Child care costs in the United States

The cost of child care in
Alabama

Child care in Alabama is expensive.

  • The average annual cost of infant care in Alabama is $7,871—that’s $656 per month.
  • Child care for a 4-year-old costs $7,268, or $606 each month.
Money icon
$7,871
State

Child care is one of the biggest expenses families face.

  • Infant care in Alabama costs just $3,401 (30.20%) less than in-state tuition for four-year public college.
  • In Alabama, infant care costs 65.3% of average rent.

Annual cost in Alabama

College: $11,272
 
Housing: $12,061
 
4-year-old care: $7,268
 
Infant care: $7,871
 
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Child care is unaffordable for typical families in Alabama.

  • Infant care for one child would take up 9.80% of a median family’s income in Alabama.
  • According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), child care is affordable if it costs no more than 7% of a family’s income. By this standard, only 33.90% of Alabama families can afford infant care.
Families with two children face an even larger burden.
  • Child care for two children—an infant and a 4-year-old—costs $15,139. That’s 20.30% more than average rent in Alabama.
  • A typical family in Alabama would have to spend 18.90% of its income on child care for an infant and a 4-year-old.

Child care is out of reach for low-wage workers.

  • A minimum wage worker in Alabama would need to work full time for 27 weeks, or from January to July, just to pay for child care for one infant.
  • Even in Birmingham, where the local minimum wage is the highest in the state ($7.25), it would take 27 weeks to cover the costs.
Yet, child care workers still struggle to get by.
  • Nationally, child care workers’ families are more than twice as likely to live in poverty as other workers’ families (11.8% are in poverty compared with 5.8%).
  • A median child care worker in Alabama would have to spend 35.60% of their earnings to put their own child in infant care.

How big a bite does child care take?
Infant care costs as a share of income in Alabama

HHS affordability standard: Child care should cost no more than 7% of a family’s income.

For a median family with children

Infant Care
Share of income to afford infant care9.80%
Remaining income90.20%
Created with Highcharts 4.0.3
9.80%$7,871 of $80,065

For a minimum-wage worker

Infant Care
Share of income to afford infant care52.20%
Remaining income47.80%
Created with Highcharts 4.0.3
52.20%$7,871 of $15,080

For a typical child care worker

Infant Care
Share of income to afford infant care35.60%
Remaining income64.40%
Created with Highcharts 4.0.3
35.60%$7,871 of $22,120

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Everyone will benefit if we solve this problem.

  • Meaningful child care reform that capped families’ child care expenses at 7% of their income would save a typical Alabama family with an infant $2,266 on child care costs. This would free up 3.10% of their (post–child care) annual income to spend on other necessities.
  • Parents would have more opportunities to enter the labor force. If child care were capped at 7% of income, 10,163 more parents would have the option to work.
  • This reform would expand Alabama’s economy by 0.40%. That’s $1.4 billion of new economic activity.

How does your state stack up?

Alabama
  • Annual infant care costs:$7,871
  • Median family income:$80,065
  • Infant care costs as a share of median family income:9.80%
  • Savings to typical families with an infant from capping child care expenditures at 7% of income:$2,266
  • Share of (post–child care) median income freed up by capping infant care expenditures at 7% of income:3.10%
  • Share of families able to afford infant care (i.e., costs are 7% or less of income):33.90%
  • Full-time minimum wage salary:$15,080
  • Infant care costs as a share of minimum wage earnings:52.20%
  • Median child care worker salary:$22,120
  • Infant care costs as a share of child care worker earnings:35.60%
  • In-state tuition for four-year public college:$11,272
  • Infant care costs as a share of public college tuition:69.80%
  • Annual rent:$12,061
  • Infant care as a share of rent:65.30%
  • Increase in state’s economy from capping families’ child care expenditures at 7% of income:0.4% ($1.4 billion)
Infant care costs
Maine
Vt.
N.H.
Wash.
Idaho
Mont.
N.D.
Minn.
Ill.
Wis.
Mich.
N.Y.
R.I.
Mass.
Ore.
Nev.
Wyo.
S.D.
Iowa
Ind.
Ohio
Pa.
N.J.
Conn.
Calif.
Utah
Colo.
Neb.
Mo.
Ky.
W.Va.
Va.
Md.
Del.
Ariz.
N.M.
Kan.
Ark.
Tenn.
N.C.
S.C.
D.C.
Okla.
La.
Miss.
Ala.
Ga.
Alaska
Hawaii
Texas
Fla.
$6,868$28,356
Alabama
  • Annual infant care costs:$7,871
  • Median family income:$80,065
  • Infant care costs as a share of median family income:9.80%
  • Savings to typical families with an infant from capping child care expenditures at 7% of income:$2,266
  • Share of (post–child care) median income freed up by capping infant care expenditures at 7% of income:3.10%
  • Share of families able to afford infant care (i.e., costs are 7% or less of income):33.90%
  • Full-time minimum wage salary:$15,080
  • Infant care costs as a share of minimum wage earnings:52.20%
  • Median child care worker salary:$22,120
  • Infant care costs as a share of child care worker earnings:35.60%
  • In-state tuition for four-year public college:$11,272
  • Infant care costs as a share of public college tuition:69.80%
  • Annual rent:$12,061
  • Infant care as a share of rent:65.30%
  • Increase in state’s economy from capping families’ child care expenditures at 7% of income:0.4% ($1.4 billion)

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Learn more

To learn more about the high cost of child care, check out these EPI resources:

Sources

Bureau of Economic Analysis, GDP and Personal Income Regional Economic Accounts [interactive data tables], 2023. 

Bureau of Labor Statistics, Chained Consumer Price Index, series SUUR0000SA0, 2024. 

Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index: college tuition and fees, series CUUR0000SEEB01, 2024. 

Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index: day care and preschool, series CUUR0000SEEB03, 2024. 

Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index: housing, series CUUR0000SAH, 2024. 

Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates, May 2023. 

Census Bureau, American Community Survey, “Median Gross Rent: ACS 5-year Estimates for 2019–2023” [online data table], 2024. 

Child Care Aware of America, Price of Care: 2023, 2024. 

David Blau, The Child Care Problem: An Economic Analysis, Russell Sage Foundation, 2001. 

Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, “Average undergraduate tuition, fees, room, and board charges for full-time students in degree-granting postsecondary institutions, by control and level of institution and state: Academic years 2021-22 and 2022-23” [online data table], 2023. 

Department of Health and Human Services, Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) Program; Proposed Rule, 80 Fed. Reg. 80466–80582 (December 24, 2015). 

Department of Labor, Women’s Bureau, “National Database of Childcare Prices: State-Level Estimates and Affordability Rankings 2022” [data download], 2024. 

Economic Policy Institute, Minimum Wage Tracker, last updated January 1, 2025. 

Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS), American Community Survey microdata, 2023. 

Data updated February 2025