Child Care Cost
Estimate weekly, monthly and annual child care spend.
About Child Care Cost
Child care is usually billed hourly, daily or weekly, so scaling the hourly rate by the average hours in a week gives a monthly and annual total. Infant care typically costs more than care for older children. Child care is often the second-largest household expense, so putting a real number on it changes family budgeting and work decisions.
Formula
Child Care Cost
Weekly cost = hours per week x hourly rate
- rate per hour
- Charge per hour of care, which varies by age and provider
Worked example
With the default values below, Child Care Cost returns Weekly Cost of $350.00. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.
Inputs used
- Hours per weekminimum 0
- 25
- Rate per hourminimum 0
- 14
- Weeks per yearminimum 1
- 52
Results
- Weekly Cost
- $350.00
- Monthly Cost
- $1,520.75
- Annual Cost
- $18,200.00
Step by step
- 1Values used
- 2Child Care Cost
- 3Weekly Cost= 350.00
- 4Monthly Cost= 1,520.75
- 5Annual Cost= 18,200.00
Assumptions and limits
- The result is derived only from the 3 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
- In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax or fees or charges into account.
- Figures are rounded for display to 2 decimal places, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.
How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is Child Care Cost calculated?
Weekly cost = hours per week x hourly rate Child care is usually billed hourly, daily or weekly, so scaling the hourly rate by the average hours in a week gives a monthly and annual total. Infant care typically costs more than care for older children.
Why does Child Care Cost matter?
Child care is often the second-largest household expense, so putting a real number on it changes family budgeting and work decisions.
What values do I need to enter?
This calculator takes 3 inputs: Hours per week, Rate per hour, Weeks per year. The pre-filled defaults are a realistic starting point — replace them with figures from your own environment for a result you can act on.