County childcare costs · DOL NDCP 2022
Childcare costs in Lee County, MS
The standout signal in Lee County, MS is income burden: infant center care takes 9.2% of median ACS income (OVER7 · light-burden tercile), while the sticker sits 38% below the national average.
Data updated 2026-07-05
- $5,943
- Center Infant/yr
- N/A
- Family Infant/yr
- $64,479
- Median Income
- 9.2%
- % of Income (Infant)
The verdict
Lee County pairs top-quartile cheapest infant care nationally with a light income burden on families.
- Top 11%
- cheapest nationally
- Light
- income-burden tier
- #295
- of 2,662 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.
National sticker context: $9,592 average.
Quiet-price tercile: center infant care is $5,943/yr (9.2% of median income), absolute stickers are low; capacity and waitlists still bind.
Quiet-book age ladder for Lee County
| Age Group | Center-Based | Family Childcare |
|---|---|---|
| Infant | $5,943 | N/A |
| Toddler | $5,411 | N/A |
| Preschool | $5,411 | N/A |
| School Age | $5,145 | N/A |
Where Lee County ranks on infant-care cost
Center-based infant care, every U.S. county with reported prices
$5,943 Among the most affordable more affordable than 89% of 2,662 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
Lee 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.
Within Mississippi, Lee County has higher income but 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).
Lee County burden reading
The standout signal in Lee County, MS is income burden: infant center care takes 9.2% of median ACS income (OVER7 · light-burden tercile), while the sticker sits 38% below the national average.
Light-burden tercile reading: Lee County keeps infant center care at 9.2% of a $64,479 median (OVER7). Sticker still matters (QUIET), but income share is not the binding constraint versus waitlists and licensed capacity.
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 2010 to 2022, across 13 years of NDCP survey data.
View full data table (all care types) ▼
| Year | Ctr Infant |
|---|---|
| 2008 | N/A |
| 2009 | N/A |
| 2010 | $3,478 |
| 2011 | $3,999 |
| 2012 | $4,626 |
| 2013 | $5,253 |
| 2014 | $5,038 |
| 2015 | $4,823 |
| 2016 | $4,608 |
| 2017 | $4,830 |
| 2018 | $5,053 |
| 2019 | $5,275 |
| 2020 | $5,497 |
| 2021 | $5,720 |
| 2022 | $5,943 |
Nearest infant-price counties in Mississippi
Ordered by ABS(center_infant) to Lee County's QUIET NDCP sticker - not A-Z chrome.
What to do with Lee County
Infant center care here runs 9.2% of the local median income (OVER7), check where your own household lands.
- Lee County spends 9.2% 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
- $5,943/yr center infant sticker (QUIET) - see how Lee 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 Lee County families are likely eligible. Check subsidy eligibility
Figures are NDCP county-level survey medians for 2022 - your local providers set the actual price.