San Mateo County, CA
Infant daycare in San Mateo County, CA costs $555 per week ($28,837 per year) for center-based care, and $375 per week for family daycare. With a median household income of $149,907, the childcare burden is 19.2% of income, well above the 7% threshold HUD considers affordable. This is above the national median of $174/wk.
Cost Breakdown by Age Group
| Age Group | Center/Wk | Center/Yr | Family/Wk | Family/Yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Infant (0-1) | $555 | $28,837 | $375 | $19,501 |
| Toddler (1-2) | $397 | $20,655 | $357 | $18,567 |
| Preschool (3-5) | $437 | $22,733 | $396 | $20,595 |
| School-Age (6+) | $439 | $22,831 | $363 | $18,885 |
San Mateo County Childcare FAQ
Center-based infant care in San Mateo County costs $555 per week ($28,837 per year). Family-based infant care costs $375 per week ($19,501 per year). Data from the DOL National Database of Childcare Prices.
The Childcare Burden Index for San Mateo County is 19.2%, rated "High". This means a family earning the median income of $149,907 would spend about 19.2% of their income on infant center-based childcare.
The national median weekly infant center care cost is $174. San Mateo County at $555/wk is 220% above the national median. Annualized, infant center care in San Mateo County costs $28,837 per year.
In San Mateo County, CA, the most affordable option is typically family-based (home) daycare. Infant family daycare costs $375/wk compared to $555/wk for center-based. For preschool-age children, family daycare is $396/wk vs $437/wk at a center. School-age after-care is the least expensive category at $363/wk (family) or $439/wk (center).
Read the California guide
Statewide cost trends, subsidies, tax credits, daycare alternatives, and how to afford daycare in California.
Daycare Cost in California 2026: A Complete Guide for Parents →More Counties in CA
Childcare costs are weekly median prices from the DOL. Burden Index = annual infant center care / median household income.
this entity is one of the data points covered by this site’s U.S. childcare prices dataset. The detail above comes directly from the DOL National Database of Childcare Prices; the context that follows situates the headline numbers against the broader distribution across U.S. counties.
The methodology behind every numeric value on this page is publicly documented on the the DOL National Database of Childcare Prices portal and described in detail on this site’s methodology page. Refresh cadence varies by underlying series; the page surfaces the as-of date for each number so readers can trace any figure back to the source release.
Practical use of this page is in combination with the comparison and ranking pages elsewhere on the site, which surface the same data for this entity’s peers within U.S. counties. A single-entity reading without peer context can be misleading when an entity is an outlier on one axis but typical on another.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor Women’s Bureau Childcare Prices, 2026.