County childcare costs · DOL NDCP 2022
Childcare costs in Prairie County, MT
The standout signal in Prairie County, MT is income burden: infant center care takes 26.4% of median ACS income (DESERT · heavy-burden tercile), while the sticker sits 21% above the national average.
Data updated 2026-09-24
- $11,646
- Center Infant/yr
- $9,163
- Family Infant/yr
- $44,107
- Median Income
- 26.4%
- % of Income (Infant)
The verdict
Prairie County pairs the 20th percentile for infant-care affordability nationally with a heavy income burden on families.
- 20th pct.
- affordability nationally
- Heavy
- income-burden tier
- Moderate
- family-vs-infant price gap
- #2,118
- 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.
National sticker context: $9,593 average.
Steep-price tercile: family infant care here is $9,163/yr beside the $11,646 center sticker; toddler center care is $12,118/yr.
Steep-book age ladder for Prairie County
| Age Group | Center-Based | Family Childcare |
|---|---|---|
| Infant | $11,646 | $9,163 |
| Toddler | $12,118 | $9,352 |
| Preschool | $10,405 | $9,352 |
| School Age | $10,405 | $8,666 |
Where Prairie County ranks on infant-care cost
Center-based infant care, every U.S. county with reported prices
$11,646 more affordable than 20% 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
Prairie County vs. every other Montana county: income vs. infant-care cost
Median household income (x) vs. average center-based infant care (y) across 30 Montana counties with reported prices. Crosshairs at the Montana median.
Within Montana, Prairie County has lower income but higher infant-care cost than the typical Montana county (its national standing, the 20th 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 Prairie County
Prairie County sits in the steep-price third of NDCP-priced counties (HIGH), read center premiums and the infant-to-school-age drop as county-specific, not a clone caption.
| Age | Center | Family | Center premium |
|---|---|---|---|
| Infant | $11,646 | $9,163 | +$2,483 (+27.1%) |
| Toddler | $12,118 | $9,352 | +$2,766 (+29.6%) |
| Preschool | $10,405 | $9,352 | +$1,053 (+11.3%) |
| School Age | $10,405 | $8,666 | +$1,739 (+20.1%) |
Across all four ages, a center path totals $44,574/year versus $36,533/year for family care ($8,041 more at a center). Infant center care runs 1.12× school-age center care here. Among the 56Montana counties with a complete NDCP ladder, Prairie County ranks #39 by infant center price (1 = cheapest).
Prairie County burden reading
The standout signal in Prairie County, MT is income burden: infant center care takes 26.4% of median ACS income (DESERT · heavy-burden tercile), while the sticker sits 21% above the national average.
Heavy-burden tercile counties like Prairie County put infant center care at 26.4% of a $44,107 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 2015 to 2022, across 8 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 | N/A |
| 2015 | $6,849 |
| 2016 | $7,534 |
| 2017 | $8,220 |
| 2018 | $8,905 |
| 2019 | $9,590 |
| 2020 | $10,276 |
| 2021 | $10,961 |
| 2022 | $11,646 |
Nearest infant-price counties in Montana
Ordered by ABS(center_infant) to Prairie County's HIGH NDCP sticker - not A-Z chrome.
What to do with Prairie County
Infant center care here runs 26.4% of the local median income (DESERT), check where your own household lands.
- Prairie County spends 26.4% 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
- $11,646/yr center infant sticker (HIGH) - see how Prairie 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 Prairie County families are likely eligible. Check subsidy eligibility
Figures are NDCP county-level survey medians for 2022 - your local providers set the actual price.