County childcare costs · DOL NDCP 2022

Childcare costs in Panola County, MS

The standout signal in Panola County, MS is sticker price: center infant care runs $6,035/yr (QUIET · quiet-price tercile · #308 of 2,661), 37% below the U.S. average.

Data updated 2026-09-24

$6,035
Center Infant/yr
N/A
Family Infant/yr
$47,894
Median Income
12.6%
% of Income (Infant)

The verdict

Panola County pairs top-quartile cheapest infant care nationally with a light income burden on families.

Top 12%
cheapest nationally
Light
income-burden tier
#308
of 2,661 priced counties
C
PlainChildcare Composite Score
51/100
Panola County, MS

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 B
Center-based infant care costs 12.6% of median household income here (national median 14.6%)
Preschool care burden B
Center-based preschool care costs 11.5% of median household income here (national median 12.5%)
School-age care burden C
Center-based school-age care costs 10.9% of median household income here (national median 10.4%)
Economic hardship D
14.1% poverty rate here (national median 9.3%)
Price-change feed

Quiet-price tercile: center infant care is $6,035/yr (12.6% of median income), absolute stickers are low; capacity and waitlists still bind.

Quiet-book age ladder for Panola County

Age Group Center-Based Family Childcare
Infant $6,035 N/A
Toddler $5,494 N/A
Preschool $5,494 N/A
School Age $5,223 N/A

Where Panola County ranks on infant-care cost

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

$6,035 Among the most affordable more affordable than 88% of 2,661 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

Panola 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.

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$20,000$40,000$60,000$80,000$100,000 $5,500$6,000$6,500$7,000$7,500$8,000$8,500 Median household income Avg. annual infant care

Within Mississippi, Panola 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).

Panola County sticker reading

The standout signal in Panola County, MS is sticker price: center infant care runs $6,035/yr (QUIET · quiet-price tercile · #308 of 2,661), 37% below the U.S. average.

Light-burden tercile reading: Panola County keeps infant center care at 12.6% of a $47,894 median (HEAVY). 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.

The NDCP has tracked center-based infant care here for 13 years, from 2010 through 2022.

+78.3% since 2010
Infant center care: $3,385 → $6,035
$6,035/yr
Most recent annual cost (2022)
13 years
Data available (2010–2022)
2010
$3,385
2011
$3,882
2012
$4,480
2013
$5,078
2014
$4,767
2015
$4,455
2016
$4,144
2017
$4,460
2018
$4,775
2019
$5,090
2020
$5,405
2021
$5,720
2022
$6,035
View full data table (all care types) ▼
Year Ctr Infant
2008 N/A
2009 N/A
2010 $3,385
2011 $3,882
2012 $4,480
2013 $5,078
2014 $4,767
2015 $4,455
2016 $4,144
2017 $4,460
2018 $4,775
2019 $5,090
2020 $5,405
2021 $5,720
2022 $6,035

What to do with Panola County

Infant center care here runs 12.6% of the local median income (HEAVY), check where your own household lands.

  • Panola County spends 12.6% 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
  • $6,035/yr center infant sticker (QUIET) - see how Panola 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 Panola County families are likely eligible. Check subsidy eligibility

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