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County childcare costs · DOL NDCP 2022

Childcare costs in Clay County, MS

The standout signal in Clay County, MS is sticker price: center infant care runs $5,991/yr (QUIET · quiet-price tercile · #302 of 2,662), 38% below the U.S. average.

Data updated 2026-07-05

$5,991
Center Infant/yr
N/A
Family Infant/yr
$37,412
Median Income
16.0%
% of Income (Infant)

The verdict

Clay County pairs top-quartile cheapest infant care nationally with a moderate income burden on families.

Top 11%
cheapest nationally
Moderate
income-burden tier
#302
of 2,662 priced counties
D
PlainChildcare Composite Score
26/100
Clay County, MS

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% of median household income here (national median 14.6%)
Preschool care burden D
Center-based preschool care costs 14.6% of median household income here (national median 12.5%)
School-age care burden F
Center-based school-age care costs 13.9% of median household income here (national median 10.4%)
Economic hardship F
17.5% poverty rate here (national median 9.3%)
Price-change feed

Quiet-price tercile: center infant care is $5,991/yr (16.0% of median income), absolute stickers are low; capacity and waitlists still bind.

Quiet-book age ladder for Clay County

Age Group Center-Based Family Childcare
Infant $5,991 N/A
Toddler $5,454 N/A
Preschool $5,454 N/A
School Age $5,186 N/A

Where Clay County ranks on infant-care cost

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

$5,991 Among the most affordable more affordable than 89% of 2,662 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

Clay County vs. every other Mississippi county: income vs. infant-care cost

Median household income (x) vs. average center-based infant care (y) across 30 Mississippi counties with reported prices. Crosshairs at the Mississippi 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 $0$20,000$40,000$60,000$80,000$100,000 $5,500$6,000$6,500$7,000$7,500$8,000$8,500 Median household income Avg. annual infant care

Within Mississippi, Clay County has lower income and lower infant-care cost than the typical Mississippi county (its national standing, top-quartile cheapest infant care nationally, is a separate comparison against every U.S. county, not just its own state).

Clay County sticker reading

The standout signal in Clay County, MS is sticker price: center infant care runs $5,991/yr (QUIET · quiet-price tercile · #302 of 2,662), 38% below the U.S. average.

Mid-burden tercile: Clay County spends 16.0% of a $37,412 median on infant center care (HEAVY). Pair the QUIET sticker with the age-group table before treating any single cell as the household story.

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.

Historical Price Trends (2008–2022)

Center-based infant care costs over 2010–2022 (13 years of NDCP data).

+94.4% since 2010
Infant center care: $3,082 → $5,991
$5,991/yr
Most recent annual cost (2022)
13 years
Data available (2010–2022)
2010
$3,082
2011
$3,636
2012
$4,301
2013
$4,966
2014
$4,765
2015
$4,565
2016
$4,364
2017
$4,635
2018
$4,906
2019
$5,178
2020
$5,449
2021
$5,720
2022
$5,991
View full data table (all care types) ▼
Year Ctr Infant
2008 N/A
2009 N/A
2010 $3,082
2011 $3,636
2012 $4,301
2013 $4,966
2014 $4,765
2015 $4,565
2016 $4,364
2017 $4,635
2018 $4,906
2019 $5,178
2020 $5,449
2021 $5,720
2022 $5,991

Nearest infant-price counties in Mississippi

Ordered by ABS(center_infant) to Clay County's QUIET NDCP sticker - not A-Z chrome.

Pearl River County, MS
Infant: $5,983 · 11.0% of income
Lawrence County, MS
Infant: $6,012 · 14.6% of income
Bolivar County, MS
Infant: $6,015 · 15.9% of income
Lauderdale County, MS
Infant: $5,965 · 13.1% of income
Washington County, MS
Infant: $6,019 · 15.7% of income
George County, MS
Infant: $6,021 · 11.7% of income

What to do with Clay County

Infant center care here runs 16.0% of the local median income (HEAVY), check where your own household lands.

  • Clay County spends 16.0% 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
  • $5,991/yr center infant sticker (QUIET) - see how Clay 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 Clay County families are likely eligible. Check subsidy eligibility

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

Source: U.S. Department of Labor, National Database of Childcare Prices (2022); median household income: U.S. Census ACS. See methodology for how costs and affordability are computed. As-of July 2026.

Disclaimer: informational only, not professional advice. See full disclaimer.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Report a data error on this page

Verify with DOL Women's Bureau NDCP →  ·  Verify with U.S. Census ACS →  ·  Verify with HUD →