County childcare costs · DOL NDCP 2022

Childcare costs in Virginia Beach City, VA

The standout signal in Virginia Beach City, VA is sticker price: center infant care runs $12,314/yr (HIGH · steep-price tercile · #2,233 of 2,661), 28% above the U.S. average.

Data updated 2026-09-24

$12,314
Center Infant/yr
$8,374
Family Infant/yr
$87,544
Median Income
14.1%
% of Income (Infant)

The verdict

Virginia Beach City pairs the 16th percentile for infant-care affordability nationally with a moderate income burden on families.

16th pct.
affordability nationally
Moderate
income-burden tier
Wide
family-vs-infant price gap
#2,233
of 2,661 priced counties
B
PlainChildcare Composite Score
65/100
Virginia Beach City, VA

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 C
Center-based infant care costs 14.1% of median household income here (national median 14.6%)
Preschool care burden B
Center-based preschool care costs 11.3% of median household income here (national median 12.5%)
School-age care burden B
Center-based school-age care costs 9.1% of median household income here (national median 10.4%)
Economic hardship B
6.4% poverty rate here (national median 9.3%)
Price-change feed

Steep-price tercile: family infant care here is $8,374/yr beside the $12,314 center sticker; toddler center care is $10,115/yr.

Steep-book age ladder for Virginia Beach City

Age Group Center-Based Family Childcare
Infant $12,314 $8,374
Toddler $10,115 $8,231
Preschool $9,903 $8,192
School Age $7,946 $6,826

Where Virginia Beach City ranks on infant-care cost

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

$12,314 more affordable than 16% 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

Virginia Beach City vs. every other Virginia county: income vs. infant-care cost

Median household income (x) vs. average center-based infant care (y) across 30 Virginia counties with reported prices. Crosshairs at the Virginia 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$50,000$100,000$150,000 $0$10,000$20,000$30,000$40,000 Median household income Avg. annual infant care

Within Virginia, Virginia Beach City has higher income and higher infant-care cost than the typical Virginia county (its national standing, the 16th 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 Virginia Beach City

Virginia Beach City 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 $12,314 $8,374 +$3,940 (+47.1%)
Toddler $10,115 $8,231 +$1,884 (+22.9%)
Preschool $9,903 $8,192 +$1,711 (+20.9%)
School Age $7,946 $6,826 +$1,120 (+16.4%)

Across all four ages, a center path totals $40,278/year versus $31,623/year for family care ($8,655 more at a center). Infant center care runs 1.55× school-age center care here. Among the 134Virginia counties with a complete NDCP ladder, Virginia Beach City ranks #111 by infant center price (1 = cheapest).

Virginia Beach City sticker reading

The standout signal in Virginia Beach City, VA is sticker price: center infant care runs $12,314/yr (HIGH · steep-price tercile · #2,233 of 2,661), 28% above the U.S. average.

Mid-burden tercile: Virginia Beach City spends 14.1% of a $87,544 median on infant center care (HEAVY). Pair the HIGH 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.

13 years of federal survey data (2009–2022) show how center-based infant care has moved.

+15.5% since 2009
Infant center care: $10,660 → $12,314
$12,314/yr
Most recent annual cost (2022)
13 years
Data available (2009–2022)
2009
$10,660
2010
$10,660
2011
$10,660
2012
$10,660
2013
$11,007
2014
$11,353
2015
$11,700
2016
$11,700
2017
$11,700
2018
$11,700
2019
$11,700
2020
$11,700
2022
$12,314
View full data table (all care types) ▼
Year Ctr Infant
2008 N/A
2009 $10,660
2010 $10,660
2011 $10,660
2012 $10,660
2013 $11,007
2014 $11,353
2015 $11,700
2016 $11,700
2017 $11,700
2018 $11,700
2019 $11,700
2020 $11,700
2021 N/A
2022 $12,314

What to do with Virginia Beach City

Infant center care here runs 14.1% of the local median income (HEAVY), check where your own household lands.

  • Virginia Beach City spends 14.1% 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
  • $12,314/yr center infant sticker (HIGH) - see how Virginia Beach City 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 Virginia Beach City families are likely eligible. Check subsidy eligibility

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