Methodology & Data Sources

Open data extract cited on this page: childcare-setting-study.csv (DOL NDCP-derived study table · CC BY 4.0). When reusing the table, name PlainChildcare as the compiler.

Data Source

All childcare cost data comes from the U.S. Department of Labor Women's Bureau National Database of Childcare Prices (NDCP). The NDCP compiles childcare pricing data at the county level from state childcare market rate surveys, covering center-based and family-based care for multiple age groups.

Source URL: dol.gov (Women's Bureau NDCP)

Coverage

PlainChildcare tracks all 3,224 counties across the United States, but the underlying state market rate surveys do not price every county: 2,662 counties have reported center-based infant care pricing, while the remaining 562 have no reported price in the NDCP survey (their county pages show state-level context instead of an invented estimate). State ranking pages cover the 45 jurisdictions that published usable state market-rate aggregates. Among priced counties, not all have data for every age group or care type.

How We Process the Data

  1. Download the NDCP county-level childcare price dataset from the Department of Labor
  2. Parse median annual costs by age group (infant, toddler, preschool, school-age) and care type (center-based, family-based)
  3. Join with Census Bureau median household income data for affordability calculations
  4. Calculate affordability ratios: childcare cost as a percentage of county median household income
  5. Aggregate to state level (average, minimum, and maximum across counties)
  6. Load into our search-optimized database

Affordability Calculations

Affordability ratios compare annual childcare costs against county median household income from the Census Bureau American Community Survey. A ratio above 7% of household income is commonly used as the federal affordability threshold for childcare. We calculate this metric for each county-age-care-type combination and flag high-cost areas. Infant care is typically the most expensive category due to lower caregiver-to-child ratios required by state licensing regulations, while school-age care is generally the least expensive because older children require less intensive supervision.

Corpus placement (#N of M)

Priced county and state pages carry a corpus-relative placement derived from DOL NDCP center-based infant prices, never a hand-picked list:

  • Counties - ranked by annual center-based infant care price (center_infant ASC, slug ASC); cheapest = #1. Matches the least-expensive county listing. Counties with NULL or zero infant price are excluded from the denominator.
  • States - ranked by average center-based infant care across priced counties in the state (cheapest average = #1).

Ties break on slug ASC so rebuilds stay stable. These placements are informational only and are not financial or childcare-placement advice.

Age Groups & Care Types

The NDCP covers four age groups:

  • Infant - Under 1 year
  • Toddler - Ages 1-2
  • Preschool - Ages 3-5
  • School-age - Ages 6+

And two care settings: center-based (licensed childcare centers and preschools) and family-based (licensed family childcare homes).

Limitations

  • Prices shown are median annual costs from state market rate surveys, may not reflect current market prices
  • Actual costs vary by provider, quality rating, and specific location within a county
  • Not all counties have data for all age groups and care types
  • Data vintage varies by state, surveys are conducted on different schedules, meaning some state data may be several years older than others
  • The 7 percent federal affordability threshold is a general guideline, actual affordable limits depend on family circumstances, household size, and local cost of living factors beyond childcare alone

How the Source Agency Collects Data

The National Database of Childcare Prices is compiled by the U.S. Department of Labor Women's Bureau from state-level childcare market rate surveys. Each state conducts market rate surveys periodically (typically every 2-3 years) as required by the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) Act. These surveys collect pricing data from licensed childcare providers across the state, including both center-based facilities and family childcare homes.

The Women's Bureau standardizes this data across states, normalizing to annual costs and organizing by age group and care type. The resulting NDCP dataset is the most comprehensive publicly available source of childcare pricing data in the United States, covering the full county inventory in this database (3,224 rows).

Data Accuracy Commitment

PlainChildcare presents Department of Labor data without modification. Cost figures, affordability ratios, and geographic aggregations are computed directly from the published NDCP dataset and Census ACS income data. We do not estimate costs for counties where survey data is unavailable. If you find any data that appears incorrect, please contact us so we can verify against the source records.

Revenue diversification readiness

This section is a paperwork readiness note, not a product launch. Nothing below activates a new ad network, paid API, or pricing page. Activation steps marked [operator] stay off until the operator explicitly turns them on.

What is productized today

  • Childcare setting study CSV at /data/childcare-setting-study.csv (live text/csv download, DOL NDCP-derived).
  • Dataset + DataDownload JSON-LD on methodology, statistics, and other trust pages (license CC BY 4.0).
  • CiteThis blocks across methodology, statistics, calculator, and ranking pages, plus a ShareBar PNG share card on statistics for passive citation.
  • No public query API and no commercial data-license SKU yet. Reuse today is download-the-CSV + attribute.

License and attribution

The CSV and Dataset surfaces are offered under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0. When reusing the table or quoting a derived figure, name PlainChildcare as the compiler and link back to the CSV or this methodology page. The underlying county/price figures remain U.S. Department of Labor Women's Bureau NDCP data; do not imply PlainChildcare surveyed or set the prices.

Affiliate / unit slot rules (IF activated)

If the operator later adds display or affiliate units, these rules bind before any placement ships:

  • No unit above the primary answer on the calculator, subsidy tools, county/state detail, or ranking pages.
  • No adjacency that reads as financial, legal, or eligibility advice, the subsidy calculator and affordability tools stay editorial/informational-only with existing disclaimers, never framed as guaranteed eligibility or a benefits determination.
  • Units clearly labeled as ads or sponsored; density ceilings shared with Module 36 AdSense placement rules.
  • No speculative prerender of ad-bearing pages once any display network is approved (ADSENSE_APPROVED already gates speculation rules).
  • [operator] Turning on a new network, slot, or paid data product requires an explicit operator decision. This page does not self-activate any of those.

Alternative network eligibility (paperwork only)

Against Mediavine Journey (the estate's measured alternative to AdSense), PlainChildcare is not gate-ready today. Journey's practical readiness bar for this estate is Tier-1 sessions ≥1,500 with engagement ≥30%, average session ≥60s, bounce ≤70%, and pages/session ≥1.2. Live GA4 telemetry (trailing 30d): 91 sessions, 40.7% engagement, 1m46s avg duration, 59.3% bounce, 1.4 pages/session, engagement and duration already clear the bar, but sessions volume is the binding gap (91 vs 1,500). Paperwork that already exists: clear About / Contact / Privacy / Terms / Disclaimer / Editorial Policy / Methodology, and a crawlable content catalog. Missing for Journey: sustained session volume and an operator enrollment step after the gate passes.

[operator] Enrollment in Journey (or any second display network) happens only after the readiness gate passes and the operator files the enrollment step. Do not install Journey tags from this readiness note.

Contact

Questions about our methodology or found a data error? Reach us at hello@plainchildcare.com or through our contact page. See our corrections process for how a report becomes a fix, and our changelog for a dated record of past corrections and data refreshes.

Beyond our primary data sources, the following federal government resources provide additional context for transparency, methodology verification, and related public records:

  • FOIA.gov - Freedom of Information Act portal for requesting federal records.
  • USA.gov Government Works - Comprehensive directory of U.S. federal agencies and public datasets.
  • Data.gov - Central repository of U.S. federal open data, including the source agencies referenced on this page.
  • Regulations.gov - Federal Register notices, public comments, and rulemaking activity for source agencies.