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County childcare costs · DOL NDCP 2022

Childcare costs in Wright County, IA

$8,012 a year for center-based infant care - 13.8% of the local median income, against a national average of $9,592.

Wright County, IA families pay $8,012/year for center-based infant care, while family childcare is $5,406/year, according to the U.S. Department of Labor National Database of Childcare Prices. This represents 13.8% of the median household income - exceeding the HHS 7% affordability threshold. Toddler care at a center costs $6,904/year, and preschool-age care is $6,904/year.

$8,012
Center Infant/yr
$5,406
Family Infant/yr
$58,240
Median Income
13.8%
% of Income (Infant)

NDCP county market brief

Wright County, IA sticker posture in this snapshot

Entity-varying stamps from DOL NDCP county medians and ACS income burden, not a clone nationwide scaffold.

  1. MID NDCP sticker band
  2. HEAVY HHS income share
  3. #1,064 of 2,662 National infant rank
  4. $8,012 Center infant/yr
  5. $5,406 Family infant/yr
  6. Washington County Nearest price peer
  7. 8/8 NDCP cells filled
  8. 2022 Survey vintage

Infant-price neighbourhood

Nearest ABS(center_infant) peers in IA (NDCP 2022).

Wright (this)$8,012Emmet County$8,015Mitchell Cou…$8,009Henry County$8,016Ida County$8,022Taylor County$8,001

Price-band peers

Annual Childcare Costs by Age Group

Age Group Center-Based Family Childcare
Infant $8,012 $5,406
Toddler $6,904 $5,318
Preschool $6,904 $5,318
School Age $5,523 $5,140

Where Wright County ranks on infant-care cost

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

$8,012 Among the most affordable more affordable than 60% of 2,662 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

Full NDCP Care Ladder in Wright County

Complete NDCP ladder under a HEAVY income burden (13.8% of ACS median) - compare center premiums before treating sticker alone as the story.

Age Center Family Center premium
Infant $8,012 $5,406 +$2,606 (+48.2%)
Toddler $6,904 $5,318 +$1,586 (+29.8%)
Preschool $6,904 $5,318 +$1,586 (+29.8%)
School Age $5,523 $5,140 +$383 (+7.5%)

Across all four ages, a center path totals $27,343/year versus $21,182/year for family care ($6,161 more at a center). Infant center care runs 1.45× school-age center care here. Among the 99Iowa counties with a complete NDCP ladder, Wright County ranks #20 by infant center price (1 = cheapest).

What These Numbers Mean for Wright County Families

Wright County's median household income of $58,240 sets the bar for what counts as affordable care here, putting infant center care at 13.8% of gross income. Against the federal 7% affordability benchmark, the typical family here exceeds the federal affordability line by 6.8 points.Wright County families generally find care more manageable than the national picture, though waitlists at licensed providers remain the real bottleneck.

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.

Here's how center-based infant care priced out from 2016 to 2022, across 7 years of NDCP survey data.

+7.3% since 2016
Infant center care: $7,465 → $8,012
$8,012/yr
Most recent annual cost (2022)
7 years
Data available (2016–2022)
2016
$7,465
2017
$7,556
2018
$7,647
2019
$7,738
2020
$7,830
2021
$7,921
2022
$8,012
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 N/A
2016 $7,465
2017 $7,556
2018 $7,647
2019 $7,738
2020 $7,830
2021 $7,921
2022 $8,012

PlainChildcare is rendered directly from the U.S. Department of Labor Women's Bureau National Database of Childcare Prices and Census ACS income data, no number is typed in by an editor. County childcare prices and affordability ratios are computed from NDCP and ACS records for this county. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of July 2026. Primary sources: DOL Women's Bureau NDCP and U.S. Census Bureau ACS.