ChildcareCost

Placer County, CA vs Stearns County, MN

Side-by-side childcare cost comparison. Infant center care costs $449/wk in Placer County and $431/wk in Stearns County.

MetricPlacer County, CAStearns County, MN
Infant Center (wk)$449$431
Infant Family (wk)$389$143
Toddler Center (wk)$297$382
Toddler Family (wk)$330$132
Preschool Center (wk)$233$337
Preschool Family (wk)$310$132
School-Age Center (wk)$134$249
School-Age Family (wk)$238$127
Median Income$109,375$73,105
Burden Index21.3%30.6%

Annual Cost Comparison (Infant Center)

Placer County
$23,344/yr
Stearns County
$22,395/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.