ChildcareCost

San Mateo County, CA vs King County, WA

Side-by-side childcare cost comparison. Infant center care costs $555/wk in San Mateo County and $478/wk in King County.

MetricSan Mateo County, CAKing County, WA
Infant Center (wk)$555$478
Infant Family (wk)$375$347
Toddler Center (wk)$397$390
Toddler Family (wk)$357$310
Preschool Center (wk)$437$390
Preschool Family (wk)$396$310
School-Age Center (wk)$439$289
School-Age Family (wk)$363$245
Median Income$149,907$116,340
Burden Index19.2%21.4%

Annual Cost Comparison (Infant Center)

San Mateo County
$28,837/yr
King County
$24,879/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.