County childcare costs · DOL NDCP 2022
Childcare costs in Harlan County, KY
The standout signal in Harlan County, KY is sticker price: center infant care runs $5,224/yr (QUIET · quiet-price tercile · #96 of 2,661), 46% below the U.S. average.
Data updated 2026-09-24
- $5,224
- Center Infant/yr
- $5,815
- Family Infant/yr
- $35,128
- Median Income
- 14.9%
- % of Income (Infant)
The verdict
Harlan County pairs top-5% cheapest infant care nationally with a moderate income burden on families.
- Top 4%
- cheapest nationally
- Moderate
- income-burden tier
- Narrow
- family-vs-infant price gap
- #96
- 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.
Quiet-price tercile: center infant care is $5,224/yr with family care at $5,815/yr (14.9% of median income), absolute stickers are low; capacity and waitlists still bind.
Quiet-book age ladder for Harlan County
| Age Group | Center-Based | Family Childcare |
|---|---|---|
| Infant | $5,224 | $5,815 |
| Toddler | $4,848 | $4,219 |
| Preschool | $4,848 | $4,219 |
| School Age | $4,832 | $4,306 |
Where Harlan County ranks on infant-care cost
Center-based infant care, every U.S. county with reported prices
$5,224 Among the most affordable more affordable than 96% 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
Harlan County vs. every other Kentucky county: income vs. infant-care cost
Median household income (x) vs. average center-based infant care (y) across 30 Kentucky counties with reported prices. Crosshairs at the Kentucky median.
Within Kentucky, Harlan County has lower income and lower infant-care cost than the typical Kentucky county (its national standing, top-5% cheapest infant care nationally, is a separate comparison against every U.S. county, not just its own state).
Full NDCP Care Ladder in Harlan County
Harlan County sits in the quieter-price third (QUIET), complete ladders here still show setting trade-offs even when the absolute sticker is low.
| Age | Center | Family | Center premium |
|---|---|---|---|
| Infant | $5,224 | $5,815 | $-591 (-10.2%) |
| Toddler | $4,848 | $4,219 | +$629 (+14.9%) |
| Preschool | $4,848 | $4,219 | +$629 (+14.9%) |
| School Age | $4,832 | $4,306 | +$526 (+12.2%) |
Across all four ages, a center path totals $19,752/year versus $18,559/year for family care ($1,193 more at a center). Infant center care runs 1.08× school-age center care here. Among the 120Kentucky counties with a complete NDCP ladder, Harlan County ranks #10 by infant center price (1 = cheapest).
Harlan County sticker reading
The standout signal in Harlan County, KY is sticker price: center infant care runs $5,224/yr (QUIET · quiet-price tercile · #96 of 2,661), 46% below the U.S. average.
Mid-burden tercile: Harlan County spends 14.9% of a $35,128 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)
Here's how center-based infant care priced out from 2008 to 2022, across 15 years of NDCP survey data.
View full data table (all care types) ▼
| Year | Ctr Infant |
|---|---|
| 2008 | $4,447 |
| 2009 | $4,555 |
| 2010 | $4,663 |
| 2011 | $4,772 |
| 2012 | $5,097 |
| 2013 | $5,423 |
| 2014 | $5,753 |
| 2015 | $6,084 |
| 2016 | $5,902 |
| 2017 | $5,720 |
| 2018 | $5,621 |
| 2019 | $5,522 |
| 2020 | $5,423 |
| 2021 | $5,323 |
| 2022 | $5,224 |
Nearest infant-price counties in Kentucky
Ordered by ABS(center_infant) to Harlan County's QUIET NDCP sticker - not A-Z chrome.
What to do with Harlan County
Infant center care here runs 14.9% of the local median income (HEAVY), check where your own household lands.
- Harlan County spends 14.9% 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
- $5,224/yr center infant sticker (QUIET) - see how Harlan 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 Harlan County families are likely eligible. Check subsidy eligibility
Figures are NDCP county-level survey medians for 2022 - your local providers set the actual price.