Child care costs in the United States
Learn more
To learn more about the high cost of child care, check out these EPI resources:
- EPI Policy Agenda: Education and Child Care
- EPI Family Budget Calculator
- EPI Minimum Wage Tracker
- Setting higher wages for child care and home health care workers is long overdue
- What does good child care reform look like?
Sources
Bureau of Economic Analysis, GDP and Personal Income Regional Economic Accounts [interactive data tables], 2023.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Chained Consumer Price Index, series SUUR0000SA0, 2024.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index: college tuition and fees, series CUUR0000SEEB01, 2024.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index: day care and preschool, series CUUR0000SEEB03, 2024.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index: housing, series CUUR0000SAH, 2024.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates, May 2023.
Census Bureau, American Community Survey, “Median Gross Rent: ACS 5-year Estimates for 2019–2023” [online data table], 2024.
Child Care Aware of America, Price of Care: 2023, 2024.
David Blau, The Child Care Problem: An Economic Analysis, Russell Sage Foundation, 2001.
Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, “Average undergraduate tuition, fees, room, and board charges for full-time students in degree-granting postsecondary institutions, by control and level of institution and state: Academic years 2021-22 and 2022-23” [online data table], 2023.
Department of Health and Human Services, Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) Program; Proposed Rule, 80 Fed. Reg. 80466–80582 (December 24, 2015).
Department of Labor, Women’s Bureau, “National Database of Childcare Prices: State-Level Estimates and Affordability Rankings 2022” [data download], 2024.
Economic Policy Institute, Minimum Wage Tracker, last updated January 1, 2025.
Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS), American Community Survey microdata, 2023.
Data updated February 2025