County childcare costs · DOL NDCP 2022
Childcare costs in Honolulu County, HI
The standout signal in Honolulu County, HI is sticker price: center infant care runs $19,020/yr (PEAK · steep-price tercile · #2,598 of 2,661), 98% above the U.S. average.
Data updated 2026-09-24
- $19,020
- Center Infant/yr
- $10,800
- Family Infant/yr
- $99,816
- Median Income
- 19.1%
- % of Income (Infant)
The verdict
Honolulu County pairs the 2nd percentile for infant-care affordability nationally with a heavy income burden on families.
- 2nd pct.
- affordability nationally
- Heavy
- income-burden tier
- Wide
- family-vs-infant price gap
- #2,598
- 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 $10,800/yr beside the $19,020 center sticker; toddler center care is $13,680/yr.
Steep-book age ladder for Honolulu County
| Age Group | Center-Based | Family Childcare |
|---|---|---|
| Infant | $19,020 | $10,800 |
| Toddler | $13,680 | $10,800 |
| Preschool | $13,680 | $10,800 |
| School Age | $2,820 | N/A |
Where Honolulu County ranks on infant-care cost
Center-based infant care, every U.S. county with reported prices
$19,020 more affordable than 2% 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
Honolulu County vs. every other Hawaii county: income vs. infant-care cost
Median household income (x) vs. average center-based infant care (y) across 4 Hawaii counties with reported prices. Crosshairs at the Hawaii median.
Within Hawaii, Honolulu County has higher income and higher infant-care cost than the typical Hawaii county (its national standing, the 2nd percentile for infant-care affordability nationally, is a separate comparison against every U.S. county, not just its own state).
Honolulu County sticker reading
The standout signal in Honolulu County, HI is sticker price: center infant care runs $19,020/yr (PEAK · steep-price tercile · #2,598 of 2,661), 98% above the U.S. average.
Heavy-burden tercile counties like Honolulu County put infant center care at 19.1% of a $99,816 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 2011 to 2022, across 12 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 | $11,550 |
| 2012 | $13,200 |
| 2013 | $14,850 |
| 2014 | $16,500 |
| 2015 | $16,800 |
| 2016 | $13,680 |
| 2017 | $14,400 |
| 2018 | $18,000 |
| 2019 | $14,400 |
| 2020 | $15,940 |
| 2021 | $17,480 |
| 2022 | $19,020 |
Nearest infant-price counties in Hawaii
Ordered by ABS(center_infant) to Honolulu County's PEAK NDCP sticker - not A-Z chrome.
What to do with Honolulu County
Infant center care here runs 19.1% of the local median income (HEAVY), check where your own household lands.
- Honolulu County spends 19.1% 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
- $19,020/yr center infant sticker (PEAK) - see how Honolulu 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 Honolulu County families are likely eligible. Check subsidy eligibility
Figures are NDCP county-level survey medians for 2022 - your local providers set the actual price.