ChildcareCost

Stearns County, MN vs Anoka County, MN

Side-by-side childcare cost comparison. Infant center care costs $431/wk in Stearns County and $390/wk in Anoka County.

MetricStearns County, MNAnoka County, MN
Infant Center (wk)$431$390
Infant Family (wk)$143$165
Toddler Center (wk)$382$348
Toddler Family (wk)$132$142
Preschool Center (wk)$337$309
Preschool Family (wk)$132$145
School-Age Center (wk)$249$237
School-Age Family (wk)$127$137
Median Income$73,105$95,782
Burden Index30.6%21.2%

Annual Cost Comparison (Infant Center)

Stearns County
$22,395/yr
Anoka County
$20,280/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.