ChildcareCost

Marin County, CA vs Alameda County, CA

Side-by-side childcare cost comparison. Infant center care costs $548/wk in Marin County and $516/wk in Alameda County.

MetricMarin County, CAAlameda County, CA
Infant Center (wk)$548$516
Infant Family (wk)$392$361
Toddler Center (wk)$394$371
Toddler Family (wk)$367$311
Preschool Center (wk)$433$408
Preschool Family (wk)$407$345
School-Age Center (wk)$439$434
School-Age Family (wk)$399$279
Median Income$142,019$122,488
Burden Index20.1%21.9%

Annual Cost Comparison (Infant Center)

Marin County
$28,504/yr
Alameda County
$26,827/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.