ChildcareCost

Alexandria City, VA vs Howard County, MD

Side-by-side childcare cost comparison. Infant center care costs $453/wk in Alexandria City and $414/wk in Howard County.

MetricAlexandria City, VAHoward County, MD
Infant Center (wk)$453$414
Infant Family (wk)$300$288
Toddler Center (wk)$424$336
Toddler Family (wk)$289$271
Preschool Center (wk)$424$336
Preschool Family (wk)$289$271
School-Age Center (wk)$380$303
School-Age Family (wk)$252$252
Median Income$113,179$140,971
Burden Index20.8%15.3%

Annual Cost Comparison (Infant Center)

Alexandria City
$23,540/yr
Howard County
$21,533/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.