ChildcareCost

Norfolk County, MA vs Santa Barbara County, CA

Side-by-side childcare cost comparison. Infant center care costs $555/wk in Norfolk County and $453/wk in Santa Barbara County.

MetricNorfolk County, MASanta Barbara County, CA
Infant Center (wk)$555$453
Infant Family (wk)$370$363
Toddler Center (wk)$520$309
Toddler Family (wk)$340$305
Preschool Center (wk)$420$242
Preschool Family (wk)$320$286
School-Age Center (wk)$175$115
School-Age Family (wk)$300$207
Median Income$120,621$92,332
Burden Index23.9%25.5%

Annual Cost Comparison (Infant Center)

Norfolk County
$28,860/yr
Santa Barbara County
$23,532/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.