 | 13.0% | 78.7% |
| 17 |  Tennessee | $12,249 | $8,469 | $82,836 | 14.8% | 81.2% |
| 18 |  North Dakota | $12,373 | $10,474 | $113,528 | 10.9% | 82.0% |
| 19 |  Oklahoma | $12,468 | $10,790 | $80,886 | 15.4% | 82.7% |
| 20 |  Montana | $12,778 | $11,418 | $92,382 | 13.8% | 58.2% |
| 21 |  Florida | $13,021 | $1,085 | $92,382 | 14.1% | 48.2% |
| 22 |  Utah | $13,094 | $9,725 | $102,647 | 12.8% | 86.8% |
| 23 |  Missouri | $13,173 | $10,332 | $90,329 | 14.6% | 46.1% |
| 24 |  Maine | $13,310 | $11,227 | $97,515 | 13.6% | 43.7% |
| 25 |  Pennsylvania | $13,354 | $11,798 | $100,594 | 13.3% | 88.6% |
| 26 |  Nebraska | $14,106 | $11,863 | $98,439 | 14.3% | 50.2% |
| 27 |  New Mexico | $14,244 | $9,993 | $67,747 | 21.0% | 57.1% |
| 28 |  Virginia | $14,277 | $10,807 | $108,806 | 13.1% | 55.3% |
| 29 |  Indiana | $14,471 | $9,925 | $90,329 | 16.0% | 96.0% |
| 30 |  Arizona | $15,625 | $12,152 | $94,435 | 16.5% | 51.1% |
| 31 |  Nevada | $15,950 | $13,268 | $87,250 | 18.3% | 63.9% |
| 32 |  Illinois | $16,107 | $10,947 | $112,912 | 14.3% | 51.6% |
| 33 |  Delaware | $16,220 | $12,168 | $103,160 | 15.7% | 52.0% |
| 34 |  Rhode Island | $16,758 | $14,193 | $106,753 | 15.7% | 53.7% |
| 35 |  Wisconsin | $16,956 | $14,974 | $105,726 | 16.0% | 112.4% |
| 36 |  Ohio | $17,071 | $13,426 | $96,488 | 17.7% | 76.7% |
| 37 |  New York | $17,361 | $14,988 | $111,885 | 15.5% | 53.8% |
| 38 |  New Hampshire | $17,364 | $14,437 | $129,335 | 13.4% | 115.1% |
| 39 |  New Jersey | $18,155 | $17,534 | $139,703 | 13.0% | 56.3% |
| 40 |  Vermont | $18,836 | $18,366 | $110,859 | 17.0% | 64.6% |
| 41 |  Maryland | $18,946 | $13,355 | $121,329 | 15.6% | 60.7% |
| 42 |  Oregon | $19,064 | $13,717 | $104,700 | 18.2% | 62.4% |
| 43 |  Connecticut | $20,254 | $16,493 | $124,716 | 16.2% | 59.6% |
| 44 |  Washington | $20,677 | $14,413 | $118,044 | 17.5% | 59.7% |
| 45 |  Alaska | $20,943 | $16,768 | $107,779 | 19.4% | 84.5% |
| 46 |  Hawaii | $21,167 | $15,224 | $105,726 | 20.0% | 72.7% |
| 47 |  Colorado | $21,840 | $15,992 | $122,150 | 17.9% | 70.9% |
| 48 |  California | $21,945 | $13,020 | $119,071 | 18.4% | 63.9% |
| 49 |  Minnesota | $22,569 | $17,882 | $120,097 | 18.8% | 97.5% |
| 50 |  Massachusetts | $26,709 | $17,939 | $147,606 | 18.1% | 85.6% |
| 51 |  District of Columbia | $28,356 | $22,714 | $240,194 | 11.8% | 77.9% |
What correlates with Annual Child Care Cost for Infant (2025)?
Pearson r against 2,089 other state metrics sharing at least 31 states. Correlation is not causation.
Higher together
Places that have a higher Annual Child Care Cost for Infant tend to score higher on these
Opposite directions
Places that have a higher Annual Child Care Cost for Infant tend to score lower on these
Quick answers
- Which state has the highest Annual Child Care Cost for Infant?
- District of Columbia has the highest Annual Child Care Cost for Infant in 2025, at $28,356, followed by Massachusetts ($26,709) and Minnesota ($22,569).
- Which state has the lowest Annual Child Care Cost for Infant?
- Mississippi has the lowest Annual Child Care Cost for Infant in 2025, at $6,868.
- What is the median Annual Child Care Cost for Infant across US states?
- The median is $14,106 across the 51 US states with data in 2025.
- Where does this child care cost by state data come from?
- Rankodex compiles it from World Population Review and the primary sources it cites: Child care costs in the United States - Economic Policy Institute; Home - Child Care Aware.