County childcare costs · DOL NDCP 2022
Childcare costs in El Paso County, CO
The standout signal in El Paso County, CO is sticker price: center infant care runs $18,223/yr (PEAK · steep-price tercile · #2,565 of 2,661), 90% above the U.S. average.
Data updated 2026-09-24
- $18,223
- Center Infant/yr
- $12,568
- Family Infant/yr
- $82,748
- Median Income
- 22.0%
- % of Income (Infant)
The verdict
El Paso County pairs the 4th percentile for infant-care affordability nationally with a heavy income burden on families.
- 4th pct.
- affordability nationally
- Heavy
- income-burden tier
- Wide
- family-vs-infant price gap
- #2,565
- of 2,661 priced counties
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.
Steep-price tercile: family infant care here is $12,568/yr beside the $18,223 center sticker; toddler center care is $15,626/yr.
Steep-book age ladder for El Paso County
| Age Group | Center-Based | Family Childcare |
|---|---|---|
| Infant | $18,223 | $12,568 |
| Toddler | $15,626 | $11,151 |
| Preschool | $13,835 | $11,151 |
| School Age | $7,671 | $8,905 |
Where El Paso County ranks on infant-care cost
Center-based infant care, every U.S. county with reported prices
$18,223 more affordable than 4% of 2,661 US counties
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
El Paso County vs. every other Colorado county: income vs. infant-care cost
Median household income (x) vs. average center-based infant care (y) across 30 Colorado counties with reported prices. Crosshairs at the Colorado median.
Within Colorado, El Paso County has higher income and higher infant-care cost than the typical Colorado county (its national standing, the 4th 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 El Paso County
El Paso County sits in the steep-price third of NDCP-priced counties (PEAK), read center premiums and the infant-to-school-age drop as county-specific, not a clone caption.
| Age | Center | Family | Center premium |
|---|---|---|---|
| Infant | $18,223 | $12,568 | +$5,655 (+45%) |
| Toddler | $15,626 | $11,151 | +$4,475 (+40.1%) |
| Preschool | $13,835 | $11,151 | +$2,684 (+24.1%) |
| School Age | $7,671 | $8,905 | $-1,234 (-13.9%) |
Across all four ages, a center path totals $55,355/year versus $43,775/year for family care ($11,580 more at a center). Infant center care runs 2.38× school-age center care here. Among the 62Colorado counties with a complete NDCP ladder, El Paso County ranks #51 by infant center price (1 = cheapest).
El Paso County sticker reading
The standout signal in El Paso County, CO is sticker price: center infant care runs $18,223/yr (PEAK · steep-price tercile · #2,565 of 2,661), 90% above the U.S. average.
Heavy-burden tercile counties like El Paso County put infant center care at 22.0% of a $82,748 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.
Historical Price Trends (2008–2022)
Here's how center-based infant care priced out from 2014 to 2022, across 3 years of NDCP survey data.
View full data table (all care types) ▼
| Year | Ctr Infant |
|---|---|
| 2008 | N/A |
| 2009 | N/A |
| 2010 | N/A |
| 2011 | N/A |
| 2012 | N/A |
| 2013 | N/A |
| 2014 | $15,213 |
| 2015 | $15,590 |
| 2016 | N/A |
| 2017 | N/A |
| 2018 | N/A |
| 2019 | N/A |
| 2020 | N/A |
| 2021 | N/A |
| 2022 | $18,223 |
Nearest infant-price counties in Colorado
Ordered by ABS(center_infant) to El Paso County's PEAK NDCP sticker - not A-Z chrome.
What to do with El Paso County
Infant center care here runs 22.0% of the local median income (DESERT), check where your own household lands.
- El Paso County spends 22.0% 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
- $18,223/yr center infant sticker (PEAK) - see how El Paso 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 El Paso County families are likely eligible. Check subsidy eligibility
Figures are NDCP county-level survey medians for 2022 - your local providers set the actual price.