ChildcareCost

Alameda County, CA vs Middlesex County, MA

Side-by-side childcare cost comparison. Infant center care costs $516/wk in Alameda County and $462/wk in Middlesex County.

MetricAlameda County, CAMiddlesex County, MA
Infant Center (wk)$516$462
Infant Family (wk)$361$250
Toddler Center (wk)$371$409
Toddler Family (wk)$311$230
Preschool Center (wk)$408$310
Preschool Family (wk)$345$200
School-Age Center (wk)$434$215
School-Age Family (wk)$279$214
Median Income$122,488$121,304
Burden Index21.9%19.8%

Annual Cost Comparison (Infant Center)

Alameda County
$26,827/yr
Middlesex County
$24,001/yr
Sources: DOL National Database of Childcare Prices
Last updated:

The side-by-side above pulls the the DOL National Database of Childcare Prices data for both entity A and entity B. What follows is the interpretation — which specific axes carry the most weight for entity A versus entity B, and which differences are large enough to influence a real decision.

Practical use of the comparison: read the data above, then drill into the individual entity A and entity B detail pages for the underlying breakdown. A pairwise comparison answers the relative question; the per-entity pages answer the absolute question.

Source: U.S. Department of Labor Women’s Bureau Childcare Prices, 2026.