California Childcare Costs
Median weekly infant center care in California is $354. Explore childcare pricing across 58 counties.
The typical California family pays $354/wk for infant center-based daycare — about $18,410 per year. That's 104% above the U.S. national median of $174/wk. But statewide medians hide huge variation: San Francisco County runs $607/wk while Imperial County charges just $222/wk for the same age group.
Across California, the average Childcare Burden Index — annual infant center cost as a share of local median household income — is 43.0%. 57 of 58 ranked counties (98%) carry a "High" or "Severe" burden, where infant daycare consumes 15% or more of the local median household income. 37 counties are classified as "Severe" (≥ 20% of income). The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services treats childcare as affordable only when it costs no more than 7% of household income — a bar most California counties exceed. The single highest-burden county in California is Humboldt County at 32.9% of median income.
Family-based (home) daycare is typically 20-30% cheaper than center-based care, and prices fall further as children age into preschool (where licensing rules allow higher caregiver-to-child ratios) and again into school-age care (which only covers before- and after-school hours). Each California county page below shows the full breakdown across infant, toddler, preschool, and school-age care for both setting types. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Labor's National Database of Childcare Prices (2022), with median household income from the U.S. Census Bureau ACS.
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All California Counties
Read the complete California guide
How to afford daycare in California, subsidies and tax credits, daycare alternatives, and county-by-county affordability strategies.
Daycare Cost in California 2026: A Complete Guide for Parents →California Childcare Cost FAQ
The median weekly cost of infant center daycare in California is $354, or about $18,410 per year, based on the Department of Labor's National Database of Childcare Prices. That puts California 104% above the U.S. national median of $174/wk.
The median monthly cost of infant center daycare in California is approximately $1,533 ($354/wk × 4.33 weeks). Annual cost: $18,410. Costs vary significantly by county — see the ranked list above for county-by-county breakdowns. Family-based home daycare typically runs 20-30% cheaper than center care.
The median weekly cost of infant center daycare in California is $354. Costs decrease as children age — typically 15-25% lower for toddlers (1-2 years), 30-40% lower for preschoolers (3-5 years), and 50-60% lower for school-age (5+) before-and-after-school care. See the per-county pages above for full age-tier breakdowns.
Daycare is significantly cheaper than a nanny in California for one child. A typical nanny in California costs $20-30/hour ($800-1,200/wk for 40 hours), versus daycare at $354/wk. The math flips with two or three children — most daycares charge separately per child, while a nanny's hourly rate stays the same regardless of how many siblings. Family-based home daycare splits the difference between center daycare and a private nanny.
California, like all U.S. states, offers some form of subsidized childcare for low-income families through the federal Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG). Eligibility is typically capped at 85% of state median income, and subsidies cover a portion of cost (not all). State-funded pre-K programs (universal in some states like Georgia and Oklahoma) provide free care for 4-year-olds. Some employers also offer Dependent Care FSAs that let you pay up to $5,000/year tax-free. Visit your California Department of Health and Human Services for specific subsidy programs and waitlist status.
Most California families combine multiple strategies: dual-income arrangements where both parents work, Dependent Care FSAs (saves ~$1,500-2,000/year for households in the 22-24% tax bracket), federal Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit (up to $1,050 per child), employer-provided care benefits, and family help (grandparents, relatives). At 43.0% average childcare burden, California is above the HHS affordability threshold of 7% of household income — many families simply move to lower-cost counties or shift to family-based home daycare.
San Francisco County is the most expensive county in California for infant center daycare at $607/wk ($31,544 per year). The Childcare Burden Index there is 23.1% of median household income.
The lowest infant center daycare cost in California is in Imperial County at $222/wk ($11,533 per year). Family-based daycare is typically 20-30% cheaper than center care across California — see each county page for the family vs. center breakdown.
Annualized infant center daycare in California runs about $18,410 per year. In many U.S. states, that exceeds in-state public college tuition — and in California's most expensive counties, infant care can cost more than private college. Costs drop substantially once children reach preschool age (3-5) because licensing rules allow higher caregiver-to-child ratios.
The average Childcare Burden Index across California counties is 43.0% — meaning a typical California family spends about that share of their gross household income on infant center daycare. 57 of 58 ranked counties (98%) have a burden of 15% or more. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services treats childcare as affordable only when it costs no more than 7% of household income.
The this entity record above pulls directly from the DOL National Database of Childcare Prices. What follows is the per-entity context — how this entity sits in the broader U.S. childcare prices distribution and which underlying factors drive the headline numbers.
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.