A full-time spot at a child care center cost an average of $21,364 a year for a 4-year-old in Massachusetts in 2025 and $6,240 in Mississippi, according to Child Care Aware of America (CCAoA). That's a $15,124 gap. Put another way, the Massachusetts price is about 3.4 times the Mississippi price ($21,364 divided by $6,240).
CCAoA gathers these prices each year from state child care referral agencies and the state agencies that run federal child care grants. Its 2025 figures reflect prices from about December 2025 to March 2026. A center here means a child care center, as opposed to care in a provider's home. Across the 47 states with data, the group's average price for a 4-year-old in a center was $12,555. Colorado, New Mexico, South Carolina, and Washington, D.C., don't collect price data, the group said, so they have no figure below.
For many families, the way to pay less is state-funded pre-K. The National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) at Rutgers University defines these as programs "funded and directed by the state to support group learning experiences for preschool-age children, usually ages 3 and 4." Nationwide, state programs enrolled 37% of 4-year-olds in the 2024-25 school year, according to NIEER's yearbook, The State of Preschool 2025.
Some states call their programs universal, meaning any child of the right age can enroll no matter what the family earns. Universal doesn't always mean a full school day, and a seat may not be open in every community. A separate allk12 post lists which states have universal pre-K. Colorado's program, which has reached the U.S. Supreme Court over its rules for religious preschools, enrolled 70% of the state's 4-year-olds in 2024-25, NIEER found.
Preschool prices and pre-K access by state
The table pairs CCAoA's 2025 center price for a 4-year-old with NIEER's share of 4-year-olds in state-funded pre-K for 2024-25. The last two columns come from allk12's analysis of federal data: the number of operating public schools with at least one pre-K student in 2024-25, and their total pre-K enrollment.
| State | Center price, 4-year-old (2025) | 4-year-olds in state pre-K (2024-25) | Public schools with pre-K (2024-25) | Pre-K students in public schools (2024-25) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | $8,219 | 40% | 596 | 21,876 |
| Alaska | $10,143 | 11% | 232 | 3,588 |
| Arizona | $11,987 | 2% | 574 | 20,021 |
| Arkansas | $8,530 | 33% | 307 | 17,327 |
| California | $13,689 | 46% | Not reported | Not reported |
| Colorado | Not reported | 70% | 713 | 31,838 |
| Connecticut | $15,496 | 16% | 340 | 15,796 |
| Delaware | $13,584 | 9% | 26 | 2,731 |
| District of Columbia | Not reported | 94% | 146 | 11,976 |
| Florida | $10,052 | 63% | 1,751 | 61,038 |
| Georgia | $9,574 | 53% | 1,110 | 49,374 |
| Hawaii | $14,868 | 7% | 167 | 1,736 |
| Idaho | $9,443 | No program | 173 | 3,822 |
| Illinois | $14,739 | 35% | 1,525 | 80,197 |
| Indiana | $12,854 | Not counted (work requirement) | 563 | 24,694 |
| Iowa | $10,438 | 65% | 473 | 23,175 |
| Kansas | $10,692 | 45% | 521 | 21,849 |
| Kentucky | $10,993 | 26% | 498 | 24,899 |
| Louisiana | $9,418 | 35% | 620 | 23,231 |
| Maine | $14,516 | 47% | 256 | 6,341 |
| Maryland | $14,612 | 38% | 757 | 32,075 |
| Massachusetts | $21,364 | 30% | 579 | 31,662 |
| Michigan | $13,342 | 43% | Not reported | Not reported |
| Minnesota | $15,912 | 18% | 616 | 28,968 |
| Mississippi | $6,240 | 23% | 272 | 10,522 |
| Missouri | $11,440 | 22% | 659 | 35,966 |
| Montana | $14,676 | No program | 232 | 3,078 |
| Nebraska | $12,480 | 34% | 491 | 19,506 |
| Nevada | $13,219 | 10% | 338 | 12,968 |
| New Hampshire | $13,385 | No program | 139 | 4,388 |
| New Jersey | $14,551 | 35% | 919 | 62,041 |
| New Mexico | Not reported | 53% | 279 | 10,614 |
| New York | $17,800 | 56% | 1,469 | 62,685 |
| North Carolina | $11,530 | 21% | 965 | 26,548 |
| North Dakota | $10,855 | 11% | 170 | 3,025 |
| Ohio | $10,552 | 13% | 828 | 46,752 |
| Oklahoma | $8,425 | 65% | 808 | 36,719 |
| Oregon | $15,284 | 17% | Not reported | Not reported |
| Pennsylvania | $13,114 | 26% | 243 | 7,640 |
| Rhode Island | $16,639 | 26% | 57 | 3,388 |
| South Carolina | Not reported | 45% | 576 | 26,926 |
| South Dakota | $8,282 | No program | 138 | 3,266 |
| Tennessee | $11,565 | 20% | 832 | 33,321 |
| Texas | $9,863 | 52% | 4,198 | 276,034 |
| Utah | $10,136 | 2% | 378 | 16,232 |
| Vermont | $17,759 | 72% | 197 | 7,614 |
| Virginia | $14,404 | 22% | 951 | 34,198 |
| Washington | $17,760 | 19% | 593 | 22,515 |
| West Virginia | $8,272 | 66% | 370 | 14,549 |
| Wisconsin | $15,636 | 59% | 931 | 47,394 |
| Wyoming | $11,525 | No program | 30 | 687 |
Prices: Child Care Aware of America, Child Care in America: 2025 Price and Supply, average annual price of full-time center-based care for a 4-year-old. Prices for Alabama, Florida, Montana, Pennsylvania, Texas, West Virginia, and Wyoming come from state market rate surveys. Pre-K access: NIEER, The State of Preschool 2025, share of 4-year-olds enrolled in state-funded preschool, 2024-25. Indiana's program requires parents to work or attend school, so NIEER does not count it as state pre-K. Public school columns: allk12's analysis of NCES Common Core of Data, 2024-25, operating schools only. Not reported means the source has no figure for that state.
When pre-K is free, and when it isn't
In Iowa, children who are 4 by September 15 "can enroll and attend quality preschool programs at no cost to families," the Iowa Department of Education says. NIEER says those classrooms run at least 10 hours a week. That's a quarter of a 40-hour work week (10 divided by 40), so a parent working full time would still need care for the other 30 hours. A full-time center spot for a 4-year-old in Iowa cost $10,438 in 2025.
Georgia's pre-K is "a lottery funded educational program for Georgia's four year olds," according to the state's Department of Early Care and Learning. Children who are 4 on September 1 and live in Georgia are eligible. Taking part is voluntary for both public schools and private child development centers, and the department warns that "there may not be enough spaces in every community for all four year olds who wish to participate." NIEER counted 53% of Georgia's 4-year-olds in the program in 2024-25.
In Oklahoma, children who are 4 on or before September 1 are eligible for the voluntary public school pre-K program, and 65% of the state's 4-year-olds attend public school, the state education department says. Oklahoma also had the fifth-lowest center price among the 47 states with CCAoA data, $8,425 a year.
Other programs are aimed at lower-income families. Arkansas's state pre-K, Arkansas Better Chance, charges no fee to families earning up to 200% of the federal poverty level, which works out to $66,000 a year for a family of four on the state's 2026-27 chart. The poverty level is an income line set by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that rises with family size. Families earning up to 250% of it ($82,500 for a family of four) pay a sliding monthly fee, and families above that are not eligible, the chart shows.
Five states had no state-funded preschool program at all in 2024-25, NIEER found: Idaho, Montana, New Hampshire, South Dakota, and Wyoming. Indiana pays for a program, but NIEER doesn't count it because parents must work or be in school for a child to qualify.
In 2024-25, 29,606 operating public schools in 47 states and D.C. enrolled at least one pre-K student, for 1,366,790 pre-K students in all, according to allk12's analysis of federal data. That's about 35% of the 85,001 operating public schools in those states. The federal file lists no pre-K counts for California, Michigan, or Oregon. Texas alone had 276,034 pre-K students, about 20% of the total. In Washington, D.C., public schools enrolled more pre-K students (11,976) than kindergartners (7,285).
Public school counts can run well below state pre-K enrollment, since some states also run pre-K through private centers, as Georgia does. In Pennsylvania, NIEER counted 36,377 4-year-olds in state pre-K in 2024-25, while the state's public schools reported 7,640 pre-K students. Among states with programs, state spending per pre-K child ranged from $27,354 in D.C. to $2,008 in Nebraska that year, against a national average of $8,124, NIEER reported.
Sources
Child Care Aware of America: Child Care in America: 2025 Price and Supply
Child Care Aware of America: Child Care Affordability Analysis 2025 (state price tables)
Child Care Aware of America: Methods for the Price and Supply Report
NIEER: The State of Preschool 2025 yearbook (PDF)
Iowa Department of Education: Statewide Voluntary Preschool Program for Four-Year-Old Children
Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning: About Georgia's Pre-K Program
Oklahoma State Department of Education: Early Childhood Education
Arkansas Department of Education: 2026-2027 ABC Family Income and Sliding Fee Scale (PDF)
Public school pre-K counts from allk12's analysis of National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Common Core of Data, 2024-25.
