How much does child care cost in Florida? This list ranks Florida among most expensive states

Yahoo

14-07-2025

Although it's an unavoidable cost for parents, child care in the U.S. usually comes with a hefty price tag.
According to a recent study from personal finance company WalletHub, Florida ranks in the top 15 most-expensive states when it comes to child care costs in 2025.
'A married couple could spend over 13% of their income on child care, while a single parent could have to shell out roughly 51%,' WalletHub's study says.
'In fact, both parents are employed in 66.5% of families with children, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.'
But there are some ways to cut back on the cost of child care. Here's where Florida ranks on WalletHub's list of the most expensive U.S. states for child care, why and some resources that can help cut the cost.
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WalletHub analyzed data from the U.S. Census Bureau and Child Care Aware through June 3, 2025, to find the prices of family-based and center-based child care and adjusted them by the median income.
On the rankings list for married couple families, Florida ranked as the 13th most expensive state for child care costs, based on this data.
The most expensive state was New York, and the least costly was South Dakota. According to the study, around eight to 10% of a married couple's (with children) average income in Florida goes toward child care costs. For context, the same list says married couples with children in New York spend around 11 to 12% of their average income on child care.
Florida ranked a little better on WalletHub's rankings list for single-parent households, placing in 35th, with single parents typically spending around 24 to 28% of their average income on child care. Although Florida's ranking on this list is significantly better compared to other states, single parents still pay much more for child care than married-couple households.
The most expensive state on the single-parent rankings list was Washington, D.C., where single parents typically spend 44% to about 51% of their average income on child care.
Here's WalletHub's top 15 most expensive states for child care in 2025:
New York
New Mexico
Washington
Oregon
Vermont
California
Rhode Island
Hawaii
Colorado
Massachusetts
Nevada
Illinois
Florida
Minnesota
Virginia
The cost of child care depends on the age of your children and whether you choose in-home or center-based care.
According to Winnie, an online marketplace for child care, the average monthly cost of child care in Florida ranges from around $700 to $1,000 a month, depending on whether you choose in-home or center-based child care.
'The average cost of in-home childcare per month in Florida is $700. Parents of infants pay even more, with an average monthly cost of $740 per month (that's close to $9,000 a year) while parents of four-year-olds pay an average of $650 per month,' Winnie says.
'The cost for center-based childcare increases to an average of $1,000 per month for infant care and close to $800 per month for preschoolers.'
Although the cost of high-quality early education is out of reach for many Florida families, there are some subsidized help options available for low-income households.
You can get child care at a discount, depending on your needs, from a variety of options available to help qualifying families defer the cost of tuition, from county-issued subsidies to free pre-K programs.
One of the options available for Florida families is the Florida Department of Education's School Readiness Program, which offers assistance to low-income families for child care.
You can find eligibility requirements and apply for the program by visiting your county's early learning coalition website.
Florida also has a free, voluntary pre-K program and was one of the first states to offer it. To qualify, children must be 4 years old on or before Sept. 1 of the upcoming school year.
Applications to Florida's voluntary prekindergarten (VPK) Education Program are accessible on the state's Division of Early Learning website.
There are also federally-funded programs that qualifying low-income families can use to sign up for free child care: Head Start and Early Head Start. Depending on where you live and how many programs are available, there may be a waitlist.
Here are some other possible ways to save on child care, as suggested by Winnie:
Sibling discounts: Some programs offer discounts if a family has more than one child enrolled in the program.
Military discounts: Military families are typically eligible for discounts and subsidies and sometimes have access to programs made specifically for serving the children of military families.
Paying in full, instead of month-to-month: Some child care providers offer discounts if tuition is paid up-front, in full.
Working for the program your child attends: Many child care providers offer discounted tuition for the children of employees. If you're an educator looking for a job and child care for your kids, working at the same program your children attend could help you save.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Child care costs in Florida ranks state top 15 most expensive on list