County childcare costs · DOL NDCP 2022

Childcare costs in Bureau County, IL

The standout signal in Bureau County, IL is the center–family premium: center infant care costs $3,233/yr more than family care (wide premium tercile) beside a $10,773 center sticker.

Data updated 2026-09-24

$10,773
Center Infant/yr
$7,540
Family Infant/yr
$64,165
Median Income
16.8%
% of Income (Infant)

The verdict

Bureau County pairs the 30th percentile for infant-care affordability nationally with a heavy income burden on families.

30th pct.
affordability nationally
Heavy
income-burden tier
Wide
family-vs-infant price gap
#1,856
of 2,661 priced counties
C
PlainChildcare Composite Score
54/100
Bureau County, IL

A center-based childcare affordability composite (infant, preschool, and school-age price burden relative to local median income) plus poverty rate, benchmarked against every other tracked county nationally. Not a rating of childcare quality, safety, or availability. Dimensions with no data on file are excluded and their weight redistributed, never counted as zero.

Infant care burden D
Center-based infant care costs 16.8% of median household income here (national median 14.6%)
Preschool care burden A
Center-based preschool care costs 9.7% of median household income here (national median 12.5%)
School-age care burden
No center-based school-age care price on file for this county
Economic hardship C
9.2% poverty rate here (national median 9.3%)
Price-change feed

National sticker context: $9,593 average.

Steep-price tercile: family infant care here is $7,540/yr beside the $10,773 center sticker; toddler center care is $9,447/yr.

Steep-book age ladder for Bureau County

Age Group Center-Based Family Childcare
Infant $10,773 $7,540
Toddler $9,447 N/A
Preschool $6,240 $7,544
School Age N/A N/A

Where Bureau County ranks on infant-care cost

Center-based infant care, every U.S. county with reported prices

$10,773 more affordable than 30% of 2,661 US counties

This county $2,500 $32,500 every U.S. county, bucketed by value

Each bar is a $2.5K-wide band; taller bars hold more US counties. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source U.S. Department of Labor, National Database of Childcare Prices · 2022

Bureau County vs. every other Illinois county: income vs. infant-care cost

Median household income (x) vs. average center-based infant care (y) across 30 Illinois counties with reported prices. Crosshairs at the Illinois median.

Median household income vs Avg. annual infant care 2×2 strategic matrix plotting 30 entities by Median household income (X) and Avg. annual infant care (Y), with a crosshair dividing the plot into four quadrants. High income, high costLow income, high costHigh income, low costLow income, low cost $40,000$60,000$80,000$100,000$120,000 $5,000$10,000$15,000$20,000$25,000 Median household income Avg. annual infant care

Within Illinois, Bureau County has lower income and lower infant-care cost than the typical Illinois county (its national standing, the 30th percentile for infant-care affordability nationally, is a separate comparison against every U.S. county, not just its own state).

Bureau County premium reading

The standout signal in Bureau County, IL is the center–family premium: center infant care costs $3,233/yr more than family care (wide premium tercile) beside a $10,773 center sticker.

Heavy-burden tercile counties like Bureau County put infant center care at 16.8% of a $64,165 ACS median, well above the HHS 7% line and already in the steep sticker third of the national book. Treat subsidy and family-setting trade-offs as first-order, not footnotes.

For how to vet a licensed provider (inspection reports, QRIS ratings, CCDF subsidy intake), see Choosing Quality Childcare. Rate methodology: how these numbers are computed.

Center-based infant care costs over 2008–2022 (15 years of NDCP data).

+52.7% since 2008
Infant center care: $7,054 → $10,773
$10,773/yr
Most recent annual cost (2022)
15 years
Data available (2008–2022)
2008
$7,054
2009
$7,371
2010
$7,688
2011
$7,874
2012
$8,060
2013
$8,320
2014
$8,580
2015
$8,649
2016
$8,718
2017
$8,718
2018
$8,718
2019
$9,232
2020
$9,746
2021
$10,260
2022
$10,773
View full data table (all care types) ▼
Year Ctr Infant
2008 $7,054
2009 $7,371
2010 $7,688
2011 $7,874
2012 $8,060
2013 $8,320
2014 $8,580
2015 $8,649
2016 $8,718
2017 $8,718
2018 $8,718
2019 $9,232
2020 $9,746
2021 $10,260
2022 $10,773

What to do with Bureau County

Infant center care here runs 16.8% of the local median income (HEAVY), check where your own household lands.

  • Bureau County spends 16.8% of median income on infant center care, above the HHS 7%-of-income affordability line. See exactly where your own household income lands. Affordability calculator
  • $10,773/yr center infant sticker (HIGH) - see how Bureau County compares against the full national ladder. National rankings
  • If care is straining the budget, federal and state programs (CCDF, Head Start) can cut it sharply. Check whether Bureau County families are likely eligible. Check subsidy eligibility

Figures are NDCP county-level survey medians for 2022 - your local providers set the actual price.