DAYCARE PRICING GUIDE
Daycare pricing: how much to charge
The 2026 US weekly rates for infants, toddlers and preschoolers at home daycares and centers, part-time and drop-in rates, the fees — and a free calculator that turns them into a price you can put on your website.
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The short answer
US families pay an average of $332 a week for one infant in a daycare center and $323 a week at a home daycare (a family care center) (Care.com Cost of Care report, February 2026) — about $1,439 and $1,400 a month (Care.com's infant-care guide, April 2026). A toddler is $308 and $301 a week.
By age, full-time care runs $390 to $450 a week for an infant, $340 to $400 for a toddler and $280 to $340 for a preschooler; home-based daycares charge $225 to $350 a week against $350 to $500 or more at centers (Wonderschool, January 2026).
Part-time is priced as a share of full-time — 50% to 60% for two days a week, 65% to 75% for three — and drop-in care at $75 to $125 a day. Registration fees run $50 to $300, late pickup $1 to $5 a minute, and a second child usually gets 10% to 15% off (Wonderschool).
Set the weekly rate by age, write the part-time shares and the fees into a policy, and put them on your website — parents compare daycares online before they ever call, and a published rate is the first filter.
FREE PRICE CALCULATOR
What should I charge per week?
Pick the child's age or your setting, the schedule and the fees that apply to the first week. The range uses the published 2026 US rates in the table below.
Suggested price
$340–$400
full-time care, weekly, by age, toddler (1–3 years)
A starting weekly range from published US rates — not a quote for a family. Check it against your own cost per spot (the formula below), your state's ratio rules and your local market before you put it on your rate sheet.
Show this price on your website ↓Show this price on your website
Put your daycare prices where customers look
Add your town, and Zarla builds your daycare website from this one line. Then tell the editor “add a pricing section” with your prices, and change them any time.
Already have a website? Bring it across →Zarla keeps your old page addresses where it can and redirects the ones that change, helping you keep the Google standing you've built.
RATES · OCTOBER 2026
Daycare rates by age and setting (2026)
Typical US weekly rates. Care.com's 2026 Cost of Care report puts the 2025 averages at $332 a week for an infant and $308 for a toddler in a daycare center, $323 and $301 at a home daycare, and $585 for two toddlers in a center (February 2026).
| The job | Typical US price · source |
|---|---|
| Full-time care, weekly, by age | Infant (0–12 months): $390–$450 · Toddler (1–3 years): $340–$400 · Preschool (3–5 years): $280–$340 · Wonderschool |
| Home daycare, weekly (all ages) | Full-time, home-based: $225–$350 · Wonderschool |
| Daycare center, weekly (all ages) | Full-time, center-based: $350–$500+ · Wonderschool |
| Drop-in care (per day) | $75–$125 per day · about $75–$125 for 1 day · Wonderschool |
Rates read off each publisher's page in October 2026. The calculator above uses exactly these numbers. Full source list below.
ADD-ONS AND ADJUSTMENTS
What to charge for part-time, siblings and fees
Part-time and sibling rates are shares of the weekly price; the fees protect your spots and your time.
| What | Typical US price · source |
|---|---|
| Schedule: 3 days a week | 25%–35% off · Wonderschool |
| Schedule: 2 days a week | 40%–50% off · Wonderschool |
| Siblings: second child (sibling discount) | 10%–15% off · Wonderschool |
| Registration or enrollment fee (first week) | +$50–$300 · Wonderschool |
| Materials or supply fee (first week) | +$25–$100 · Wonderschool |
| Diaper and wipe fee (monthly) | +$25–$50 · Wonderschool |
Where a row shows a sum (a rate × a quantity, or a percentage worked out from published dollar ranges), the arithmetic is ours and the inputs are the publisher's.
THE PRICING FORMULA
How to price a daycare spot
Six steps from your costs and your state's ratios to the number on your rate sheet.
Know your legal capacity
In the US, each state licenses child care and sets how many children one adult may care for, by age. Infants need the most adults, so an infant spot costs you the most.
Add up your monthly costs
Rent or the share of your home, food, supplies, insurance, licensing, curriculum, an assistant's wages — and what you need to pay yourself.
Divide by the spots you'll really fill
Monthly costs ÷ enrolled children ÷ 4.33 weeks = your break-even weekly rate per child. Plan on empty spots and late starts; they're part of the cost.
Check it against the market
Infants $390–$450 a week, toddlers $340–$400, preschoolers $280–$340; home daycares $225–$350, centers $350–$500+ (Wonderschool). Care.com's national averages sit in the table above.
Set the part-time and sibling shares
Two days at 50%–60% of full-time, three days at 65%–75%, drop-in at $75–$125 a day, 10%–15% off for a second child (Wonderschool).
Write the fees into your policy
Registration $50–$300, supplies $25–$100, late pickup $1–$5 a minute, a holding fee of 50%–100% of the weekly rate to keep a spot (Wonderschool). Put them on the website so no one is surprised.
The formula, worked through
Say you run a home daycare licensed for six children, with a mix of toddlers and preschoolers.
At Wonderschool's home-based range of $225–$350 a week, six full-time spots bring in $1,350–$2,100 a week, about $5,800–$9,100 a month. If your monthly costs — including your own wage — come to $5,500, the lower end barely clears them and the upper end leaves room for the empty spot every daycare has some months.
So “full-time care from $300 a week” is a fair line for your rate sheet if your costs look like that; price infants higher, because your state's ratios mean each one takes more of an adult's day.
The arithmetic is ours; the weekly range is Wonderschool's. Your costs, your ratios and your town are what make it yours.
What to charge in your state
The ranges on this page are US national figures, and child care prices swing widely by state. Wonderschool's 2026 table puts weekly infant care at $425–$550 in California, $450–$600 in Massachusetts and $400–$525 in New York, against $250–$325 in Georgia, $275–$375 in Texas and $300–$375 in Florida.
Across all prices, the Bureau of Economic Analysis puts California at 110.7 against a US average of 100 and Arkansas at 86.9 (2024 regional price parities, released February 2026). Care.com's 2026 nanny rates show the same spread: $30.23 an hour in San Francisco against $18.91 in San Antonio.
In the US, every state licenses child care, sets adult-to-child ratios by age and runs its own subsidy program; families may also pay through a dependent care FSA or claim the child and dependent care credit (Wonderschool lists both; the caps change by tax year, so point families at the current IRS figures) — that side is theirs, but it changes what a family can afford. Outside the US, treat the ranges as a shape, not a price: a weekly rate by age, part-time as a share of it, and fees that protect your spots hold everywhere. Check your state's licensing office before you set capacity or price.
Put your prices on your website
A price list — even “from” prices — answers a customer's first question before they pick up the phone, and it's the line an AI assistant can quote when someone asks what daycare costs near them.
If you build your site with Zarla, tell the editor “add a pricing section: full-time care from $300 a week, drop-in days from $75” and your prices go on the site, in a section you can edit any time. Want to see a finished site first? Browse daycare website templates or see how Zarla builds daycare websites.
Still setting up? Write your daycare business plan, and when the prices are set, read how to get your business on Google.
Daycare pricing: common questions
$225–$350 a week for full-time, home-based care (Wonderschool, January 2026). Care.com's 2026 Cost of Care report puts the 2025 average for a home daycare at $323 a week for an infant and $301 for a toddler. The calculator above adjusts it for part-time schedules and siblings.
$75–$125 a day for drop-in care (Wonderschool). For a regular part-time schedule, charge a share of the weekly rate instead: 50%–60% for two days, 65%–75% for three.
Infants run $390–$450 a week against $340–$400 for toddlers and $280–$340 for preschoolers (Wonderschool); Care.com's averages are $332 against $308 in a center. Infants need more adults per child under every US state's ratios, so the spot costs you more.
Most daycares do: $50–$300 to enroll, sometimes with a $25–$100 materials fee (Wonderschool). A holding fee of 50%–100% of the weekly rate keeps a spot for a family that hasn't started yet.
$1–$5 a minute is the common range (Wonderschool), written into the policy the family signs. It protects your evening and makes the rule easy to enforce.
10%–15% off for a second child is typical (Wonderschool). Care.com puts two toddlers in a center at $585 a week against $308 for one, so a sibling spot is already priced below double.
Wonderschool's 2026 table puts weekly infant care at $425–$550 in California, $450–$600 in Massachusetts and $400–$525 in New York, against $250–$325 in Georgia, $275–$375 in Texas and $300–$375 in Florida. In the US, your state's licensing office sets the ratios behind every one of those prices.
Yes — the weekly rate by age, the part-time shares and the fees. Parents filter daycares online by price before they call, and a published rate saves everyone the tour that was never going to work. On a Zarla site, tell the editor “add a pricing section” with your rates, and change them any time.
Where these numbers come from
Every range on this page is read off a published source, dated below. They're US figures for residential work — typical, not a rule; your costs and your market come first.
- Care.com — This Is How Much Child Care Costs in 2026 (Cost of Care Report) — dated February 2026, read October 2026
- Care.com — How Much Does Infant Care Cost? — dated April 2026, read October 2026
- Wonderschool — How Much Does Daycare Cost? Complete 2026 Price Guide — dated January 2026, read October 2026
- U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis — regional price parities by state, 2024 — dated February 2026, read September 2026
Put your daycare rates on your website
Add your town and your business name, and Zarla builds the site from that one line. Your rates go in a pricing section you edit by chat.
Already have a website? Bring it across →Zarla keeps your old page addresses where it can and redirects the ones that change, helping you keep the Google standing you've built.