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Child Care Aware of America · 2023 (2023 dollars)

Child care cost in California

Full-time infant care in a child care center averaged $19,547 a year in California in 2023, about $1,629 a month, per Child Care Aware of America. A family child care home averaged $16,432 for an infant, and center care for a 4-year-old $14,396.

Child care cost
$19,547
a year
Infant, family child care home
$16,432
4-year-old, center
$14,396
Rank
42 of 51
1 = cheapest
StateChild care costRank
Connecticut$17,88840
Vermont$17,97341
California$19,54742
Colorado$19,57343
New York$19,58444

Source: Child Care Aware of America, Child Care at a Standstill: 2023 Affordability Analysis (Price of Care: 2023). Average (not median) annual price of full-time child care in 2023, nominal 2023 dollars. infantCenter and preschoolCenter (4-year-old) from Table I '2023 Average Annual Price of Full-Time Center-Based Child Care by State'; infantHome from Table II '2023 Average Annual Price of Full-Time Family Child Care by State'. State figures were reported by Child Care Resource and Referral State Networks in CCAoA's January 2024 survey; states marked with an asterisk in the source (AL, AZ, CA, FL, ID, IL, LA, MS, NH, NJ, NM, PA, RI, TN, TX, VT, WI, WY) did not report on that survey and their figures come from the state's most recent Market Rate Survey, so data vintages vary by state. The PDF prints no publication date; 'date' is approximate (report released mid-2024). National figure ($11,582) is CCAoA's 2023 national average price of child care across ages/settings, from https://www.childcareaware.org/thechildcarestandstill, computed by averaging three methodologies; CCAoA publishes no national average by age/setting, so those fields are null. The DOL Women's Bureau NDCP was not used because its state-level figures are published only as XLSX/Tableau, which could not be read. The newer 2024 Affordability Analysis omits New Mexico, so the complete 2023 edition was used for all 51. Publication date not printed in the report; released in 2024.

Common questions

How much does child care cost in California?

Full-time infant care in a child care center averaged $19,547 a year in California in 2023, about $1,629 a month, per Child Care Aware of America. A family child care home averaged $16,432 for an infant, and center care for a 4-year-old $14,396.

Is child care in California expensive?

California ranks 42 of 51 for infant center care (1 = cheapest). Prices have generally risen since 2023, so expect to pay more today.

Plan the rest of the family budget with our budget by state tool.

More for California: monthly budget · take-home pay · rent.

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