We all know that the cost of child care can be a crippling necessity for many families. And it seems that the costs are only going up. In fact, most U.S. families do not earn nearly enough to comfortably afford child care. According to WalletHub, married couples can spend up to 14% of their income on child care, whereas single parents can spend up to 59%.

WalletHub recently released a report on the cost of child care by state and by marital status. To determine where child care is most and least affordable, WalletHub compared the costs of both family-based and center-based care across states, adjusting for median household income.

Highest % of Income Spent (Married Couples)	Lowest % of Income Spent (Married Couples)
1. Nebraska	42. Iowa
2. California	43. Kansas
3. New York	44. Idaho
4. Oregon	45. South Carolina
5. Washington	46. Louisiana
6. Wisconsin	47. Alaska
7. Montana	48. Georgia
8. Massachusetts	49. Alabama
9. New Mexico	50. South Dakota
10. Hawaii	51. Mississippi

Highest % of Income Spent (Single Parents)	Lowest % of Income Spent (Single Parents)
1. District of Columbia	42. Arkansas
2. Massachusetts	43. Kansas
3. New York	44. South Carolina
4. Washington	45. Nevada
5. California	46. Georgia
6. Oregon	47. Mississippi
7. Illinois	48. Utah
8. Nebraska	49. Idaho
9. Wisconsin	50. Alaska
10. Rhode Island	51. South Dakota

“It costs a lot of money to take care of a child’s needs, and many parents are left with the dilemma of whether to forgo one salary to do their own child care for the first few years or to shell out a significant chunk of their income for child care services. Married parents who both work can expect to spend as much as 14% of what they earn on child care, while single parents’ costs can amount to an astounding 59%.” – Chip Lupo, WalletHub Analyst

Key Stats

• Oregon has the highest cost of family-based child care for a married-couple family, which is two times more than in South Dakota, the state with the lowest.
   
• Hawaii has the highest cost of center-based child care for a married-couple family, which is two times more than in Mississippi, the state with the lowest.
   
• The District of Columbia has the highest cost of family-based child care for a single-parent family, which is three times more than in South Dakota, the state with the lowest.
   
• The District of Columbia has the highest cost of center-based child care for a single-parent family, which is 2.7 times more than in Alaska, the state with the lowest.