Best placesChildcare Cost

Counties With the Cheapest Childcare in the United States (2026)

Mercer has the lowest childcare of any county in the United States, at $1,227, followed by DeKalb and Carter (data vintage 2022). The full ranking of the top 25 counties is below.

Data updated 2022 - Source: DOL Women's Bureau National Database of Childcare Prices

Explore childcare on the map

Cheapest counties for childcare in the United States

Top 25 of 3097 counties with data.

Ranked by childcare cost (DOL Women's Bureau National Database of Childcare Prices, 2022), lowest first.

Cheapest counties for childcare in the United States
RankCountyValue
1Mercer$1,227
2DeKalb$2,184
3Carter$2,455
4Atchison$2,700
5Gentry$3,102
6St. Francois$3,547
7Guayama$3,700
8Cayey$3,700
9Arroyo$3,700
10Salinas$3,700
11Patillas$3,700
12Santa Isabel$3,700
13Rincón$3,755
14Aguas Buenas$3,755
15Aibonito$3,755
16Moca$3,755
17Isabela$3,755
18San Sebastián$3,755
19Las Marías$3,755
20Maricao$3,837
21Añasco$3,837
22Hormigueros$3,837
23Mayagüez$3,837
24Guánica$3,837
25Sabana Grande$3,837

How this ranking works

This page ranks every US county by childcare cost, sorted so the cheapest places appear first. Click any county to see its housing, schools, crime, and demographics in detail.

For childcare, a lower value is generally more favorable, so the top of the list is the lowest. Want to weigh childcare against schools, taxes, commute, and more at once? Use the live map to build a custom match.

Data comes from public sources. Source attribution and the exact data vintage are shown above and on the full map of childcare cost.

Related

Compare childcare with everything else that matters on the live map.

Open the Map