Child Care True Cost Calculator
Free Tool
🧒 For Child Care Centers & Advocates

What does it actually cost
to care for a child?

Stop guessing. Enter your real costs — staffing, facility, supplies, licensing, benefits — and see the true per-child daily cost vs. what you're currently charging. Built for directors, advocates, and policymakers.

72%
of centers operate
below true cost
$15k+
average true annual
cost per child
#1
national policy
concern for families
Your Center
Tell us about your center
🏫
Center Basics
Enrollment & structure
Total children enrolled
Operating weeks/year
Operating days/week
Current daily rate charged per child
$
Subsidy / assistance received (% of children)
%
👩‍🏫
Staffing Costs
Largest cost driver — typically 60–75% of total
Lead teachers
Lead teacher avg hourly wage
$
Hours/week per lead teacher
Assistants / aides
Aide avg hourly wage
$
Hours/week per aide
Admin / director FTEs
Admin avg annual salary
$
Benefits load (% of wages)
%
🏠
Facility & Overhead
Monthly costs — we'll annualize automatically
Rent / mortgage (monthly)
$
Utilities (monthly)
$
Insurance (monthly)
$
📚
Program & Compliance
Annual costs
Supplies & materials (annual)
$
Food program (annual)
$
Licensing & compliance (annual)
$
Staff training & PD (annual)
$
Technology & admin (annual)
$
Miscellaneous / contingency (annual)
$
Context
Why this matters
📊
The true cost gap is real
Studies consistently show child care centers charge 30–50% less than their true operating cost — subsidized by staff accepting below-market wages. This tool makes that gap visible.
🎓
Staff wages are the hidden crisis
The average child care worker earns less than $13/hr nationally — below fast food wages — despite requiring education and licensure. Raising rates is the only sustainable path to living wages.
🏛️
Use this data for advocacy
State legislators and county commissioners respond to numbers. This calculator gives directors a concrete, defensible cost figure for grant applications, rate-setting conversations, and policy advocacy.
True cost per child, per day
$--
Enter your costs to calculate
You currently charge
$--
Daily gap per child
$--
Annual gap (whole center)
$--
📊
Enter your information above
Your personalized analysis will appear here as you type.
Annual Cost Breakdown
Total annual operating cost
$--
Key Metrics
True annual cost per child
$--
True monthly cost per child
$--
Staffing as % of total cost
--%
Break-even daily rate needed
$--
Total operating days/year
--

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