County childcare costs · DOL NDCP 2022

Childcare costs in Colonial Heights City, VA

The standout signal in Colonial Heights City, VA is the center–family premium: center infant care costs $6,811/yr more than family care (wide premium tercile) beside a $15,766 center sticker.

Data updated 2026-07-05

$15,766
Center Infant/yr
$8,955
Family Infant/yr
$72,216
Median Income
21.8%
% of Income (Infant)

The verdict

Colonial Heights City pairs the 6th percentile for infant-care affordability nationally with a heavy income burden on families.

6th pct.
affordability nationally
Heavy
income-burden tier
Wide
family-vs-infant price gap
#2,498
of 2,662 priced counties
D
PlainChildcare Composite Score
25/100
Colonial Heights City, VA

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 F
Center-based infant care costs 21.8% of median household income here (national median 14.6%)
Preschool care burden D
Center-based preschool care costs 14.3% of median household income here (national median 12.5%)
School-age care burden F
Center-based school-age care costs 16.8% of median household income here (national median 10.4%)
Economic hardship C
9.6% poverty rate here (national median 9.3%)
Affordability desert Price-change feed

National sticker context: $9,592 average.

Steep-price tercile: family infant care here is $8,955/yr beside the $15,766 center sticker; toddler center care is $10,310/yr.

Steep-book age ladder for Colonial Heights City

Age Group Center-Based Family Childcare
Infant $15,766 $8,955
Toddler $10,310 $7,335
Preschool $10,310 $7,335
School Age $12,110 $10,500

Where Colonial Heights City ranks on infant-care cost

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

$15,766 more affordable than 6% 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

Colonial Heights City vs. every other Virginia county: income vs. infant-care cost

Median household income (x) vs. average center-based infant care (y) across 30 Virginia counties with reported prices. Crosshairs at the Virginia 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$50,000$100,000$150,000 $0$10,000$20,000$30,000$40,000 Median household income Avg. annual infant care

Within Virginia, Colonial Heights City has higher income and higher infant-care cost than the typical Virginia county (its national standing, the 6th percentile for infant-care affordability nationally, is a separate comparison against every U.S. county, not just its own state).

Full NDCP Care Ladder in Colonial Heights City

Colonial Heights City sits in the steep-price third of NDCP-priced counties (STEEP), read center premiums and the infant-to-school-age drop as county-specific, not a clone caption.

Age Center Family Center premium
Infant $15,766 $8,955 +$6,811 (+76.1%)
Toddler $10,310 $7,335 +$2,975 (+40.6%)
Preschool $10,310 $7,335 +$2,975 (+40.6%)
School Age $12,110 $10,500 +$1,610 (+15.3%)

Across all four ages, a center path totals $48,496/year versus $34,125/year for family care ($14,371 more at a center). Infant center care runs 1.3× school-age center care here. Among the 134Virginia counties with a complete NDCP ladder, Colonial Heights City ranks #125 by infant center price (1 = cheapest).

Colonial Heights City premium reading

The standout signal in Colonial Heights City, VA is the center–family premium: center infant care costs $6,811/yr more than family care (wide premium tercile) beside a $15,766 center sticker.

Heavy-burden tercile counties like Colonial Heights City put infant center care at 21.8% of a $72,216 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 2009–2022 (13 years of NDCP data).

+41.7% since 2009
Infant center care: $11,128 → $15,766
$15,766/yr
Most recent annual cost (2022)
13 years
Data available (2009–2022)
2009
$11,128
2010
$11,388
2011
$11,648
2012
$11,908
2013
$12,185
2014
$12,463
2015
$12,740
2016
$13,087
2017
$13,433
2018
$13,780
2019
$14,127
2020
$14,473
2022
$15,766
View full data table (all care types)
Year Ctr Infant
2008 N/A
2009 $11,128
2010 $11,388
2011 $11,648
2012 $11,908
2013 $12,185
2014 $12,463
2015 $12,740
2016 $13,087
2017 $13,433
2018 $13,780
2019 $14,127
2020 $14,473
2021 N/A
2022 $15,766

What to do with Colonial Heights City

Infant center care here runs 21.8% of the local median income (DESERT), check where your own household lands.

  • Colonial Heights City spends 21.8% 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
  • $15,766/yr center infant sticker (STEEP) - see how Colonial Heights City 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 Colonial Heights City families are likely eligible. Check subsidy eligibility

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